Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF APRIL 02, 2005 FBO #1223
SOURCES SOUGHT

A -- Level Dependent Hearing Protection Devices

Notice Date

3/31/2005
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

541710 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
 

Contracting Office

RDECOM Acquisition Center - Adelphi, ATTN: AMSSB-ACA, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-1197
 

ZIP Code

20783-1197
 

Solicitation Number

W911QX05R0014
 

Response Due

5/16/2005
 

Archive Date

7/15/2005
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

The US Army Research Laboratory, The Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED), is looking for White Papers to be submitted on the development of a passive in-the-ear hearing protection system with the goal of providing soldiers with inexpen sive, non-powered, hearing protection which allows both speech communications and protection against high noise environments in response to Topic 5.1 of the US Army Research Laboratory Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) found at http://www.aro.army.mil/resea rch/arl/fy06arlbaa.doc . Soldiers rely heavily on their hearing in combat environments. They listen for environmental sounds, fire events, speech communications from fellow soldiers, noises which might indicate the presence or location of an enemy. Howev er, noise levels during military operations are often at levels, which can cause temporary or permanent hearing damage, so soldiers also need to protect and preserve their hearing. These are often conflicting requirements, as many hearing protection devic es (HPDs) do a good job preserving hearing, but at the cost of blocking sounds the soldier want to be able to hear. Thus, soldiers typically do not wear their HPDs, as they value the immediate ability to hear more than they fear a potential hearing loss. A potential solution for protecting hearing in military environments, yet allowing speech communications and environmental auditory monitoring, is the use of level dependent HPDs. There are two types of level dependent HPDs, one type uses electronics (act ive) to provide attenuation and the other (passive) does not use electronics to provide attenuation. In their passive state these HPDs allow low-level sounds to pass through relatively unimpeded. When high level impulse noise (such as you would experience during weapons firing) is present, the HPD,s protective mechanisms activate to provide robust hearing protection. An example of a passive level-dependent HPD is the Armys Combat Arms Earplug (CAE). The CAE has two sides, the green side is responsive to continuous noise (e.g. running engine), and the yellow side is responsive to impulse noise (e.g. weapons fire). Only the yellow side of the CAE allows relatively normal speech communications. This means that the soldiers are required to perform purposeful action (removing, reversing, and reinserting the earplug) depending on their noise environment. Reports from the battlefield, however, find that soldiers simply insert the level (yellow) dependent side to allow for speech, and do not turn it after that; t hus, they are not being protected against steady-state (continuous) noise. So although level dependent HPDs are promising as a solution to the Armys HPD problem, the current earplug is limited and can be improved upon. When preparing a white paper in re sponse to this announcement, the research should apply innovative research to the problem of level dependent hearing protection in military environments ands include as part of their solution: the HPD should be an earplug; be a passive level dependent sys tem, provide sound attenuation which is dependent on the level of the sound exposure; allow soldiers to communicate via speech without shouting; provide hearing protection from steady state noise; provide hearing protection from impulse noise; not require an external power source; not require any expendable internal power sources, such as batteries; be comfortable for continuous wear under the Personal Armor System, Ground Troops (PASGT) or Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) helmets for a minimum of four hours; c ompatible for use in an Army field environment (dirt, mud, grease, water, etc., may be present; sanitation facilities may not be available). Requirements for attenuation are to: provide essentially equal passive attenuation across frequency bands, with a ttenuation of at least 15 dB at 250 Hz and attenuation of no more than 15 dB at 4 kHz; provide active attenuation of at least an additional 15 dB at impulse noi se levels starting at 120 dB; speech intelligibility better than 91% in continuous noise up to 100 dBA, using the Modified Rhyme Test or the Callsign Acquisition Test (CAT) to evaluate intelligibility. Additionally, it is desired that the solution be: ca pable of being produced in quantity for $8 per pair or less; capable of being colored in colors consistent with Army uniforms. Proposed solutions should also include the delivery of 50 pairs of a prototype inexpensive, non-powered, hearing protection devic e, compatible with the PASGT and ACH helmets, which meets the requirements for attenuation and speech communication in low noise, continuous noise, and impulse noise environments. The prototypes must meet form, fit, and function requirements. White paper s will be reviewed in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the BAA. Offerors whose white papers appear to meet the needs described above may be invited to submit technical and cost proposals in support of their white papers. Proposals wil l be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the BAA. The estimated budget is $150,000; however, funding is presently not available and not guaranteed. Costs associated with preparation and submission of white papers and/or pr oposals and/or any follow up information requests are the responsibility of the offeror and these costs will not be reimbursed by the Government. It is requested that white papers in electronic format be submitted by 16 May 2005 to Ted.Weitzman@us.army.mi l . Please be advised that .zip and .exe files cannot be accepted. Requests for technical information / clarification should be directed to Ted Weitzman at Ted.Weitzman@us.army.mil .
 

Place of Performance

Address: RDECOM Acquisition Center - Adelphi ATTN: AMSSB-ACA, 2800 Powder Mill Road Adelphi MD

Zip Code: 20783-1197

Country: US
 

Record

SN00779499-W 20050402/050331212122 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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