SRCSGT | A | Request for Information (RFI). The U.S. Army desires to obtain information on research associated with the development of a Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP).

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 19, 2009 FBO #2917
SOURCES SOUGHT

A -- Request for Information (RFI). The U.S. Army desires to obtain information on research associated with the development of a Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP).

Notice Date: 11/17/2009
Notice Type: Sources Sought
NAICS: 541712 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contracting Office: AMCOM Contracting Center - Missile (AMCOM-CC), ATTN: AMSAM-AC, Building 5303, Martin Road, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5280
ZIP Code: 35898-5280
Solicitation Number: W31P4Q-10-R-0044
Response Due: 1/4/2010
Archive Date: 3/5/2010
Point of Contact: Lisa Duncan, 256-842-7408
E-Mail Address: AMCOM Contracting Center - Missile (AMCOM-CC)
(lisa.d.duncan@us.army.mil)
Small Business Set-Aside: N/A
Description: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR SOLICITATION FOR PLANNING PURPOSES (OCT 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although proposal and offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of obtaining information to serve as a market survey to aid in research associated with the potential development of a Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP). This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued pursuant to FAR 15.2. The Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Redstone Arsenal, AL, on behalf of the U.S. Army, desires to obtain information to serve as a market survey to aid in research associated with the development of a Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP). Previous designs have generally still been modular in overall approach with the gyroscopes, accelerometers, and their associated electronics being designed and fabricated as separate entities. This approach required separate packaging for each of the sensors and their electronics. The primary development goal of the potential SCISP development would be to fabricate all sensors on a single silicon die to eliminate as much packaging volume as possible. It is envisioned that problems would be identified during the course of the development of the SCISP that arise specifically due to the close proximity of the sensors. The primary research purpose of the potential SCISP development would be to identify those problems, postulate methods of mitigating those issues, and, to the extent possible, implement those mitigation strategies to evaluate their effectiveness. The government does not presently intend to award a contract, but desires information on risk, capability, price, collaborative research opportunities and other information in planning the potential development of a SCISP. As a result of issuing this RFI, the Government expects to receive technical, programmatic, and collaborative research methodologies to assist in the development of the following: (a) Determine the ability of current and near term technology to support a SCISP. (b) Identify potential sensor designs, whose owning institutions are willing to collaborate on this potential development effort, that have demonstrated the potential to meet the objectives stated below. (c) Determine the approximate cost information for the potential SCISP development effort. (d) Establish a reasonable schedule for the potential SCISP development effort. Interested and capable sources are asked to submit a white paper addressing each of the areas of interest listed above. If available, fabrication and test data from existing sensor designs should be included in the white paper. The Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP) would contain six inertial sensors, three accelerometers and three gyroscopes, on a single silicon die or on individual die placed within a single package that consumes no more volume than a single die. The desired size of the SCISP silicon die containing all sensors is less than 17mm by 17mm by 1.7mm. Vertical stacking or novel packaging of individual silicon die each containing a subset of the sensors will be considered if a good packaging approach is proposed and the volume of the stack remains less than 500 cubic mm. This volume is allocated for the sensors only, the electronics will have a separate volume allocation. It is envisioned that the electronics for the SCISP will utilize state-of-the-art die-level packaging techniques for the sensitive pickoff amplifiers to minimize the signal path lengths for the critical signals. It is envisioned that all other required electronics will be packaged using standard Printed Circuit Board (PCB) mounting techniques with discrete electronics. The currently envisioned SCISP will not include Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) development. The smaller missile applications targeted by the SCISP generally have higher dynamic requirements than historical missile systems because their small size enables them to be more agile. Fortunately, they generally also have less stringent performance requirements because they fly for shorter distances and for shorter times. A summary of the desired inertial sensor performance goals of the SCISP is as follows: Gyro Range: plus or minus 1500 deg per sec; Gyro Bias: 0.1 deg per sec; Gyro Scale Factor: 1000 PPM; Gyro Angle Random Walk: 0.5 deg per root hr; Gyro Acceleration Sensitivity: 20 deg per hr per G; Gyro Bandwidth: 100 Hz; Accelerometer Range: 200 G; Accelerometer Bias: 70 mG; Accelerometer Scale Factor: 1250 PPM; Accelerometer Velocity Random Walk: 3 meters per sec per root hr; and Accelerometer Bandwidth: 100 Hz. The performance goals are not the primary goals of the potential SCISP development. The performance goals are secondary behind (1) proving feasibility and (2) identifying and mitigating issues caused by close proximity of the sensors. The envisioned SCISP would be expected to leverage existing gyroscope and accelerometer sensor designs from one or multiple collaborating