SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Use of Automotive Radar Technologies to Provide 360° Situational Awareness (SA) for Army Rotorcraft in Degraded Visual Environments (DVE) - Request for Information
- Notice Date
- 5/24/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, ACC - APG (W56KGU) Division A, 6001 COMBAT DRIVE, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 21005-1846, United States
- ZIP Code
- 21005-1846
- Solicitation Number
- W56KGU-16-R-0012
- Archive Date
- 7/2/2017
- Point of Contact
- Anthony Alllen Berkos, Phone: 4438614635, Kellie N. Lamar-Reevey, Phone: 4438614640
- E-Mail Address
-
anthony.a.berkos.civ@mail.mil, kellie.n.lamar-reevey.civ@mail.mil
(anthony.a.berkos.civ@mail.mil, kellie.n.lamar-reevey.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Information (RFI) for the Use of Automotive Radar Technologies to Provide 360° Situational Awareness (SA) for Army Rotorcraft in Degraded Visual Environments (DVE) Request for Information (RFI) for the Use of Automotive Radar Technologies to Provide 360° Situational Awareness (SA) for Army Rotorcraft in Degraded Visual Environments (DVE) Updated: 9 May 2016 This is a Request for Information (RFI) for the use of low-cost, mass-produced automotive radar technologies to enhance 360 Situational Awareness (SA) on rotorcraft. The objective is to determine whether such radars, possibly with modifications, could provide capabilities such as collision avoidance during in-flight operations, obstacle avoidance during take-off and landing (especially under DVE conditions), and a threat warning of bullets, RPGs and other projectiles passing within several tens-of-meters of the rotorcraft. This is not a solicitation; no award will be made as a result of this request. This Request for Information (RFI) is for informational purposes only; this is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). All interested parties are encouraged to respond to this RFI. The Government will not pay for information and/or materials received in response to this RFI and is in no way obligated by the information received. Description: The United States Army, Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), Intelligence & Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD), Radar Systems and Identification Division (RSID) is conducting this RFI to determine the capabilities of pre-existing automotive radar technologies for use on Army rotorcraft. These radars could be used as: 1. A collision avoidance aid during in-flight operations where several rotorcraft might be flying in close proximity, especially during DVE conditions (e.g. rain, fog, snow, dust storms, night, smoke, etc.). 2. A landing and take-off aid in various DVE conditions (e.g. brownout, fog, smoke, rain, etc.). For example, making the pilot aware of obstacles to the left or right if a lateral maneuver is required. 3. A threat warning system for detecting and determining the angle of ground fire passing near the rotorcraft. Notionally, a Distributed Aperture System (DAS) comprised of suitably-modified, lightweight automotive radar sensors would be positioned about the rotorcraft to achieve 360 degree or spherical SA. The Radio Frequency (RF) DAS will be used to supplement a forward looking sensor suite for pilotage. The forward looking sensor suite will notionally include a mmW Radar, a Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) camera, and Lidar. The DAS may also include other sensors (e.g. high-performance Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR)). The wide-angle information obtained from the DAS would be registered and fused with the narrow field-of-regard information obtained from the forward-looking sensors and with digital terrain elevation data (DTED) (e.g., DTED to provide a seamless, head-tracked image to the operator that enables pilotage in various DVEs (e.g. brownout, fog, smoke, rain, etc.). The RF DAS must include the processor and algorithms necessary to provide the types of information described above. Requirements CERDEC I2WD RSID desires a low-cost, spherical-coverage RF DAS that can meet the needs of the Army Aviation community for SA in DVE conditions. While latency and range requirements are not specified, they will be considered. The desired RF DAS will be modular. The system is intended for the legacy fleet. Response RSID welcomes white papers and vendor teaming is encouraged to provide the full capability requested. White papers should not exceed 20 pages in length. The white paper should include an executive summary of no more than 2 pages that conveys how the proposed system addresses the goals of the RFI, the current maturity of the system, an outline of the proposed development tasks, and the schedule and budget required. Proposed systems must be at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to be considered. For existing systems, vendors are asked to supply the following information:  A self-assessment of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the current system.  System specification and a self-assessment (measured performance) of discrete capabilities.  Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) data  Aircraft integration information (e.g., power requirements, data requirements, timing requirements). For developmental systems (this includes systems with some existing equipment, but for which there is a plan to augment with some novel technology), vendors are asked to supply the following information:  Current/proposed schedule  Current TRL and projected TRL at planned completion  Any available performance data White papers should also address the following:  For RF DAS algorithms, it is anticipated that the algorithms would be modular in nature. Describe each software module in terms of its required inputs and outputs, and the interdependencies on the other modules within the system.  Describe how specific modules address each requested capability of the desired system individually and as an ensemble/system. Also highlight any SWaP-C benefits achieved through this architecture (if they exist).  Describe how the data from multiple sensor modules will be accessed to provide a system level capability. Describe the current state (if any) of this development work.  Describe how the RF DAS will be integrated (notionally) into an aircraft's avionics.  Provide a Technology Roadmap detailing path to achieve this document's requirements  Provide specifications and performance metrics of relevant systems  Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for development cost, if applicable, and unit cost for potential future Government procurements, based on 1500 units. The white paper should also address any other features of your system that may enhance overall aircraft capabilities (current and proposed new technologies). Only responses from U.S. owned businesses or organizations will be accepted; no responses from Foreign Nationals will be accepted. The data received in response to this RFI is for information purposes only and does not mandate or impose requirements or commit the Government or vendor to any action. It is desirable that data be received with government purpose rights. However, it is recognized that proprietary data may be included with the information provided. Clearly mark all proprietary information. Only Unclassified or Unclassified//For Official Use Only responses will be accepted. All responses to this market research shall be submitted no later than 4:00 PM EST (local time at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) on 17 June 2016. All questions and white papers must be submitted via e-mail to: usarmy.apg.rdecom-cerdec.mbx.i2wd-radar-rfi@mail.mil. No telephonic inquiries or requests will be entertained. Submissions larger than 5MB should be submitted through the AMRDEC Safe Access File Exchange at https://safe.amrdec.army.mil/SAFE/.
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