SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Inductive Coupled Underwater Ocean Temperature Sensors
- Notice Date
- 1/22/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334519
— Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region-National Data Buoy Center, National Data Buoy Center, Building 1007 - Procurement Team, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, 39529-6000, United States
- ZIP Code
- 39529-6000
- Solicitation Number
- EA133W-13-RFI-0002
- Point of Contact
- Kurt L. Weilbaecher, Phone: 228-688-2825, Brendon Johnson, Phone: 757-441-3344
- E-Mail Address
-
kurt.weilbaecher@noaa.gov, brendon.johnson@noaa.gov
(kurt.weilbaecher@noaa.gov, brendon.johnson@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This request for information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and is issued in accordance with FAR Provision 52.215-3 provided at: http://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/52_215.html#wp1144503. No solicitation document exists at this time. Issuance of this notice does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procure these items or services to issue a solicitation. In addition, the Government is under no obligation to pay for information submitted in response to this request for information, and responses to this notice cannot be accepted as offers. Any information that the vendor considers proprietary should be clearly marked as such. The NAICs code for this acquisition is 334519 - Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing and the size standard is 500 employees. All capability statement packages are requested by January 31, 2013 (4:00 P.M. - Central Time) and any questions must be submitted in writing to the following e-mail: kurt.weilbaecher@noaa.gov by January 25, 2013. Background Information: NDBC is in the process of implementing a technology refresh of existing TAO stations. Part of the process of this refresh has been to replace obsolete sensors with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment. Seabird Electronics was found to be the only commercial provider supplying inductively temperature and temperature/pressure sensors for the profiled array on climate quality platforms and the Tropical Atmosphere/Ocean (TAO) project. Additional background on the TAO program can be found on our website at: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/ Capability Statement Objectives and Requirements: For the purpose of this announcement, the ocean sensors must meet the following minimum requirements: Description Measurement Range -5 to 35 degree C Accuracy +- 0.002 degree C Resolution 0.0001 degree C Depth Rating 600 or 10500 m Supply Voltage 7.2 VDC Communication Inductive Memory 64 Mbyte non-volatile FLASH (32 Mbyte useable) Dimensions 048.3 mm X 387 mm Weight in Air 1.1 or 1.6 kg Weight in Water.5 or 1 kg Materials PET Plastic or Titanium The NOAA-NDBC is seeking the following information: 1. Potential Respondents shall provide capability statements that describe how they would successfully provide a sensor that meets all of the above stated requirements, Statement of Work (SOW) and applicable U.S. laws, regulations, policies and procedures. 2. Potential respondents shall provide documentation as whether the respondent can be represented as a small business concern under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, 334519, Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (size standard is 500 employees). 3. Potential respondents shall respond to this RFI with a price sheet and a description of the item(s) that may be provided. 4. All response and response contents to this RFI will be considered information only and will not be binding on the parties. Contractors responding to this request will not be obligated to provide the services described herein and it is understood by the United States Government that the costs provided as a result of this request are "best" estimates only. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States government. 5. Provide all responses in MSWord 2000 (or later version) or Adobe.pdf. Point of Contact is Kurt Weilbaecher, Contract Specialist at 228-688-2825; fax 228-688-3153. No collect calls will be accepted. A hard copy can be sent to: National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Attn: Kurt Weilbaecher Bldg 3205 Stennis Space Center MS 39529-6000 DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK: 1.0 INTRODUCTION This specification contains the requirements used at the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). The instruments are intended to be deployed for extended periods of time and provide near real-time accurate temperature, conductivity and pressure from the ocean from numerous NDBC moored buoys 2.0 REQUIREMENTS The procured item shall include all hardware and software necessary to make recurring, on-demand measurements of the temperature, conductivity, and pressure of the ocean surface and subsurface and to communicate to an inductive modem at the surface (IMS). The instrument shall be battery powered, with an internal clock, and with externally programmable deployment parameters and sampling schemes. NDBC is seeking two configurations with two pressure/depth options of Inductive Modem Instrumentation (IMI): 1. Temperature, inductive modem 2. Temperature and Conductivity, inductive modem 3. Pressure/Depth Option Shallow for configurations 1 and 2. 