MODIFICATION
10 -- Image Generation Analysis
- Notice Date
- 5/18/2009
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, PEO STRICOM, PEO STRI Acquisition Center, PEO STRI Acquisition Center, 12350 Research Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826-3276
- ZIP Code
- 32826-3276
- Solicitation Number
- W900KK00000
- Response Due
- 5/29/2009
- Archive Date
- 7/28/2009
- Point of Contact
- Adam Baldwin, 407 208 3342<br />
- E-Mail Address
-
PEO STRI Acquisition Center
(adam.baldwin1@us.army.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Call for Fire Trainer (CFFT) program is conducting an analysis of image generators to determine if we should 1) continue delivering CFFT systems with the current image generators, 2) if we should integrate a new image generator into the CFFT systems that have not been delivered, or 3) if we should purchase new image generators for all CFFT systems. The analysis will focus on 1) the capabilities of the image generator today, 2) what functionality would need to be developed to meet the program requirements, and 3) cost. The result of the analysis will be a decision on which approach to take with the CFFT image generators and which products would best meet the requirements of the CFFT program. If it is decided to integrate new image generators into the CFFT systems, the integration would start in October/November 2009. The total number of CFFT systems to be delivered is approximately 405. Of the 405 total systems, approximately 155 systems have been delivered to date. These systems are delivered in 1-to-4, 1-to-12, and 1-to-30 (instructor-to-student) configurations. The 1-to-4 and 1-to-12 configurations require 3 image generators. The 1-to-30 configurations require 4 image generators. For the 1-to-4 and 1-to-12 configurations, an image generator is required for the enhanced student station which provides Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR) and Night Vision Goggles (NVG) views; a second image generator for the Stealth system at the Instructor Operators Station; and the third image generator for the rendered real-world scene projected on a classroom screen. The 1-to-30 configuration has an additional image generator for additional field-of-view on the classroom screen to accommodate the larger student number. The key parameters that will determine the approach the program takes are the following: "Low cost visual system "Reduce Life Cycle cost "Leverage SE CORE database generation and models "Compliance to the JFPL Standards "Integration schedule compliance ACQUISITION APPROACH: The Government anticipates that the program requirement will be fulfilled via a delivery order under PEO STRIs STOC II contract in accordance with FAR Part 16.505. The Government will make the award on a Best Value/Trade-off basis. The contract type has not been determined at this time. QUANTITIES: There will be 33 1-to-30 configurations delivered; the remaining systems will be 1-to-4 and 1-to-12 for a maximum total of 1,248 Image Generators. ESTIMATED DOLLAR VALUE: Maximum of $12M RESPONSES REQUIRED: STOC II contractors desiring to be considered for this opportunity must respond by the closing date above to the contract specialist listed below. The Government reserves the right to eliminate STOC II contractors that fail to respond by the closing date above from further consideration for potential award. Written responses to this announcement should consist of the following: a.Completed Vendor IG Response Table. (Attachment A below) b.A statement as to whether the firm has the resource capacity to produce and deliver the image generator quantities through fiscal year 2015. The response is limited to paragraphs a-b above and should not exceed six (6) pages. Any additional information will be discarded without review. The information provided needs to define the current functionality/capabilities of the product that you would recommend to this program. At this time no cost information is being requested. A point of contact for the CFFT team can speak to concerning your product and costing of the product is requested. It is requested that written responses be submitted as an attached Microsoft Word document no later than 3:30PM EST via email to adam.baldwin@us.army.mil on or before May 29, 2009. This Sources Sought is being posted on both the PEO STRI Business Opportunities Portal (STRI BOP) and to the Army Single Face to Industry (ASFI). If responses are received from STOC II contractors only, the Government reserves the right to follow STOC II Request For Proposal procedures as outlined in the STOC II User Guide if and when the RFP becomes necessary. Written questions may be submitted by electronic mail to the technical point of contact below specified below. The Government requires that all questions be received by 4:00 p.m. EST on 15 May 2009. Once all responses are completed, they will be disseminated via amendment to this Sources Sought. NOTICE: STOC II contractors are advised that the Government may use a streamlined, multi phase process or evaluation factors in accordance with FAR Part 16 to determine if contractors will proceed to the next stage, and ultimately submitting an offer to be considered for award. DISCLAIMER: