SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Intent to Sole Source - FLIR ThermaCAM SC660
- Notice Date
- 8/30/2011
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- Contracting Office
- IMR - YELL - Yellowstone National Park Contracting OfficePO Box 168 Yellowstone National Park WY 82190
- ZIP Code
- 82190
- Archive Date
- 8/29/2012
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
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- Description
- United States Department of the InteriorNATIONAL PARK SERVICEYELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARKPO Box 168Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190 JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION for SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS OVER $3,000 AND UP TO $100,000 (See FAR 13.106-1) Date: August 2, 2011PR Number: R1580110398 1. Nature and/or description of the item/service being procured and its intended use (include the anticipated cost): It is the intention of the YNP Geology Program to upgrade our existing infrared (IR) camera to assist in our expanding geothermal monitoring program. This equipment will result in a significant return on investment in the coming months and years in more reliable and productive equipment. The YNP Geology Program has used a FLIR SC640 since 2007. It is considered an integral part of the YNP Geology Program, having been used for trail reroutes in hydrothermal areas (visitor and employee safety issues), analyses of thermal conditions involved with geothermal injuries, and the monitoring of the park's hydrothermal resources. Due to the investment involved, it is our desire to purchase the best IR technology currently available for our applications. Based on our evaluation of systems on the open market, we have selected the FLIR Systems SC660. The SC660 is the only system that meets all of our application requirements for accurate and quick thermal inspections and real time analysis. The SC660 will save us significant man-hours in test preparation and real-time data analysis. In addition, FLIR Systems is the leading manufacturer of this type of equipment in the world. Therefore, we feel FLIR is best positioned to offer the long term service, and training we expect and need with this type of equipment. Also, FLIR will give YNP a $7,000 credit for the new purchase by trading in our FLIR SC640 resulting in a total purchase cost of $43,460. 2. Sole Source Justification rationale (Check one and explain below): ___X___Only one responsible source. ______Urgent and compelling circumstances exist. Include critical delivery or performance dates, and when you became aware of the requirement. Provide a specific statement of the impact on Government operations, financial or otherwise, if the required delivery or performance dates are not met. Explain: 3. Market Research. Please explain the results or why one was not performed. State whether any other offers were received or anyone expressed interest: No other thermal infrared camera possessed the required capabilities as discussed below. FLIR Thermacam SC660 Description High Definition 640 X 480 Detector, 6 ms Response TimeThe SC660 has a high definition 640 X 480 infrared detector with over 307 thousand pixels, and four times the resolution of most other handheld IR cameras. This means a substantially better image quality, which will allow us to identify more problems from further away. The FLIR SC660 is the only microbolometer based camera on the market that we have found to have a 6 millisecond detector response time. The benefit for us is to eliminate poor images due to movement either by the operator or the target. Competitive cameras are typically 320 x 240 which is only the resolution and will be less effective at finding problems. We have found during demonstrations that the 6 ms response time provides exceptionally better image quality compared to other microbolometer based systems that have 16 ms response times or greater. This is critical for our aircraft uses (both helicopter and fixed wing). Accurate Measurements on Smaller Targets from Further AwayOur application requires the most accurate temperature measurement system possible. The SC660 is the most accurate IR camera on the market at +/-1 C or +/-1% of reading. This performance is exceptional. All other competitive systems on the market have error in accuracy that is 100% greater. The SC660 has a larger target distance to spot size ratio because of the higher resolution array. Consequently, the SC660 will accurately measure the temperature of a smaller target from substantially further away than other IR cameras. The ability to be further away from hazardous equipment and environments makes IR inspections easier, quicker, and safer for our operators. The SC660 and other FLIR products are also the only products on the market that are able to account for transmissivity, a key factor for imaging through various IR transmitting windows and materials. Competitive systems are not as accurate and some lacked critical input parameters like reflected temperature and transmission correction. They also need to be twice as close to the target in most cases to get an accurate measurement. 