entities and lay them out onto a single silicon die to reduce wasted packaging volume. This could potentially require that (1) all sensors be fabricated simultaneously using compatible processes, (2) sensors be fabricated independently and afterward be mounted onto a single die (substrate), or (3) sensors be fabricated separately and be stacked on a single silicon die (substrate). It is highly desirable that all sensors be fabricated simultaneously using compatible processes as this has the potential for very low fabrication and assembly costs, but alternate concepts are encouraged and will be considered. AMRDEC maintains its own silicon Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication facility and has extensive MEMS fabrication capability within our Weapon Sciences Directorate (WSD). It is desirable for the potential SCISP to utilize these facilities to the maximum extent possible for cost, schedule, and process repeatability purposes. The envisioned potential SCISP development would be aggressive research whose primary goals would be to (1) prove feasibility of placing all six inertial sensors on a single silicon die and (2) identify issues and mitigating strategies caused by close proximity of the sensors. Because of this, the potential SCISP development would likely begin with existing sensor designs with electronics functioning at least at the breadboard level. It is not the intent of the SCISP to develop new sensors or electronics but to repackage existing sensors and existing electronics. The government encourages creativity and collaboration in response to this RFI. All white papers must include the following: 1. A brief description of the proposed SCISP; 2. A brief description of the proposed gyroscopes and accelerometers on which the proposed SCISP is based; 3. A brief description of the existing fabrication procedure used in the fabrication of the gyroscopes and accelerometers on which the proposed SCISP is based; 4. Test data from existing gyroscopes and accelerometers on which the proposed SCISP is based; 5. A brief description of the notional layout, fabrication, and assembly procedure for the proposed SCISP. This is anticipated to be only notional; 6. A brief description of any projects that the respondents company is or has been involved in that would be leveraged for the SCISP or are similar in concept to what is described in this RFI. This should include any relevant lessons learned; and 7. The respondents recommendation for proper collaboration vehicle. The objective of this process is the development of a more realistic SCISP program to (1) prove feasibility of the SCISP concept and (2) identify and mitigate issues caused by close proximity of the sensors. THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS NOT AN INVITATION FOR BID OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. Rather this Request for Information is part of a technology survey that is an integral part of US Army planning efforts for possible future programs. The US Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request for information, neither is the government liable for any costs associated with the preparation of this RFI. Interested and capable sources are asked to submit a white paper not to exceed 25 pages in length and no smaller than size 12 Times New Roman font. Responses may include multiple concept submittals. After RFI release, there will be a period of for question submittal. All questions must be submitted in writing and reference the RFI number no later than 3:00 CST on 4 December 2009; telephone requests for addition information will not be honored. All RFI responses must be submitted to the technical point of contact, Brian Grantham at brian.e.grantham@us.army.mil no later than 12:00pm (noon) Central Standard Time (CST) on 04 January 2010. In addition to the information provided above, all responses to this RFI must include the RFI number, company or institution name, Company and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and point of contact information. Acknowledgement of receipt will only be issued if a return receipt is requested with the submission. Please do not submit any classified information. All information submitted will be treated as confidential and will not be released outside of the Government. The Government reserves the right to request further clarification or request presentations to enhance the Governments understanding of the respondents submittal. RFI responses will be accepted from United States companies and organizations only. No foreign participation is authorized. White papers that fail to comply with the above instructions or present ideas that are not pertinent to the subject may not be reviewed. This is a request for information purposes only. This notice does not constitute a commit by the U.S. Army to procure products or services. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO AWARD A CONTRACT ON THE BASIS OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR OTHERWISE PAY FOR THE INFORMATION SOLICITED. No award is intended as a result of the RFI. Information submitted in response to this RFI is submitted at no cost to the Government and will not be returned. Any exchange of information shall be consistent with procurement integrity requirements, and all appropriate proprietary claims will be protected to prevent improper disclosure. In the event you have difficulty reading this RFI, please contact Lisa D. Duncan via email at lisa.d.duncan@us.army.mil for a copy of this notice.
Web Link: FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/700ba46057695a4c135c6d54ff92dd9f)
Place of Performance: Address: AMCOM Contracting Center - Missile (AMCOM-CC) ATTN: AMSAM-AC, Building 5303, Martin Road Redstone Arsenal AL; Zip Code: 35898-5280
Record: SN02005075-W 20091119/091117235126-700ba46057695a4c135c6d54ff92dd9f (fbodaily.com)
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A -- Request for Information (RFI). The U.S. Army desires to obtain information on research associated with the development of a Single Chip Inertial Sensor Package (SCISP).