SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
- Notice Date
- 7/30/2010
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 334511
— Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area, WRRC, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, California, 94710, United States
- ZIP Code
- 94710
- Solicitation Number
- EIW-AUV-2010
- Archive Date
- 8/12/2010
- Point of Contact
- Clarice E. Dixson, Phone: 510-559-6027
- E-Mail Address
-
clarice.dixson@ars.usda.gov
(clarice.dixson@ars.usda.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The USDA, ARS, Western Regional Research Center, Albany, California has a requirement for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to generate high-resolution maps of water quality and bathymetry; unit includes DVL, laptop, transit case, high-powered radio, side-scan sonar, expansion port options, safety tow float, fluorescence probe, phycocyanin fluorescence, dissolved oxygen sensor, turbidity probe, and pH probe. The AUV shall be capable of producing high resolution maps of water quality and bathymetry while working in a completely autonomous mode. The AUV will assist in the detection and mapping of Eurasian watermilfoil in unexplored lakes. The AUV's ability to record GPS coordinates, digital photographs, and water quality data (pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll) will provide essential habitat data as well as the location of Eurasian watermilfoil plants. The AUV's underwater capabilities must be able to provide close-up photographs of the sediment that can be used to assess substrate type in addition to the water quality parameters for data collection in developing predictive capabilities (based on habitat characteristics). Essential AUV features include the capability of working in fresh, brackish, or seawater; capable of operating in water depths from 1 meter to 66 meters; ability to operate in a self-powering mode from an internal power supply using rechargeable batteries (>300 cycles) and mission duration of at least 8 to 10 hours with an average cruising speed of 3 knots; the battery compartment must be sealed and protected with a safety device to prevent gas-pressure build-up. The AUV shall have a standard, low-power X86 processor and a minimum 80GB disk drive for data storage; have the capability of updating its internal software with newer versions in the field by the end-user via the web or disk; have user-friendly mission planning software that accepts all standard geo-referenced chart types; provide vehicle control software for user interface to the AUV for mission loading, data transfer, diagnostic checks and manual vehicle control; equipped with a Location Pinger and internal moisture sensors. The AUV must provide the following sensor payload: conductivity, temperature, depth from surface, height from bottom, three-axis digital compass, and sensor ports for optional sensors that are field installable/replaceable. The optional sensors are: optical dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll fluorescence, blue-green algae fluorescence, pH/ORP, rhodamine WT. The AUV shall have antenna with GPS capability (WAAS corrected in the United States), 2.4 GHz radio link when on the surface (Wireless 802.11g Ethernet), location LEDs, and a wet-pluggable battery charging connector; four independent control planes for navigation and maintain stable positioning in the water. The AUV must use a dissolved oxygen sensor that employs the Luminescence ‘Lifetime' Dissolved Oxygen measurement technique with sensor capability of measuring dissolved oxygen in the range of 0 - 20 mg/l with an accuracy of +/- 0.15 mg/l, and in the range of 0 - 200% saturation with an accuracy of +/- 1% air saturation with a response time of less than one minute under all or zero flow conditions without the use of a stirring device. The AUV shall be capable of measuring temperature using a thermistor in the range of -5 to 45 degrees C with an accuracy of +/- 0.15 degrees C and a resolution of 0.01 degrees C, and the instrument shall also provide, as an option, the capability of having a characterized temperature output with an accuracy of +/- 0.05 degrees C with the capability of being displayed in Celsius, Fahrenheit, or Kelvin; capable of measuring conductivity using a four-nickel electrode cell in the range of 0 - 100 mS/cm with an accuracy of +/- 0.5% + 0.001 uS/cm and a resolution of 0.001 to 0.1 mS/cm, the output shall be capable of being displayed in mS/cm or uS/cm, and the conductivity sensor shall be capable of measuring over the entire range (0 - 100 mS/cm) without changing the cell constant. The AUV shall be capable of measuring pH in the range of 0 - 14 with an accuracy of +/- 0.2 and a resolution of 0.01 using a combination electrode with a gel filled reference electrode, and this same sensor must be capable of being used for measuring most low-ionic strength waters; shall have available as an output a salinity calculation based on the conductivity and temperature measurements in the range of 0 - 70 PPT with an accuracy of 1.0% or +/- 0.1 PPT and a resolution of 0.01 PPT, and the algorithms used for the calculation should be those found in the Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater. The AUV shall have the capability of being supplied with a nephelometric type turbidity probe that can measure turbidity in the 0 - 1000 NTU range with an accuracy of +/- 2% of reading or 0.3 NTU's with a resolution of 0.1 NTU's, and measurements must have reasonable agreement to the HACH 2100AN benchtop meter. The AUV shall have the capability of being supplied with a chlorophyll probe that can measure chlorophyll fluorescence in the 0 - 400 ug/L range with a resolution of +/- 0.1 ug/L; must have the capability of being supplied with a blue-green algae probe that can measure blue-green algae fluorescence in the 0 - 200,000 cells/ml range; have the capability of being supplied with a rhodamine WT probe that can measure rhodamine WT fluorescence in the 0 - 200 ppb range with a detection limit of 0.1 ppb and an accuracy of +/- 5% of reading or +/- ppb. The AUV shall have a user-friendly water quality sensor software program providing communication and data processing and presenting data in both report and graphical form with data statistics automatically generated and displayed for Min, Max, Mean, and Standard Deviation, and the software program shall be capable of exporting data in comma and quote delimited and ASCII formats. All watertight seals shall have redundant seals, thus protecting the internal electronics from the environment. The AUV must have the capability of being supplied with a 5-beam (downward looking) or 10-beam (upward and downward looking) DVL, Doppler Velocity Log which provide both underwater navigation and water velocity profiles; the AUV shall have the capability of being supplied with a higher power radio and wireless bridge; have the capability of being supplied with a cellular communications option; and the AUV shall be upgradeable to include underwater photography and/or video. Prefer that AUV does not exceed 6" in body diameter (not including the fins and antennae) and 60.5" in length, or exceed 45 lbs in weight. Shall include User Manuals for all equipment, AUV training, and operational training. Item 01: AUV, rechargeable Lithium ion battery power; Instruments: Height (Altimeter), Water speed sensor, Depth (pressure), Conductivity, Temperature operational specs: < 200 ft depth, Cruising speed: 2 - 4 knots, Mission time: 8 hours at cruising speed, Recharge time: 8 hours, wet mate connector, Includes: vehicle stand, vehicle trim kit, basic spares kit, vacuum test assembly, User Manual(s). Item 02: 4-beam DVL Item 03: Dedicated laptop with Windows XP, preloaded with software and setup for AUV communication Item 04: Transit case Item 05: Extended range radio, wireless access point; includes transceiver and antenna upgrades Item 06: Dual frequency (330/800 Khz) side scan sonar, high resolution, geo-referenced images Item 07: Hull with expansion ports (EP), 2nd remote helm CPU, EP internal wiring harness, EP electronics rack, API manual and reference software, EP technical support via e-mail - 12 months Item 08: Safety tow float, emergency airbag recovery system (safety float with pinger), user programmable recovery system Item 09: Fluorescence probe Item 10: Phycocyanin Fluorescence Item 11: Dissolved oxygen sensor Item 12: Turbidity probe Item 13: pH field replaceable probe Item 14: Training; AUV training, operational training Item 15: Shipping/Freight This solicitation incorporates the following commercial FAR clauses by reference 52.212-1, 52.212-2, 52.212-3, 52.212-4, and 52.212-5. Interested vendors are encouraged to submit proposals containing descriptive literature (refer to FAR 52.214-21) of their products to Clarice Dixson, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710 or by e-mail to Clarice.Dixson@ars.usda.gov no later than 4:00PM PDST August 11, 2010. (Please identify any items available under GSA contract.)
- Web Link
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- Place of Performance
- Address: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, California, 94710-1105, United States
- Zip Code: 94710-1105
- Zip Code: 94710-1105
- Record
- SN02223260-W 20100801/100730234505-8f7b2633b9f4acae7a2e1a9cc7c9a3d3 (fbodaily.com)
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