30 mK NETD and Digital Image Enhancement functionThe SC660 is the most sensitive uncooled infrared camera on the market. At normal frames rates the system achieves 30 milliKelvin sensitivity. This and the digital image enhancement capability of the camera (enhances contrast without image averaging) allow us to see smaller temperature differences which are critical in a variety of our application. Competitive systems are not nearly as sensitive. The closest only achieves 80 mK sensivity at full frame rate. Cameras that use image averaging to achieve greater sensitivities are not usable as they require the operator to use a tripod at all times to capture images. Tiltable Viewfinder and Rotatable LCDThe SC660 is the only camera with a viewfinder and high resolution LCD. The tilt-able viewfinder is ideal for our outdoor work, especially in bright sunlight. Only a viewfinder is capable of viewing targets under all lighting conditions. The 5.6" wide screen LCD is ideal for our indoor work where multiple people can view the images on the large display. Systems that offer an LCD only are not usable in all conditions and are not acceptable for our application. Systems that offer a non-tiltable viewfinder are also of poor quality and will cause neck strain with operators. Standard JPEG ImagesSC660 IR and visual images are in a standard JPEG format. These images can be loaded directly into Windows programs like Microsoft Word without the need for any additional software. These standard images can also be emailed and opened by anyone. Competitive systems use proprietary image formats, requiring anyone who wants to view the images to load proprietary software to do so. Auto FocusThe SC660 is the easiest camera for our operators to use, having both manual and auto focus. This allows even new users to get IR images that are in perfect focus. IR cameras not having auto focus will result in out of focus images that need to be re-shot and are therefore unacceptable. Integrated Visual Camera The SC660 has an integrated 3 Mega pixel, auto focus visual camera that will allow us to take visual reference images common in science and R&D applications. IR cameras that do not have integrated visual capability are unacceptable for our program needs. IR cameras with less than 3 MP cameras or with manual focus will cause poor image quality. Visual Target IlluminatorThe SC660 visual camera has a target illuminator or lamp for taking pictures in low light areas. This is important to us as many of our targets are in dark areas like enclosures and housings. With the target illuminator, we can get good reference visual images regardless of the lighting conditions. This target illuminator is automatically activated when the visual camera is activated and is powered by the main camera battery. IR cameras without a target illuminator, or with illuminators that require separate manual activation or are powered by a separate battery will not be able to capture well lit images on a consistent basis and are therefore unusable. Attachable Wide Angle, Telephoto and Close Up LensesThe SC660 allows for wide angle, telephoto and close up lenses to be interchanged with or attached to the 24 degree FOV lens that comes standard with the camera. Competitive systems do not offer a sufficient array of lenses so will not perform well enough over time in our infrared program. Eight to one continuous ZOOM and panThe SC660 has an incorporated 8 to 1 continuous image zoom and can pan the entire IR image to identify the exact area of interest. This will allow us to identify target of interest from further way and make IR analysis easier and more accurate. Competitive systems lacked this helpful functionality. Safety Enhancing Laser LocatorThe SC660 has a laser locator that quickly helps associate the hot spot on the IR image with the exact location, in appropriate light conditions. Competitive systems do not offer this feature and may compromise our operator's safety as a result. Voice Annotation with Each ImageThe SC660 allows the operator to record a full 30 seconds of digital voice and embed it with each IR image using a noise cancellation headset. This allows a full description of the target and test condition to be recorded in the field and then documented in the IR report. The voice comment is then played back in the report generation program without having to find the comment file separately. Systems that do not have voice annotation would require a clipboard be carried in the field and are therefore unacceptable. Systems that do not play back the voice comment in the provided software are similarly unacceptable due to unlikely usefulness. Text Comment from multiple premade listsThe SC660 comes with the ability to choose from multiple premade text comment lists. This feature allows us to fully document the test in the field. The end result is scans are performed faster in the field because separate notes do not made and reports are created instantaneously instead of taking hours to create. Competitive systems do not have this capability and so would cause our infrared program to be less efficient. 