Sole Source Justification for Posting.pdf

ERDC Control No. FY22 - 2398

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

(Simplified Acquisition Procedures under FAR Part 13 Not Exceeding $250K)

1. Agency/Contracting Activity: Engineer Research and Development Center – Construction and Engineering Research Laboratory (EDRC – CERL)

2. Description of Action:

Nature: New Requirement Follow-On Requirement Mod to Existing Purchase Order/Contract Number

Pricing: Firm-Fixed Price Time and Materials

Funds: OMA Other Funds: Army RDT&E

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

a. The total estimated dollar value of the proposed action is $123,000.

b. The Government has a requirement for four (4) Geo - Fiber Optic Gyro Inertial

Measurement Units that can be used on existing ARGO J8 unmanned ground vehicle systems.

4. Authority: FAR 13.106-1(b) (1): For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g. urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization.)

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The KVH Industries Geo - Fiber Optic Gyro Inertial Measurement Unit (FOG IMU) is the most compact high performance IMU designed for highly dynamic challenging applications. The Geo - FOG IMU has a low profile (< 3” height) which is critical for its implementation on the existing ARGO J8 and CAT 308 unmanned ground vehicle system that the Robotics for Engineer Operations research program utilizes for site characterization. This particular IMU is extremely noise and temperature resistant and does not experience gyro drift. Very low amounts of gyro drift enable precise localization and control of unmanned ground systems in challenging environments.

In addition, the ERDC-REO program has one GEO-FOG currently and it has been developed on for drivers and integration into our current robotics system. It functions correctly and substantial government resources have been invested into the GEO-FOG system. Because of these reasons KVH Industries is the sole source for this procurement.

6. Actions to Increase Competition: A notice of intent to sole source to KVH Industries was posted to the SAM.gov contracting opportunities website open from December 16, 2021 to December 23, 2021. One response was received from EMCORE Corporation. The customer reviewed the capability statement and item specifications and determined that these items cannot be used because the proposed items do not meet the required height limitations of <3”.

Additionally, and most importantly, the government has already spent considerable resources over the past three years developing on the KVH GeoFOG. EMCORE was notified of our decision to proceed with a sole source procurement to KVH on December 29, 2021.

7. Market Research:

(1) The Government has made a determination that no other source offers a product which meets or can be modified to meet this requirement. The KVH Geo - FOG IMU is the only unit that meets all of the specifications required by our team. There are two similar products offered by Emcore and Northrop Grumman. The Emcore EN-150 FOG IMU matches the size requirements, however, its bias stability is lower, it displays more random walk characteristics, and consumes more power. The Northrop Grumman LN- 200S does not meet size requirements and technical performance requirements. Finally, utilization of either of these options for the REO unmanned ground systems would require creation of software drivers from scratch. Market research conducted determined that the KVH Geo - FOG IMU is the only hardware that meets the needed specifications;

therefore, substitution is undesirable. Pricing for the IGCE was obtained from talking to a company representative and through online market research.

(2) Market research was conducted in September 2021.

8. Procurement History:

Previous Purchase Orders(s) or Contract(s): Yes No

Purchase order or contract number: W9132T20P0014, W9132T19P0022 Was action competed? Yes No If action was not competed, state the cited authority, summarize rationale: FAR 13.106-1(b) (1)

9. Additional information to support the justification: Not applicable

10. Technical/Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which is included in the abbreviated J&A is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Submitted By: Jeffrey Burkhalter Position Title: Acting Chief, Environmental Processes Branch Email Address: Jeffrey.a.burkhalter@usace.army.mil Signature:

Date:

11. Fair and Reasonable Price Determination: As Contracting Officer, I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

Basis for the determination: price analysis techniques.

BURKHALT

ER.JEFFREY.

ALLEN.108

5543616

Digitally signed by

BURKHALTER.JEFF

REY.ALLEN.10855

43616 Date: 2022.01.02 18:40:31 -06'00'

12. Contracting Officer’s Approval:

I hereby certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Based on the foregoing, I approve this sole source justification subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition

Signature:______________ Typed Name:

Title:

Date:

Andrea Thomas Digitally signed by Andrea Thomas Date: 2022.01.03 12:26:00 -06'00'