Automated Inspection System
Closed Pre-Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- 80LARC25RFI_AFP_AIS
- Agency
-
Langley Research Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 336411 Aircraft Manufacturing
- PSC
- Not on record
- Place of performance
- Hampton, Virginia 23681, United States
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
NASA's Langley Research Center is seeking an automated inspection system (AIS) for the Hi-rate Composites for Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) Project, specifically targeting ply-by-ply inspection of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) during automated fiber placement (AFP) aerospace composite manufacturing. The agency aims to develop and mature high-rate composite manufacturing technologies that can support production of up to 80 aircraft per month with reduced costs and no weight penalty compared to 2020 technologies. NASA has partnered with the U.S. aircraft manufacturing industry to define and standardize inspection requirements for AFP, with the goal of identifying a commercially available or developable AIS system that can meet these standardized criteria. The evaluation will focus on the system's ability to detect and measure various manufacturing defects and anomalies, including tow gaps, overlaps, wrinkles, and foreign object debris, with specific attention to detection percentages and measurement accuracy. Interested parties must submit their capability statements electronically to Brian Grimsley by April 30, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST.
The pre-solicitation notice does not specify a specific set-aside designation, though it indicates potential for small business set-asides based on responses received. There are no mentions of incumbent contractors or specific award values in the documentation. The project is categorized under NAICS code 336411 for Aircraft Manufacturing and seeks a solution that can significantly improve the current manual/visual inspection processes that currently slow down composite aircraft primary structure manufacturing. The RFI includes a detailed 32-feature requirements table that prospective vendors must populate to demonstrate their system's capabilities across various inspection metrics. While no specific budget range is provided, the project's broader objective is to develop an inspection technology that can support high-rate, cost-effective aircraft production with improved data collection and process understanding.
Notice text
Under the Hi-rate Composites for Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) Project, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) /Langley Research Center (LaRC) is hereby soliciting information from potential commercial sources for an automated inspection system (AIS) capable of ply-by-ply inspection of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) during the automated fiber placement (AFP) aerospace composite manufacturing process. AFP has traditionally been used for building large acreage structures like wing skins, spars, and fuselages. Through the years, the AFP equipment has improved significantly in terms of meeting high material placement rates, but inspection processes have lagged behind. Some of it is due to the lack of advanced technology in this area while some of it is due to AFP users having different inspection requirements that equipment suppliers have to meet. As a result, significant time is spent on manual/visual inspection of very large parts that significantly slows down the overall rate of the composites aircraft primary structure manufacturing process. In addition, the lack of recorded data limits understanding and improving for the process. The primary goal of the HiCAM project is to demonstrate manufacturing approaches and associated technologies for large composite airframe structures that enable high-rate production (up to 80 aircraft per month) with reduced cost and no weight penalty versus 2020 technologies. The Project will develop and mature affordable high-rate composite manufacturing and assembly technologies, with reduced equipment and tooling costs, enabling a faster, more cost-effective production cycle for lightweight airframe structures. In this regard, NASA has partnered with the United States Aircraft manufacturing industry to define and standardize the inspection requirements for AFP with the goal of identifying a commercially available, or commercially developed, AIS system capable of meeting the standardized inspection requirements. These standardized inspection requirements are defined in the RFI attachments.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| HiCAM_GPE-RFI on Auto Insp System__Final 03-31-2025.pdf | ||
| NASA HiCAM_ RFI AFP AIS_Features Table_Unpopulated_03-31-2025.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
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