3 hours Run-Time on a Single BatteryThe SC660 comes with an intelligent charging station capable of conditioning and charging two 3-hour batteries at a time. In addition, like a cell phone, you can plug the SC660 into an AC outlet or optional 12V cable and charge the battery while still in the camera. The batteries in competitive systems lasted less than half as long and required removal to charge. Ambient Drift CompensationThe SC660 ExaminIR system has a unique ambient drift compensation feature which allows for more repeatable and accurate temperature measurements. This gives the system a significant calibration accuracy advantage since it has internal temperature sensors which are monitored during the calibration process as the camera is cycled through a range of ambient temperatures in a temperature controlled chamber. The calibration file includes temperature look up tables to account for changes in the camera's operating temperature. This is a critical benefit especially when operating the camera in the field under varying temperature conditions. Software Specifications: "Connecting the camera to a PC via the camera Gig-E digital port will provide analysis of fully temperature calibrated video using the software. "The software must allow for the recording of static imagery or a collection of image sequences. "The software must offer compatibility with the most common IR camera image formats:.img,.seq, radiometric jpeg (Agema & FLIR);.tif (Inframetrics);.ana (FSI);.tmw, tlw, tgw (Thermotecnics). Any software that cannot read and measure temperatures on all of these types of images is not acceptable since it will not allow us to use our archives of images. "The software must be able to store images as IR images (.img,.tif etc.), standard windows bitmaps (.bmp), standard ASC II (comma separated values.csv) and sequences of images as sequence files (.seq) or as a series of bitmaps or as an.wmv movie. "Analysis Functions - "Must include multiple spotmeters, rectangles, circles, polygons, line profiles (straight and bendable), and isotherms"The temperature of each tool should be displayed on the image and in a results table and must update as the tool is moved around the image and as the sequence is played back. For area measurements the minimum, maximum, average and standard deviation of temperature should be displayed."A profile of temperature should be graphed for each line and update in real time"A histogram of temperature should be displayed for lines or area tools "Time vs. Temperature Plots - The software must provide time vs. temperature plots for each tool. This plot must be graphed and the data for the curve stored in a format that can be opened directly in MS Excel. "The software must support acquisition to memory to allow for burst recording at the maximum frame rate of the camera as well as acquisition to disk for longer recording periods at slower frame rates. "The software must be able to read out in degrees (C, F, K, R) or A/D counts. "The software must support automatic gain control of linear or plateau equalization and shall scale off entire image, manual selection, or selected region of interest. "The software must have built in camera command and control for a variety of cameras including FLIR A, S and SC Series cameras. "The software must have customizable workspaces with a "float and dock" type interface to tailor how plots and graphs are displayed per user preferences. "The software must be compatible with the camera's ambient drift compensation feature for repeatable accurate temperature measurements. "The software must have the ability to generate self viewing files i.e. it must export a copy of a movie sequence bundled with the application so that the data can be viewed by someone without the software. Factory Infrared Certification Training FLIR Systems, through the Infrared Training Center (ITC), is the only infrared camera manufacturer to offer Thermographer certification classes. The ITC is the Global leader in IR Thermography Training. Successful course completion provides ITC Level I Thermographer Certification. Level II and III as well as applications specific classes are also available. The ITC is the only ISO-9001 Registered and NETA accredited in IR Thermography Training. Factory training and technical support in the US must be available. Local support must also be available IR Camera Justification Summary The FLIR SC660 is the highest performance IR camera offering the best image quality, measurement capability, and overall functionality. The SC660 is the only system that meets all of our application and program requirements. It will allow us to find more problems quicker, easier, and more safely. No other company in the world offers this type of product. Therefore, our evaluation has resulted in our requesting the purchase of a SC660 together with those accessories noted on our requisition. 4. If this is a determination for sole source, the Contracting Officer certifies: a.Only one source is available, or urgent and compelling circumstances exist. b.The anticipated price will be determined fair and reasonable using the price analysis techniques described in FAR Part 13.106-3(a). /s/ Hank Heasler8/30/11Project Officer Date /s/ Stacy Vallie8/30/11Contracting OfficerDate
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