SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Request for Informatin Only - Mechanical Modeling of All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and Biomechanical Modeling of ATV Drivers under the Age of Sixteen (16)
- Notice Date
- 2/21/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Consumer Product Safety Commission, Division of Procurement Services, Division of Procurement Services, 4330 East West Highway, Room 517, Bethesda, MD, 20814-4408, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-REQ-4400-07-0004
- Response Due
- 3/30/2007
- Archive Date
- 4/14/2007
- Description
- THIS DOCUMENT IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. THE GOVERNMENT DESIRES TO ASCERTAIN THE EXISTENCE OF, AND/OR INTEREST IN AND CAPABILITY OF CREATING, MECHANICAL AND/OR BIOMECHANICAL MODELS TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE (ATV) WEIGHT AND THE WEIGHT AND/OR PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES OF YOUTH UNDER THE AGE OF 16. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO AWARD A CONTRACT ON THE BASIS OF THIS RFI OR TO OTHERWISE PAY FOR THE INFORMATION RECEIVED. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS RFI, IF FUNDING IS AVAILABLE AND A STUDY IS DEEMED REASONABLE, THE GOVERNMENT MAY SUBMIT A FOLLOW-ON ANNOUNCEMENT IN FEDBIZOPPS REQUESTING FORMAL PROPOSALS. WHEN RESPONDING TO THIS RFI, PLEASE CLEARLY LABEL ALL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND ANY OTHER LIMITATIONS ON DISCLOSURE. DO NOT PREPARE OR SUBMIT PROPOSALS IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RFI IS TO RECEIVE INPUT FROM TECHNICAL EXPERTS AND OTHER PARTIES ON THE FOLLOWING TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT LISTED BELOW. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THE DOCUMENT. RESPONSES TO THIS RFI ARE DUE BY MARCH 30, 2007. SEND RESPONSES TO MRS. KIM MILES,CPSC, 4330 EAST WEST HWY, BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20814 OR EMAIL AT KMILES@CPSC.GOV. Technical questions, comments, or suggestions should be directed to Robert Ochsman, Director, Division of Human Factors, 301-504-7686, rochsman@cpsc.gov. Contracting questions should be directed to: Mrs. Kim Miles, kmiles@cpsc.gov. RFI TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Mechanical Modeling of All-Terrain Vehicles and Biomechanical Modeling of Youth Drivers. The CPSC is concerned about the hazards posed to youth under 16 years of age riding all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Incidents related to ATVs can result in death or serious injuries and/or lasting disabilities to youth. CPSC staff has studied ATVs for many years, most recently in responding to a 2002 petition requesting a ban on the sale of adult four-wheeled ATVs sold for use by children and in developing a briefing package recommending that the Commission approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would set mechanical, labeling, point of sale, instruction, and training requirements for ATVs. The NPR was subsequently approved by the Commission and published in the August 10, 2006, Federal Register. In 2001, there were an estimated 2.8 million ATV drivers under the age of 16, and another 4.4 million children rode ATVs as passengers. Children under 16 sustained about 31% of the estimated ATV-related injuries in 2001, and the societal costs associated with all medically attended injuries to children under 16 that year are estimated to be $2.5 billion. The societal costs of ATV-related deaths to children in 2001 are estimated to have amounted to about $550 million. Eighty-nine percent of child drivers who were injured were driving an adult ATV at the time. Based on injury and exposure data estimated from surveys conducted in 2001, the risk of injury to drivers under the age of 16 on adult ATVs was roughly twice the risk for child drivers on youth ATVs. The CPSC staff is considering various means to try to reduce youth deaths and injuries related to ATVs. Since the risk to youth on adult ATVs is much higher than on youth ATVs, CPSC encourages all youth to ride appropriate youth ATVs. However, CPSC staff is aware that current youth models may not fit youth physically. For more background information on this issue, please see the staff briefing packages and other documents available on the CPSC Web site (go to http://www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/foia.aspx, select "All Terrain Vehicles", and click on "Find"). The relevant documents with human factors information are in the Web site listing as follows (by date, beginning with the most recent): (1) CPSC Staff Response Regarding Follow-Up Questions from Commissioner Moore after ATV Safety Review Briefing, dated 07/11/2006: Youth ATVs - Questions 1 through 6 (beginning on p. 3 of 18) and Question 9 (beginning on p. 7 of 18); (2) CPSC Staff Response to Commissioner Nancy Nord after the June 15, 2006, ATV Safety Review Briefing, dated 06/30/2006: Question 3 (beginning on p. 3 of 7); (3) All Terrain Vehicle Initiative, Part 