Next Generation Remote Vehicle (NGRV)

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Office of the Secretary of Transportation-Research, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), Cambridge, MA, is seeking to identify sources capable of developing a Next Generation Remote Vehicle (NGRV) in order to assess the requirements for such devices that will be used to conduct future testing of motor vehicle crash warning and avoidance applications using various on-board sensor technologies and vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The use of crash avoidance systems in connected vehicles is a potential solution to address approximately 4.4 million annual police-reported automotive crashes. Crash avoidance systems encompass safety applications that warn the driver of crash-imminent situations and apply automatic controls to prevent or reduce the impact severity of the crash. Target crash types include rear-end, lane-change, opposite-direction, and junction crossing-path collisions. Testing of these crash warning and avoidance applications is inherently dangerous due to the crash-imminent scenarios to which the drivers and vehicles are exposed in order to gather useful data about their crash avoidance capability. Because of this danger, testing of these safety applications is currently limited only to those scenarios that can be conducted safely. The Volpe Center is providing support to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop requirements for a NGRV that can safely be used in testing crash avoidance systems under a multitude of crash-imminent scenarios and conditions. This research meets NHTSA's mission to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce health care and other economic costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. In support of this effort, the Volpe Center requires an NGRV that may be used as a strike able remote vehicle for future safe testing of crash warning, crash avoidance, and crash mitigation safety applications on closed-course test tracks. The primary requirement of the NGRV is that it must mimic a light vehicle (e.g., passenger car) visually and be recognized by various sensor technologies while also being able to be struck by another light vehicle (i.e., host vehicle of the safety applications) without causing injury or harm to either the vehicle or any human drivers involved. The NGRV must perform routine driving maneuvers with no human operator onboard with the same dynamics as a typical light vehicle that includes passing, changing lanes, merging, turning, decelerating, and accelerating actions at different speeds on curved and straight roads typical of highway and arterial driving. The NGRV will be used as the remote vehicle in crash-imminent scenarios in coordination with a host vehicle to safely test crash-warning and avoidance applications based on vehicle-to-vehicle Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and using remote sensors such as imaging, laser, or radar. Due to the high risk of collisions between the remote and host vehicles during testing, the NGRV must not require the presence of a human driver to operate. In addition, the NGRV must be able to be struck by a host light vehicle (i.e., gross vehicle weight rating under 10,000 pounds) during testing from any direction without causing any damage to either vehicle. Moreover, the NGRV must be re-buildable after being struck within a reasonable amount of time so that multi-run testing of specific scenarios can be resumed with minimal effort. The NGRV must also have a mechanism to abort the active maneuver and come to an immediate stop or perform an evasive maneuver if the conditions are deemed unsafe. Finally, the NGRV must provide internal space and power connections to allow the installation of a differential GPS ground truth positioning system and a DSRC radio required for testing. Interested sources must submit a capabilities package demonstrating their past and current experience related to the development of an NGRV. Information provided shall be of sufficient detail for the Government to assess the ability of your company to develop /provide the NGRV described above. All Offeror capability information shall include the following: contract number; customer (DOD agency, other Government agency, private industry); for government contracts, the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) name, telephone number and email address; for private industry contracts, the point of contact (POC); contract value, and type of contract; period of performance; and a description of product/services. All of the information should be conveyed in no more than five (5) pages. Font size should be between 11-12 with page size set at 8 X 11, doubled spaced in either Microsoft Word or PDF. Each response must reference the sources sought title. The NAICS code for this acquisition is 336999 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. In accordance with the NAICS code provided, all Offerors must state whether they are a large or small business. Offerors are requested to provide their DUNS and CCR numbers. Interested parties must respond to this announcement via email no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Time on April 14, 2014. Responses must be emailed to the attention of Thomas Wilga at the following email address: thomas.wilga@dot.gov. Mailed, telephone, and faxed requests will not be honored. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. This notice is for informational and planning purposes only, and is a market research tool to determine the availability and adequacy of potential business sources prior to determining the method of acquisition and possible issuance of a Request for Proposal including the use of any non-profit organization or small business programs. This notice does not constitute a solicitation for bids, quotations, or proposals, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Availability of any formal solicitation will be announced separately. The Government will not pay for any materials provided in response to this notice and submittals will not be returned to the sender. The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to solicit for or award a competitive contract. Please be aware that all information submitted in response to this request is considered public information under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. All data received in response to this announcement marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be protected from release outside the Government in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act provisions. The Government will use customary means to safeguard proprietary information, but only when such information is (1) clearly marked as proprietary; (2) is, in fact, information that could not have been obtained from another party or source; and (3) is otherwise deserving of such treatment under standards and processes described in the Freedom of Information Act and Executive Order 12600. For information about the Volpe Center, refer to the Volpe Center website at http://www.volpe.dot.gov.