The Autonomous Intelligent Systems Section at DRDC Suffield Seeks Technical Help
The Autonomous Intelligent Systems Section (AISS) at DRDC Suffield needs technical support in the design, construction, testing, and maintenance of hardware and software components of unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) systems.
The work to be done in this contract includes a number of intermittent, distinct activities. As well, it will likely be necessary to change the precise direction of the work as results from field testing or simulation become available. Accordingly, the work will be performed in a series of task authorizations as required. On each occasion, DRDC will issue a task authorization that will include an identification number and title, a detailed description of the tasks to be performed, and the name and point of contact for the DRDC individual that will monitor that portion of the work. The following are examples of likely tasks:
- Software development on desktop and embedded systems for robot, sensor, and human interface.
- Electronic hardware design and construction of robotic components.
- Mechanical design and construction of robot components, which may include machining and CAD services
- Market surveys for specific robotic technologies.
- Electromechanical equipment and sensor characterization and evaluation, including developing necessary software to interface to the equipment.
- Planning, conduct, and data collection for robotic field trials.
Example Task
DRDC would like to install a commercially available laser range finder for navigation of UGV's (such as a Velodyne HDL-32E Lidar). However, the research scientists at DRDC Suffield do not know how to successfully interface the sensor with the robotic vehicle. The contractor would need to design and fabricate a custom electrical interface between the sensor and the vehicle control processor. They would also develop and test a C++ interface to collect the data from the Lidar sensor over the communications interface and create a GUI to display the data.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 9th March 2012
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DND Needs R&D Support For Synthetic Aperture Radar Moving Target Detection and Tracking Activities
The Department of National Defence (DND) requires technical and scientific services to support selected Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Moving Target Indication (MTI) signal processing and development activities. The activities include, but are not limited to: signal processing algorithm and software development and modification, SAR data processing and analysis, GMTI data processing (specifically, detection, tracking and meta-level tracking) and analysis. Areas of exploitation interest include detection and imaging of moving targets, multi-target tracking and meta-level tracking and the use of multi-channel data. The goal is the development of techniques and capabilities in airborne surveillance.
Background
The DND X-band Wideband Experimental Airborne Radar Data Acquisition System (XWEAR DAS) is an air to surface sensor that can record large volumes of data for investigations into wideband SAR and Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), ground moving target indication (GMTI), and maritime surveillance. This radar is being used to collect data for research in SAR imaging of fixed and moving targets including Time-Frequency analysis, Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) and MTI tracking as well as investigation into electromagnetic backscatter properties, target signatures and feature extraction, and studies on automatic target recognition.
The XWEAR DAS is flown on a Convair-580, which is owned and operated by the National Research Council Canada (NRC) in Ottawa. The System Ground Processing Facility (DAS GPF) at DRDC Ottawa is used for processing of signal data to imagery. This work is aimed at extending the utility of the system and providing a test-bed for development and evaluation of new algorithms, which are expected to result in capabilities that can be transferred to both space borne and other airborne systems.
Objectives
The main objective of this requirement is to obtain technical and scientific services to support development of capabilities to exploit the data collected by airborne and spaceborne SAR systems. Tasks will be carried out in the analysis of real data sets and comparison with ground truth when available, and in acquisition, processing and analysis of moving targets from airborne and spaceborne systems. The data analysis algorithms include: back projection SAR algorithms for imaging, STAP for detection, extended Kalman filters and unscented Kalman filters and other non linear filters for tracking, and meta-level tracking algorithms based on Earley-Stolcke parsers for stochastic context-free grammars (SCFGs).
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 2nd March 2012
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Atlantic Seeks Assistance in Developing Underwater SLAM Techniques.
DRDC Atlantic is studying the utility of underwater Source Localization and Mapping (SLAM), implemented on board autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and unmanned surface vehicles (USV), towards mine counter-measures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and other missions. Of particular interest is collaborative SLAM between heterogeneous autonomous marine vehicles. Both shallow and deep water environments are to be considered. This requirement looks at implementing a DRDC version of SLAM (in particular, using the FastSLAM and FastSLAM-2) algorithms on-board AUVs and USVs with both side scan sonar and multi-beam sonar. This includes theoretical simulations, implementation on board the vehicles, and then in-water testing.
Phase 1:
- Perform an extensive literature survey on underwater SLAM using side scan sonar and multi-beam echosounder sonars. This should result in a properly organized database of over 150 papers.
- Develop a hypothesis on the efficacy of self-organizing behaviours in collaborative SLAM with AUVs and a numerical and experimental plan to test and validate it.
- Support trials (about 4 scheduled sets) in Halifax waters with the DRDC AUVs and USVs with the aim of becoming familiar with their operations and control architectures
- Write a detailed report on (1) and (2) above.