This notice does not constitute an invitation for bids or a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not a commitment by the U.S. Government to procure subject products. Contracts POC: Adam Baldwin, (407)-208-3342, Adam.Baldwin1@us.army.mil Technical POC: Jill Ashby, (407) 384-3854, Jill.Ashby@us.army.mil UPDATE - 18 May 2009 Questions and Responses on the Image Generation and Analysis Sources Sought Question: Could I please receive some clarification on Compliance to the JFPL Standards? Response: The following is the JFPL Approach: "JFPL architecture is a requirement-down, component-up approach to a family-of-systems architecture "Product Line Attributes for all Joint Fires requirements are captured, decomposed and allocated to Functional Capabilities "Functional Capabilities are mapped to JFPL Systems and further decomposed into Subsystems and Components "To define a product, requirements flow down from the Product Line Attributes to Functional Capabilities, these are then matched to specifics in the System and Subsystem level to determine which JFPL components and fidelity are required for the specific configuration of JFPL product When the CFFT II team was asked what JFPL compliance would mean to an image generator, they provided the following 'need' which is in the Response table: Capable of being controlled by a framework that determines if the IG scene is rendered on the entire screen or only a portion of the screen. For more information on JFPL and to request a copy of the Standards, contact Mr. Glen Loupe at: glen.loupe@us.army.mil. Question: In regards to PEO STRI's potential requirement for image generation analysis and solutions for the CFFT. I was just curious if this was new work that PEO STRI was looking for or whether a contractor in the past had been fulfilling this. Do you know if any previous contracts existed to provide this work? Response: Based on the information received in response to this RFI and potential discussions with vendors and programs using different image generators, an image generation analysis will be conducted for CFFT. This analysis will be conducted in-house by PEO STRI Government employees. No contract is contemplated for the analysis. At the completion of the analysis, a recommendation will be provided to the CFFT program manager who may or may not decide to procure image generators based on the analysis. Question: What is the current IG being used? Response: FidView by Fidelity Technologies Corporation. FidView is based on Tiltan of Israel. Question: What is the database format that it uses? Response: FidView uses a unique format specific to the image generator. Question: Who is building the databases for this training device? Response: Current databases have been built by Fidelity. Question: Do you envision this new IG being able to utilize CDB? Response: No. Question: Does the trainer currently use the SE Core products? Response: CFFT does not currently use the SE Core products, but the requirement to use the SE Core products is part of Increment II. Question: Can you tell me what CIGI 3.0 with JFPL prototype extensions is and point me to the specification? Response: The document defines parameters/controls for the JFPL prototype that were not included in CIGI 3.0. The prototype extensions include controls for entities, simulated military equipment, reticles, lights, decals and craters. Because of potential sensitive material in the document we cannot attach the document to this announcement. Question: It was not clear to me but are we supposed to provide pricing in the a, b documents? Response: No pricing is requested at this time. After reviewing the responses to the table (a) and the statement request in (b), a request for information in accordance with the STOC II Guide may be requested which may include a request for pricing. Question: How many customer references do you need? Response: Preferably no more than 10. The customer references should be for customers and systems that have purchased and used the same image generation configuration that is discussed in the table. Question: Are our answers kept confidential from other vendors? Response: The answers to questions on the Sources Sought will be posted on the STRIBOP and FedBizOpps. The responses you provide in the Vendor Table will be kept confidential if you so request. Question: The 3-page response and the ImageGenerationVendorResponseTable.docmust both be submitted on the 29th of May, correct? Response: Since the Vendor Response Table requested that several capabilities be discussed, it is anticipated that the number of pages for the table would grow from 3 to no more than 6 (to encourage brief discussions). The statement as to whether the firm has the resource capacity to produce and deliver the image generator quantities through fiscal year 2015 can be provided at the start or end of the table, just so long as it is part of the 6 pages. The response is due 29 May. Question: Google produces no results for CIGI 3.0 JFPL extensions. Is this a new specification? Will it be made public by the CIGI review board or is it intended for custom applications? There appears to be no public record of this specification. Response: At this time