2, dated 05/31/2006, especially Tab H (p. 138 of 229 through p. 149 of 229), (4) Response to Questions from Commissioner Moore on CP-02-4/HP-02-1, Petition Requesting Ban of All-Terrain Vehicles Sold for Use by Children under Age 16, dated 08/22/2005: Question 8 (beginning on p. 3 of 6); (5) Analysis of Petition CP-02-3/HP-02-1 - Requesting Ban of ATVs Sold for the Use of Children Under Age 16 - Part 3, dated 02/02/2005, especially Tab H (p. 9 of 55 through p. 55 of 55); and (6) Analysis of Petition CP-02-3/HP-02-1 - Requesting Ban of ATVs Sold for the Use of Children Under Age 16 - Part 4, dated 02/02/2005, especially Tab I (p. 1 of 43 through p. 6 of 43). One of the strategies being proposed by the Commission to encourage youth to select appropriate ATVs is to characterize youth ATVs by speed rather than engine size, as is currently done. (A chart showing the CPSC proposed ATV models and intended ages is available on p. 45908 of the August 10, 2006, Federal Register notice.) While this may provide youth with a viable and appealing youth-specific alternative to a larger, heavier, faster adult ATV, concerns have been raised that this might allow the availability of youth ATVs that would be too heavy for youth and that would cause a crushing hazard. The question has arisen as to whether there is an appropriate or suitable youth ATV weight and/or ratio of ATV weight to driver weight for youth ATVs. REQUEST: CPSC staff has identified several important factors that would need to be considered regarding a suitable weight or weight ratio for youth ATVs. First, the ATV should be sufficiently heavy to reduce the effect a heavy youth would have on the systems center of gravity. Second, ideally the weight of the ATV should not pose a serious crushing hazard to the child if the ATV were to roll over onto the child. Ideally, the child should be able to right the ATV should it roll over. Lastly, the child must be strong enough to physically control the ATV; however, control depends on many factors other than simply strength, such as speed, terrain, rear differential type, and other ATV design factors. To this point, staff has not been able to quantify a relationship between the varying factors. CPSC staff realizes that, while the ideal of eliminating all hazards associated with ATV driving is not feasible, it may be possible to reduce the number of deaths and the severity of injuries, especially to youth. CPSC staff is interested in obtaining ideas, data, concepts, and feasibility information related to modeling and simulating the interplay among the factors mentioned above. The information sought would indicate the potential of methods that may eventually allow staff to develop recommendations for ATV weight based on the age and/or weight of the youth. CPSC staff therefore would like to consider the feasibility of research specifically targeted at creating a model representing ATV behavior and simulating the interaction between ATV behavior, ATV characteristics, and the youth driver, over representative models of off-road terrain. GENERAL QUESTIONS: Responders should provide documentation of the potential options available to model the relationship between youth drivers and their ATVs. CPSC staff is particularly interested in the feasibility of developing/using models that: 1) quantify muscle forces required to successfully control an ATV at various speeds and on various off-road terrains, 2) provide flexibility to represent different size and weight ATVs and different size and weight youth, and 3) represent youth driving ATVs. Responders should also address the following questions in their submissions: 1) What are the possible methods that could be employed to create the desired model? 2) What are some examples of similar models? 3) Are there existing finite element models of ATVs and/or what data is needed to create one? 4) Is there another method that could be employed to determine the optimal youth-ATV weight relationship? 5) What other factors influence the optimum weight? 6) Is there a software solution that could be used by CPSC staff with minimal training? 7) What is a reasonable rough estimate of the time, cost, and other resources needed to create such a model and simulation? HOW TO RESPOND: Responses should be in the form of reports or letters discussing the likely success of research projects aimed at acquiring the data listed above, and including factual support for observations made therein. If the responder provides a compilation of published example studies from other sources, the results should be summarized. If examples of animated simulations are included, they should be readable by a DVD player or a Windows-based computer. Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) are to be submitted directly to the Contracting Office address indicated above, Attn: Mrs. Kim Miles no later than March 30, 2007.
- Record
- SN01235584-W 20070223/070221220045 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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