Sources Sought Notice.pdf

Sources Sought Notice

The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD), Norfolk, VA on behalf of the National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Science (NCCOS) is conducting market research to identify small business sources capable of providing two (2) uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) in accordance with the specifications outlined below. This information is sought for planning purposes only.

No solicitation document exists at this time. Issuance of this Sources Sought Notice (SSN) does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procure these items or services or to issue a solicitation. In addition, the Government is under no obligation to pay for information submitted in response to this SSN, and responses to this SSN cannot be accepted as offers. Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such.

The intent of this announcement and the information provided in response to this SSN will assist the Government in identifying potential sources, including small businesses and socio-economic sources, capable and qualified to fulfill the requirements identified in this announcement. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 334511, Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing. The size standard for this NAICS is 1350 employees.

Background: NCCOS routinely collects georeferenced, underwater photographs and videos to collect information which is used to create related products (e.g., maps of benthic habitat) in support of marine management informational needs and decision making processes. The purchase of UUVs allows NCCOS to more efficiently and cost effectively collect this information.

Requirement: NCCOS requires the supply and delivery of two (2) UUVs that meet or exceed the minimum specifications detailed below.

• Delivery within 24 weeks of contract award.

• Vehicle requirements:

• Body diameter less than 5 inches, weigh less than 40 lb with payload, and be shorter than 5 feet with payload.

• Be capable of independently diving under the water in any sea state.

• Be capable of being deployed and recovered from a small vessel (<25’) by one crew member.

• Be pressure tested to, depth rated to and capable of operating at 300 meter depths + 20% depth margin of error (360 m maximum).

• Be able to conduct 8-12 hour missions (with all sensors and payloads operating) on one battery charge.

• Have lithium ion battery power supply capable of being carried on commercial passenger airlines around the world.

• Be capable of being charged without opening the vehicle through an external plug. An alternate port shall be provided inside the vehicle as an alternative option for charging.

• Be delivered with COTS vehicle mission planning and control software.

• Have the ability to connect to wifi and be controlled through the mission software while at the water surface. The wifi range of the vehicle shall exceed 100 meters from the vessel/operator without additional hardware.

• The vehicle mission plan should have the ability to be altered and transmitted to the vehicle while underwater through acoustic communications and the mission software.

• The capability to report regular health status and position through underwater acoustic communications.

• Provide its latitude and longitude while at the water surface via wifi or iridium satellite service.

• Integrate an inertial navigation system and including acoustical communication through long-baseline (LBL) acoustic and Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) systems into a single position solution for the vehicle.

• The precision of the vehicle’s position solution shall be equal to or less than +/- 5 meters horizontally at up to 300 m depths.

• Have an additional, separate acoustic pinger with an independent power source. Pinger will be used to find the vehicle in the event it loses power while underwater.

• Vehicle’s payload should include an integrated camera and lighting system, which is powered and controlled through COTS vehicle mission planning software. Customer shall have the ability to upgrade the payload in the future.

• Vehicle’s camera sensor must be color, and the camera shutter must be global.

• Vehicle’s camera must be 12 megapixels, with 71-degree field of view (minimal distortion, flat port).

• Vehicle’s camera should be capable of collecting still imagery (resolution 4096x3000) at 15 frames per second (with ambient light) and 2 frames per second (with strobes) and meeting 80% along-track overlap of imagery.

• Images from vehicle’s camera will be geotagged with relevant metadata, including but not limited to timestamp, latitude, longitude, depth and vehicle attitude.

• Vehicle’s camera must be capable of collecting HD video (resolution 1920x1080, 1280x720) at 30 frames per second.

• Vehicles onboard CPU should have a GigE Ethernet interface, and CPU shall be powerful enough to support camera still imagery and video frame rates listed above.

• Have sufficient onboard recording for storing all related mission data, including videos and images. Customer shall have the ability to upgrade/expand onboard recording in future.

• Vehicle’s camera lighting should have two available settings: (1) constant torch at least 3,000 lumens or (2) programmable strobe at least 30,000 lumens.

Torch control shall be RS-232 with dimming capability.

• Vehicle data and images must be capable of being downloaded without opening the vehicle through wifi or external plug and wired connection.

• The Contractor shall provide one, two-day in-person training session on vehicle operations and maintenance. Trainings shall occur at an agreed upon location after contract award. One day of training will be in office space provided by the contractor, and one day of training will be on a small vessel provided by the contractor.