4. Pressure/Depth Option Intermediate for configurations 1 and 2. In addition, NDBC is seeking Inductive Modems at the Surface (IMS) to interface between the Inductive Modem Instrumentation and the buoy's controlling computer, and Inductive Coupling Devices to connect the Inductive Modem at the Surface with the buoy's mooring wire to which the Inductive Modem Instrumentation is attached. Instruments are intended to be deployed for nominal 1 year durations (400 days) to depths of 750 meters, drawing power from their own internal power source. The instruments will provide temperature, conductivity, and pressure measurements in response to polling via inductive modem, located at the surface, on an hourly basis. Preference will be given to those vendors that demonstrate that their instruments are resistant to biofouling for the nominal one year duration and still meet the battery endurance specification. If instrumentation configurations are depth-dependent, the vendor should separate and specify operating depths for the configurations. 2.1 DATA STORAGE AND BATTERY ENDURANCE FOR THE INDUCTIVE MODEM INSTRUMENTATION Memory capacity should be at least 50,000 samples. Battery pack(s) should be shippable without hazardous material restrictions. The batteries should be internal to the instrument and provide sufficient capacity for a one year deployment and inductive communications up to 24 times per day for that one year. The batteries must be easily replaceable and the vendor shall provide a procedure for this process prior to award. All data, plus time marks and battery voltage must be stored internally and be retrievable after recovery. To extend battery life the Inductive Modem Instrumentation shall provide the capability to be commanded or after a given amount of time of no activity return to a standby mode of a very low power state. Upon the command of the Inductive Modem at the Surface, the Inductive Modem Instrumentation shall be able to return to an active state for data collection and transmit the data to the Inductive Modem at the Surface. 2.2 SENSOR PERFORMANCE 2.2.1 TEMPERATURE Range: -2 ºC to +35 ºC Resolution: 0.001 ºC Initial accuracy: ±0.005 ºC Drift: Not more than 0.01 ºC over 1 year Maximum operating depth 750 meters. Options for lower cost instruments with the same range, resolution, accuracy, and drift specifications to operate in depths 300 meters and less are desired. Must not be biased by solar radiation 2.2.2 CONDUCTIVITY Range: 0-7 S/m Resolution: 0.00001 S/m Initial accuracy: 0.0003 S/m Drift: Not more than 0.004 S/m over 1 year (not including fouling or other environmentally induced drift). Conductivity sensors which may be susceptible to bias due to biological growth should be equipped with a safe and prudent method of inhibiting such growth. MSDS sheets must be provided for any chemical anti- biofoulants that are used, and sufficient quantities of anti-biofoulant chemicals must be provided to meet the one-year operating period under the sampling schemes in section 2.2.5 up to 24 times per day. Maximum operating depth 750 meters. 2.2.3 PRESSURE/DEPTH Shallow Option: Range (Depth equivalent): 0 - 300 meters. Intermediate Option: Range (Depth equivalent): 0 - 750 meters. Resolution both options: 0.002% of range. Initial accuracy both options: 0.1% of range. Drift both options: Not more than 0.05% of range over 1 year Wetted materials shall be seawater compatible 2.2.4 CLOCK ACCURACY: ±5 ppm (± 3 min after 1 year). The clock must have the capability to check its accuracy and correct in the pre-deployment configuring. An option to check and correct clock from surface buoy via IMS is desired. 2.2.5 SAMPLING: Sample and data storage rates should be user selectable. The instrument must be capable of sampling all sensors (Temperature, Pressure, and Conductivity) at rates of up to 1 Hz. Single samples or averages of samples shall be stored at rates of 5 seconds to 1 day. Temperature and Conductivity samples should be sufficiently coincident in time to suppress spiking when salinity is computed. Sampling and averaging shall take place upon command from the Inductive Modem at the Surface, and be configurable in the pre-deployment configuration. 2.2.6 MECHANICAL: 2.2.6.1. Size/Weight/Configuration: Instruments and associated mounts should be small and streamlined to decrease drag and vulnerability to catching on fishing nets or line. The combination of sensors, mounting devices, flow-through devices, and optional anti-biofouling accessories should result in an integrated instrument not larger than 7.0" in width or breadth and less than 27" in length. 2.2.6.2 Case Design/Materials: All external materials shall be highly resistant (nearly immune) to seawater corrosion. Case/endcap design shall have safety features that minimize the risk to personnel opening cases. For example: Thread design that allows pressure to vent before endcap becomes disengaged from thread. Electronics, batteries, memory, and sensor mounting (temperature, conductivity, and optional pressure) should be integrated and encased in a single, highly corrosion resistant pressure vessel. Exposed sensor heads and attached flow systems may protrude from the single pressure vessel not to exceed size specifications in 2.2.6.1 above and not interfere with the mooring line. 2.2.6.3 Mount Design: Instruments will be mounted to mooring line ranging from 3/8"OD-3/4"OD. Mounts and clamping should accommodate this range of diameters, or be adaptable either by vendor customization, or the vendor providing specifications that the mounts can be altered by NDBC to meet the required range. Mount(s) must be streamlined to decrease vulnerability to catching on fishing nets or line and should have all captive parts with high resistance to seawater corrosion. Mounting system should be very robust to survive the energetic conditions of surface mooring motion and line strumming, yet should not permanently damage the mooring line. Accessories to streamline the mounting and reduce vulnerability to fishing nets or line should be described and quoted separately. 