US Army ARDEC, AMSTA-AR-PC, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey 07806-5000

B -- GAS METAL ARC WELDING (GMAW) ROBOTIC WELDING SYSTEM SOL DAAE30-98-R-0112 DUE 060598 POC Christine Bernosky, Contract Specialist (973) 724-2754 WEB: US ARMY TACOM-ARDEC Procurement Network, http://procnet.pica.army.mil/procacts.htm. E-MAIL: Christine Bernosky, cbernos@pica.army.mil. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (TACOM-ARDEC) seeks an industrial partner to share in the cost of installing a fully automated Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) robotic welding system at TACOM-ARDEC's Welding Laboratory, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. The GMAW robotic welding system should represent a mature off-the-shelf technology with minimal or no development effort required. General system requirements shall include off-line planning capability, fully coordinated robot/positioner workcell, and sensor/adaptive control technology. The off-line planner shall include as a minimum the following features: 3-D solid modeling capability, weld path planning using CAD drawings, weld schedule definition, robot workcell modeling and simulation, and collision avoidance/detection algorithms. Sufficient system interface shall exist such that a complete robotic weld sequence can be downloaded from the off-line planner for execution by the robotic workcell with minimal operator intervention. It is intended that this system shall be provided under a cost sharing arrangement in which TACOM-ARDEC will provide up to $300K. TACOM-ARDEC will use the installed robotic welding system to populate a weld process database with weld process parameters for armament applications, with potential commercial spin-off application. The database will consist of a combination of approximately five hundred (500) procedure qualification records (PQR) and weld procedure specifications (WPS) for mild steel, alloy steel, and aluminum weldments typical of those employed on towed and self propelled howitzers. The database will be shared as part of this agreement. The database will be generated by TACOM-ARDEC's inhouse technologists, and as part of future development efforts (not part of this effort) to create a mature automated welding system technology for armament applications, and eventual implementation into the armament production base. It is intended the partner will collaborate in the development of the database. Future year efforts to develop a mature system may involve competitive procurements. This effort, that is to install the robotic welding system, may be made using either a cost-sharing contract or a non-procurement agreement. If a non-procurement instrument is utilized, it will not employ the standard Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Guidance, but rather will be governed by DoD directive 3210.6-R and OMB Circular A-110, as applicable. Interested parties need to submit a two- to three-page white paper describing their planned cooperative arrangement, including the specifications and capabilities of their robotic welding system, and the cost share that they bring to this partnership. White papers are due by the response date indicated above. Information regarding this action can be accessed at http://procnet.pica.army.mil. (0134)

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