• Contractor shall provide a one-year warranty on the vehicles, including all parts, labor and software support at no additional cost. The one-year warranty period shall begin after NOAA acceptance of the vehicles.

Vendors, who believe they have the capabilities to meet or exceed the minimum specifications and required by delivery date detailed herein, must furnish detailed information concerning their capabilities.

Standard brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice. Submitted responses shall include the following:

1. Company name and address

2. System for Award Management (SAM) Unique Entity Identification Number

3. Type of business (e.g. large, small, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, and/or economically disadvantaged women-owned small business) as validated in the SAM including the business size standard applicable to the NAICS code referenced in this Sources Sought Notice.

4. Company point of contact – name, phone number, and email address

5. Clear explanation of company’s ability to provide two UUVs that meet or exceed the government’s minimum specifications detailed above to include the required delivery date.

Further detail of minimum specifications are described in the attached Statement of Need (SON).

5. Any Government Wide Acquisition Vehicle held contracts and their respective contract numbers, if applicable.

6. Country of Origin for Product (Manufactured)

7. Delivery timeframe After Receipt of Order (ARO)

Respondents are encouraged to provide any feedback, comments, and questions pertaining to this SSN. Responses to this SSN shall not exceed five (5) pages. Responses shall be submitted to Aaron Atkins at aaron.atkins@noaa.gov no later than that 3:00 PM ET on May 4, 2023.

STATEMENT OF NEED

PURPOSE: The purpose of this acquisition package is to buy two micro uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUV) to enhance NCCOS’s ability to efficiently, cost effectively, and with high spatial precision, collect underwater videos and photographs in depths up to 300 m.

SCOPE OR MISSION: NCCOS routinely collects georeferenced, underwater photographs and videos in >50 m depths. Prior collection has used tethered drop cameras or motorized remotely operated vehicles.

This information is used to create GIS ready products (e.g., maps of benthic habitat) in support of marine management informational needs and decision making processes. The purchase of UUVs will allow us to more efficiently and cost effectively collect this information over large areas (>10,000 m2) up to 300 m depths in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

BACKGROUND: NOAA is dedicated to delivering information essential to support the U.S. blue economy and the Presidential Memorandum on Ocean Mapping. Currently, collecting georeferenced, underwater photographs and videos (optical imagery) in depths 30-300 m requires the use of larger (>150 ft.) ships, larger (>300 lbs.) remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and/or larger (>9 ft.) uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs). The cost and complexity of these missions has prevented the frequent, broad-scale collection of underwater optical imagery by NOAA scientists and marine managers. However, as the blue economy expands, there is a growing need in the scientific and marine management community to quickly and cost effectively collect underwater optical imagery over broad geographic areas in the deep-sea. This type of information is needed to sustain productive fisheries, make informed decisions about offshore energy development, and monitor and protect special places in the ocean. These smaller vehicles will fill a technological gap by adapting a smaller, lower cost UUV to rapidly and cost-effectively collect georeferenced, underwater imagery in depths to 300 m with +/- 5 m horizontal error. These UUVs can be deployed and retrieved by hand from small (<25 ft.) vessels, and can operate for more than 8 hours @ 2 knots (with all payloads and sensors operating). These UUVs will be deployed at sites in the U.S. EEZ that have been identified as priorities for optical surveys by regional agencies and institutions. The resulting georeferenced, underwater imagery will be processed using photogrammetric software to develop large area photomosaics (>10,000 m2) and digital elevation models. This expanded technical capacity will enhance NOAA’s ability to explore and research deep-sea (50-300 m) communities in the U.S. EEZ, and also help NOAA’s Unmanned Systems Operations Center meet its goal to facilitate and enhance UxS utilization across the agency.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

The contractor shall delivery two (2) commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) battery-powered micro uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) with propulsion, navigation, with an integrated camera and light system for autonomous missions to collect seabed imagery for habitat mapping and structure from motion modeling.

The two (2) UUVs shall meet the following specific requirements:

Vehicle Dimensions and Operations:

1. Vehicle shall have a body diameter less than 5 inches, weigh less than 40 lb with payload, and be shorter than 5 feet with payload.