2.2.6.4 Vibration: The instrument and wire attachment clamps should survive the continuous energetic conditions of surface mooring motion and line strumming in the frequency range of 5 to 20 Hz. 2.3 COMMUNICATIONS The attachment technique of the toroid to mooring line must be very simple, and easily performed on the deck of a moving ship using all captive parts. The instrument should provide reliable, low-cost, low-power, real-time half-duplex ASCII data transmission via an inductive modem compatible with the Seabird Electronics, Inc., DPSK (differential-phase-shift-keyed) protocol, using a single, plastic-coated, mooring cable or insulated wire. The modem and inductive coil are to be integral to the instrument. Instruments may be clamped anywhere along the mooring cable of up to 750m length. On the buoy, a corresponding Inductive Modem at the Surface (specifications follow) completes the link between the underwater Inductive Modem Instrumentation and a computer or data logger. Module addresses should be sufficient for up to 20 instruments per mooring. Modules shall be commanded to return either averaged or instantaneous data. Communication scheme should be able to transmit through 750m of insulated mooring wire on a spool, as a check out procedure prior to deployment. Lab diagnostics, setup, and data extraction may be performed by looping any insulated wire through the inductive core and connecting the wire ends to the Inductive Modem at the Surface, by plugging in directly to the instruments external connector. 2.4 SOFTWARE The vendor shall provide programming, test and data processing software that are executable on a standard Windows 2000 PC or notebook computer. The software shall include the programs, utilities, and instructions necessary to communicate and retrieve stored data from the internal memory, and configure the instruments for testing and pre-deployment configuration. Additionally, a graphical representation of all stored data should be provided for "quick-look" evaluation of data. The vendor shall provide documentation on the operation, interface, configuration, and use of the software with the instrumentation and modems. 2.5 INDUCTIVE MODEM AT THE SURFACE (IMS) The IMS shall be able to interface and communicate with the Inductive Modem Instrumentation, described in Section 2.2 above. The IMS shall meet the above specifications for Communications and Sampling. The IMS shall provide an RS-232C interface for connection to the buoy's controlling computer. The IMS shall consist of a single, printed circuit card no larger than 4.5 by 6 inches. The IMS shall be able to interface with the Inductive Coupling Devices specified below in section 2.6. The Inductive Modem at the Surface will use the buoy's power service that ranges from 8 to 20 VDC. The Inductive Modem at the Surface should draw no more than 60 milliamps of current in the stated range of operating voltages. Lower current draws are desired. 2.6 INDUCTIVE COUPLING DEVICES TO THE INDUCTIVE MODEM AT THE SURFACE Flexible Inductive Coupling Devices shall provide connectivity between the Inductive Modem at the Surface and the jacketed mooring wire to which the Inductive Modem Instrumentation is attached. The Inductive Coupling Devices shall be compatible with the Inductive Modem at the Surface and the Inductive Modem Instrumentation. The Inductive Coupling Device shall be able to span lengths up to 10 meters. The Inductive Coupling Device must endure and provide reliable connectivity for the nominal one-year deployment period and allow for the differential motion of the buoy and the mooring wire. 3.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND DELIVERABLES 3.1 LABORATORY QUALITY ASSURANCE The instrument shall be equipped with or have the software for performing internal diagnostics to check at a minimum the status and health of the battery pack(s), clock, and sensors. 3.2 CONCEPT QUALITY ASSURANCE The contractor shall provide NDBC with documentation and test data demonstrating the proof of concept of their instrument against measured values from an independent instrument. If this documentation has been provided in the past to NDBC, it is not necessary to duplicate this effort. 3.3 DELIVERABLES The following items shall be provided at a minimum for each instrument that is purchased: a) Instrument including options, fresh internal Batteries (minimum remaining shelf life of 2 yrs), and internal memory b) Documents as per 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2 c) Software as per 2.4 4.0 ORDERING DATA Contract documents should specify the following: a) Title, number and date of this specification b) Number and type of instruments to be delivered c) Requested delivery date and price d) Any additions to or deviations from this specification e) Destination freight delivery point: National Data Buoy Center Attn: Property Officer Building 3203 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/NDBC/EA133W-13-RFI-0002/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Ntional Data Buoy Center (NDBC), Bldg 3205, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, 39529-6000, United States
- Zip Code: 39529-6000
- Zip Code: 39529-6000
- Record
- SN02970138-W 20130124/130122234505-f79eb691d7ecd5694ea92a453bafe654 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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