there is no public record of the JFPL extensions. CIGI 3.0 should still be available on line. The extensions were to be submitted to the CIGI review board, but they have not been submitted yet. The prototype extensions include controls for entities, simulated military equipment, reticles, lights, decals and craters. Because of potential sensitive material in the document we cannot attach the document to this announcement. Question: If you choose to keep using the existing IG would you consider allowing customers to request other IGs as an option if the IG vendor would pay for all of its own integration costs into the CFFT device? Response: That would be a program management decision. Question: Is there any consideration given to IG's that have already been integrated and used in the CFFT trainer? Response: The image generation analysis will be conducted using the responses to this Sources Sought. Question: Is source code required for the IG to be delivered to the program or escrow with the government or are commercial products acceptable? Response: Commercial products are acceptable. Question: Can you consider having a competitive fly off with actual artillery or JTAC operators evaluating the candidate IG's Response: At this time there is a Sources Sought only. STOC II procedures will be followed for any further actions. Question: Do your IG estimates account for replacing the existing IG's should you choose another system? It did not appear as if your calculations for the total estimated IG's accounted for replacing the existing systems should you choose a new IG vendor. Response: According to the information received from the CFFT team, they have a current commitment to deliver a total of 405 systems. Approximately 155 systems have already been delivered. Of the 405 systems, 33 systems have 4 image generators each, and the remaining 372 systems have 3 image generators each. According to my calculations, that would equal 1,248 image generators. Question: What is the current price of the existing CFFT IG per unit? Does this include all labor costs to make extensions? Response: Cannot provide the information. Question: Does your existing IG charge for maintenance? If not, how are modifications, extensions etc then paid for? Are they done at no charge by the IG vendor for the life of the product or do you pay direct labor for such enhancements? Response: CFFT is maintained under the Warfighter Focus contract. Question: Can you tell us the per unit IG cost in terms of percentage additional cost that you pay for new features? Response: Cannot provide the information. Question: Would you consider a fixed annual maintenance fee to provide unlimited enhancements to the product? Response: Not at this time. This is a sources sought only. Question: Does the number of fielded units make any difference in the assessment? Response: No. The number of different customers/programs and their appraisal of your product will be taken into consideration as part of the analysis. Question: What is the current installed base of the current IG? Is the current CFFT IG used outside the program? Response: Do not know. Question: Where can we read about the current IG on the internet? Is there a published list of its capabilities? Responses: We have not found any information on the current IG on the internet. We are not aware of a published list of its capabilities. For this analysis, the evaluators are using knowledge gained from involvement with other close-air-support systems to understand what IG capabilities are needed and the Increment II requirements provided by the CFFT team. Question: Regarding the Operating System, is a cross-platform solution required? Response: Yes. Question: Regarding CIGI 3.0 with JFPL extensions, where can references to these extensions be found? Please expand the JFPL acronym. Response: The document defines parameters/controls for the JFPL prototype that were not included in CIGI 3.0. The prototype extensions include controls for entities, simulated military equipment, reticles, lights, decals and craters. Because of potential sensitive material in the document we cannot attach the document to this announcement. JFPL is an acronym for Joint Fires Product Line. Question: What is meant by being JFPL architecture compliant? Response: The following is the JFPL Approach: "JFPL architecture is a requirement-down, component-up approach to a family-of-systems architecture "Product Line Attributes for all Joint Fires requirements are captured, decomposed and allocated to Functional Capabilities "Functional Capabilities are mapped to JFPL Systems and further decomposed into Subsystems and Components "To define a product, requirements flow down from the Product Line Attributes to Functional Capabilities, these are then matched to specifics in the System and Subsystem level to determine which JFPL components and fidelity are required for the specific configuration of JFPL product When the CFFT II team was asked what JFPL compliance would mean to an image generator, they provided the following 'need' which is in the Response table: Capable of being controlled by a framework that determines if the IG scene is rendered on the entire screen or only a portion of the screen. For