SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION RELATED TO THE NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION FIREBIRDDEMONSTRATOR SURROGATE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
- Notice Date
- 10/13/2015
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Armstrong Flight Research Center, Code A, P.O. Box 273, Edwards, CA93523-0273
- ZIP Code
- 93523-0273
- Solicitation Number
- NASAUAS-2016
- Archive Date
- 10/13/2016
- Point of Contact
- Rosalia Toberman, Contracting Officer, Phone 661-276-3931, Fax 661-276-2904, Email rosalia.toberman-1@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Rosalia Toberman
(rosalia.toberman-1@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This special notice synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. Respondents will not be notified of the results. All responses will be treated as Source Selection Information. All vendor information will be protected to certify procurement integrity. Description: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) (UAS-NAS) Project within the Integrated Aviation Systems Program of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is soliciting information through this Request for Information (RFI) for a Surrogate UA in support of the Projects Flight Test Series (FT) 4. The principle objective of this RFI is for the Project to receive information from the Northrop Grumman Corporation Firebird Project on the following: 1. A Surrogate UA capability. 2. Availability of the Surrogate UA for the duration of the FT4 schedule. 3. Upgrades to the Surrogate UA to support connectivity to the NASA Research Ground Control Station (RGCS). Background: The UAS-NAS Project plan is to contribute research findings to reduce technical barriers related to the safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS in technology areas aligned with current NASA expertise and capabilities. The Project was planned for two phases.The first phase included development and integration of system-level key concepts, technologies, and/or procedures based on UAS stakeholder/community needs. Phase 1 also included refinement of those needs as part of defining the specifics of the Phase 2 research portfolio. Phase 2 of the Project includes demonstration of the integrated technologies in operationally relevant environments. The technology areas selected for Phase 2 include detect and avoid (DAA), communications, human systems integration (HSI), and Integrated Tests and Evaluation (IT&E) [Live, Virtual, and Constructive Distributed Environment (LVC-DE) development]. This selection was accomplished through a fairly rigorous research selection process, that not only considered existing NASA expertise and capabilities, but also Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), RTCA Special Committee (SC)-228, and UAS community research needs. The Projects Phase 2 research activities contribute to the development of SC-228 Phase 1 Final DAA and command and control (C2) Data Link minimum operational performance standards (MOPS), as well as providing foundational research associated with full integration of UAS into the NAS. The Project will contribute to the development of the Phase 1 DAA MOPS through the conduct of operationally representative flight evaluations of the DAA alerting and maneuver guidance technologies employing a Research Ground Control Station (RGCS) and operational UAS test subject pilots (MQ-1/9, RQ-4). In addition, these flight tests will provide increased confidence in the final Phase 1 MOPS recommendations by validating human in the loop part-task 6 simulation results. Requirements: The UAS-NAS Project has a need for a Surrogate UA to fulfill the requirements of its Flight Test Series 4 (FT4) full mission activity in support of NASA research and to inform the SC 228 Phase 1 DAA MOPS. Surrogate UA capability 1.Waypoint Navigation (autonomously fly a series of waypoints) 2.Vehicle flight path controllable via the autopilot from commands uplinked from the NASA RGCS a.Heading hold b.Altitude/Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI) hold i.VSI hold up to 2500 fpm c.Go-to-Waypoint/Fly-to-Waypoint 2.C2 interface with the NASA RGCS (which hosts the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Vigilant Spirit Control Station (VSCS) software that is STANAG 4586 compliant) a.Uplink auto-pilot commands b.Downlink ownship state data including aircraft attitude c.Downlink command acknowledgments in order to synchronize the VSCS d.Latency from GCS pilot command execution to ownship state feedback to the GCS pilot ≤ 2 sec 3.Stable C2 RF link performance out to 60 nmi 4.Capability for onboard safety pilot to override and take over aircraft control at any time 5.Required Aircraft Equipage a.ADS-B In/Out (1090ES) i.Downlink traffic/intruder state data to the NASA RGCS including Flight ID/Call Signs b.Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II i.v7.1 ii.Downlink Resolution Advisory (RA) and maneuver coordination/Vertical Resolution Advisory Complement (VRC) messages to the NASA RGCS c.Senso fusion algorithm to combine sensor tracks d.Onboard recording of UTC referenced raw surveillance track data prior to any sensor fusion algorithm 6.Highly Desired Equipage a. Due Regard Radar to identify non-cooperative aircraft in the airspace i.Detect Cessna sized single engine aircraft ≥ 8 nmi ii.Scan and track field of regard ≥ 30o az / 30o elev iii.Downlink traffic/intruder state data to the NASA RGCS b.Differential GPS to record accurate ownship state data for post-test processing 7.Support Flight Test Series 4 timeline a.Support system integration ground tests at NASA (~ 3 weeks in April/May 2016) b.Support flight test operations in R2515/R2508 (~4 weeks in June 2016) i.15 flights, 3 hrs per flight c.Deployment to NASA Armstrong for ground integration activities. (Flight operations could possibly be conducted from Mojave Airport based on logistics and test efficiency evaluations) Please provide NASA with Information for the NGC FB-D Surrogate UA system: 1.Rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate to support the design, integration, and flight test requirements of the NASA FT4 full mission testing 2.Preliminary schedule of design and integration activities 3.Provide a NLT contract award date to meet the FT4 schedule
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/NASA/DFRC/OPDC20220/NASAUAS-2016/listing.html)
- Record
- SN03920009-W 20151015/151013233944-29754e62c985be6c0aae4d05ec287385 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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