2. Vehicle shall be capable of independently diving under the water in any sea state.

3. Vehicle shall be capable of being deployed and recovered from a small vessel (<25’) by one crew member.

4. Vehicles shall be pressure tested to, depth rated to and capable of operating at 300 meter depths

+ 20% depth margin of error (360 m maximum).

5. Vehicle shall be able to conduct 8-12 hour missions (with all sensors and payloads operating) on one battery charge.

6. Vehicle shall have lithium ion battery power supply capable of being carried on commercial passenger airlines around the world.

7. Vehicle batteries shall be capable of being charged without opening the vehicle through an external plug. An alternate port shall be provided inside the vehicle as an alternative option for charging.

Vehicle Communications and Software

8. Vehicle shall be delivered with COTS vehicle mission planning and control software.

9. Vehicle shall connect to wifi and be controlled through the mission software while at the water surface. The wifi range of the vehicle shall exceed 100 meters from the vessel/operator without additional hardware.

10. The vehicle mission plan shall be capable of being altered and transmitted to the vehicle while underwater through acoustic communications and the mission software.

11. The vehicle shall report regular health status and position through underwater acoustic communications.

Vehicle Navigation, Positioning

12. Vehicle shall provide its latitude and longitude while at the water surface via wifi or iridium satellite service.

13. Vehicle shall integrate an inertial navigation system and including acoustical communication through long-baseline (LBL) acoustic and Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) systems into a single position solution for the vehicle.

14. The precision of the vehicle’s position solution shall be equal to or less than +/- 5 meters horizontally at up to 300 m depths.

15. Vehicle shall have an additional, separate acoustic pinger with an independent power source.

Pinger will be used to find the vehicle in the event it loses power while underwater.

Vehicle Payload and Onboard Computer

16. Vehicle’s payload shall include an integrated camera and lighting system, which is powered and controlled through COTS vehicle mission planning software. Customer shall have the ability to upgrade the payload in the future.

17. Vehicle’s camera sensor shall be color, and the camera shutter shall be global.

18. Vehicle’s camera shall be 12 megapixels, with 71-degree field of view (minimal distortion, flat port).

19. Vehicle’s camera shall be capable of collecting still imagery (resolution 4096x3000) at 15 frames per second (with ambient light) and 2 frames per second (with strobes) and meeting 80% along-track overlap of imagery.

20. Images from vehicle’s camera shall be geotagged with relevant metadata, including but not limited to timestamp, latitude, longitude, depth and vehicle attitude.

21. Vehicle’s camera shall be capable of collecting HD video (resolution 1920x1080, 1280x720) at 30 frames per second.

22. Vehicles onboard CPU shall have a GigE Ethernet interface, and CPU shall be powerful enough to support camera still imagery and video frame rates listed above.

23. Vehicle shall have sufficient onboard recording for storing all related mission data, including videos and images. Customer shall have the ability to upgrade/expand onboard recording in future.

24. Vehicle’s camera lighting shall have two available settings: (1) constant torch at least 3,000 lumens or (2) programmable strobe at least 30,000 lumens. Torch control shall be RS-232 with dimming capability.

25. Vehicle data and images shall be capable of being downloaded without opening the vehicle through wifi or external plug and wired connection.

Vehicle Tests Results, Training and Warranty

26. The Contractor shall provide a report describing the results of the bench, tank and field wet tests of the vehicles. This report shall include: (1) an itemized list of NOAA’s requirements and specifications, (2) a description of the performance metrics used during the bench, tank and field wet tests, and (3) a determination whether each vehicle passes or fails to meet NOAA’s requirements and specifications.

27. The Contractor shall provide one, two-day in-person training session on vehicle operations and maintenance at no cost to NOAA. Scheduling of the training shall be arranged between the vendor and the NOAA technical POCs. NOAA acceptance testing and review period shall not begin until this training is completed.

28. Contractor shall provide a 1 year warranty on the vehicle, including all parts, labor and software support at no cost to NOAA. The 1 year warranty period shall begin after official NOAA acceptance of the vehicles.

DELIVERY: The contractor shall provide delivery of two (2) UUVs on or before 24 weeks after the contract execution date. Vehicle delivery should coincide with the first in-person training. After the on-site training, the UUVs and all associated equipment shall be shipped to the following address (below) and delivered between 8:00am and 3:30pm EST Monday-Friday:

NOAA NCCOS Beaufort Laboratory 101 Pivers Island Rd.

Beaufort NC 28516

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: None at this time.