more information on JFPL and to request a copy of the Standards, contact Mr. Glen Loupe at: glen.loupe@us.army.mil. Question: Regarding Remote Activation/Deactivation, how remote is this requirement? From a directly connected host? From somewhere else on the simulation network? Etc. Please define remote. Response: Activation/deactivation using the host or instructor station application software on the simulation network. Question: Regarding Remote Activation/Deactivation, does the remote activation function imply that the system needs to be able to join an in-progress simulation/exercise? Response: Yes. Question: Does Remote Activation/Deactivation imply power on/off? Or does it mean to put the monitor in wakeup/stand-by modes? Response: Yes. Remote activation/deactivation does include power on/off powered via wake-on LAN. Question: Under the IG Functionality section, what is meant by IG Software Label? Response: The product name of your image generator. Question: Regarding Adjustable Gamma, under what conditions is this functionality needed? Is this mostly a tuning function? Response: Yes, the adjustable gamma is mostly a tuning function, primarily for sensor simulation. Question: Regarding # of Transparencies Supported, what is the intent? Is the request to identify the levels of translucency (i.e. 16, 64, 256, etc.) or the types of translucency (i.e. screen-door, contour, etc.)? Response: The request is to identify the levels of translucency. Any additional information you want to provide, as long as it fits within the 6 pages, will be reviewed.. Question: Regarding the Symbology capability, what are the driving requirements? For example, is it desirable for symbology to be a video overlay? Is it desirable for symbology to be a part of the rendered scene? Response: Symbology is required to simulate the military equipment that is included with the CFFT. Currently the CFFT includes simulated Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR), Night Vision Goggles (NVG), and binoculars with reticle. For this simulated military equipment the symbology is part of the rendered scene. Question: Is the symbology expected to be controlled via CIGI? Is a separate symbology API desired? Response: Yes, it is expected for the symbology to be controlled via CIGI. The JFPL extensions include controls for the current simulated military equipment. Question: Regarding the ephemeris model, is an accurate earth curvature horizon depression required? How critical is the start field alignment? Response: A realistic looking earth curvature horizon depression is required. The sky should include correctly sized stars, but star field alignment is not a requirement. Question: Regarding the illuminating light sources, what types of lighting are required (i.e. Per-pixel, Per-vertex, light maps, static/dynamic, shadow-casting, etc)? Response: Image generators are frequently configured to match the requirements of the customer and the cost. For the image generator configuration that you would propose for the CFFT - keeping in mind that the image generators are used to render the simulated military equipment scene, the stealth scene, and a single projector and a key parameter is low cost visual system - what features in the database would have illuminating lights? Question: Regarding illumination flares, what is meant by complexity of the visible screen? Does complexity in this sense imply glare, shadows, and similar advanced effects? Response: Complexity of the visible screen is asking for a description of the rendered scene. For example, we support 10 simultaneous flares with a desert scene, no features and no moving models; or, we support 4 simultaneous flares in a flat urban area with 50 geo-typical buildings, light tree scatter and 10 models moving. Your description can also include advanced effects. Question: Regarding the support for ground clamping of models, are multiple ground clamping modes required (i.e. rigid body, dynamics model, etc.)? Response: No. Question: Regarding the screen control framework, does this imply that the IG will not own the display (i.e. not full-screen mode)? Response: Yes, that is correct. Question: Does PEO STRI anticipate a short term future demo, is a prototype desired with the study, or is it merely focusing on an analytic study with estimated costs? Response: No demonstration or prototype is anticipated, neither time nor money will allow this approach. The analysis will be conducted using the information received from the Sources Sought and possible discussions with vendors. Question: Does PEO STRI anticipate integration of a system in Oct/Nov or development starting then followed by integration. Response: We anticipate integration of a production image generator into the CFFT systems starting Oct/Nov.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/STRICOM/W900KK/W900KK00000/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: PEO STRI Acquisition Center 12350 Research Parkway, Orlando FL<br />
- Zip Code: 32826-3276<br />
- Zip Code: 32826-3276<br />
- Record
- SN01821582-W 20090520/090518235511-c9493ae3683524a9d62f9b30ef9a52e1 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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