Phase 2 (Optional):
- Construct a simulator which will investigate different SLAM algorithms within MATLAB and compare their relative merits.
- Enable the simulator to stream in side scan and other data to test the algorithms. This data should be acquired by the contractor through a variety of local trials that he/she plans, organizes, and implements.
- Implement the chosen algorithm on the DRDC AUVs and USVs. This is to address both shallow and deep water methodologies.
- Plan and implement in-water trials in Halifax waters to validate the algorithms under challenging conditions (to be defined in consultation with DRDC Scientific Authority).
- Write a detailed report on items 1 to 4. This includes thorough analysis of all data acquired.
- Working with the DRDC Mine and Harbour Defence Group develop concepts of operation for the use of SLAM in a variety of naval missions that include mine counter-measures.
- Write separate reports on item (6).
- Final report covering all aspects of the work performed over the course of the entire contract.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 3rd February 2012
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
CORA Requires Help To Develop Machine Learning Algorithms For UAVs.
DRDC seeks third party assistance to develop machine learning algorithms that allow autonomous unmanned vehicles to improve the conduct of complex missions in a dynamic and uncertain environment and under limited and unreliable communications.
Background
Unmanned vehicles are part of an ongoing transformation of the Canadian Forces. Such vehicles are appealing because they are able to perform missions with minimal risk to humans, e.g., in mine and or Improvised Explosive Device (IED) hunting.They may also open a new window of opportunities allowing militaries to do what was not previously feasible. Expectations must, however, be tempered by the fact that these vehicles are prone to failures and operate in dynamic and uncertain environments. Limited and unreliable communications (e.g., in urban or underwater environments) further prevent remote control by a human operator and hinder the ability to conduct operations using multiple unmanned vehicles. For these reasons, designing systems that are fault-tolerant, adaptable and partially autonomous is essential.
As of the 1st of April 2010, DRDC has embarked on a three-year research project to explore concepts of operations for multiple autonomous unmanned vehicles. This research project is divided into three complementary parts. The first part consists in exploring concepts of operations for teams of autonomous unmanned vehicles. The second part focuses on developing algorithms for vehicles to learn from observations. The third part aims at developing an architecture to control multiple autonomous unmanned vehicles in complex missions. The purpose of this requirement is to solicit expertise in order to conduct research for the second part of the project.
Note
Work will take place under the auspices of the Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA) Programme.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 10th August 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Valcartier Seeks Team Members To Build Concept UAV System.
Objectives
The contractor will advance the state of technology in three themes related to semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle operations for land and maritime environments:
- Parametric analysis and experimental studies of control and environmental factors that affect successful recovery of unmanned aerial vehicles on board Navy vessels.
- Development of reactive avoidance concepts for dismounted soldier airborne sensors and validation of the concepts through field testing.
- Development and validation of target hand-off concepts that can be used by multiple mobile platforms to share target location information.
Background
Theme 1: The use of semi-autonomous aerial platforms has garnered great interest for maritime forces. The ability of ships to defend themselves depend on their capability to detect threats. Currently, sensors are installed on ship masts to position them as high as possible to aid early detection of threats. If sensor height is a key factor for early detection, then it is logical to locate the sensors on airborne platforms. Since navy ships operate in many different sea-state conditions, it is important that the airborne platform is capable of operating in these conditions. The ability to recover semi-autonomous aerial assets is a prime concern because the platform is decelerating in a turbulent airwake environment. Before introducing this new type of platform into the Forces, it is advantageous to first study the factors that affect successful recovery in a simulation environment that uses as much of the candidate avionic components as possible to capture the limitations imposed by the computational resources. The simulation environment also allows development of algorithms that optimize the accuracy of the available inertial sensor data for flight stability and control. Once an understanding is obtained through simulation, the validity of the control algorithms and the effects of critical extrinsic factors need to be demonstrated through field testing.
Theme 2: In the Land environment, micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) that carry sensor payloads are envisioned as tools that will help the dismounted soldier gain increased situational awareness in his local environment. To be useful for the soldier, any type of semi-autonomous airborne sensor must be able to self-navigate to some degree. Traditional navigation methods consist of data fusion between Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) information. However, many of the flight scenarios envisioned for MAVs in urban terrain, indoors, or in hostile jammed environments will not be conducive to the utilisation of GPS to obtain inertial position data. Navigation in GPS-denied areas can be performed using an IMU only. However, the size, weight, and power constraints of MAVs severely limits the quality of IMUs that can be placed on-board the MAVs, making IMU-only navigation extremely inaccurate. New methods based on data from acoustic or vision navigation sensors that are combined with IMU data and reactive collision algorithms are required to improve the navigation abilities of the MAV particularly with respect to its ability to avoid obstacles. The selected navigation architectures need to be evaluated and validated through field testing.
Theme 3: When a group of semi-autonomous aerial vehicles, where each vehicle is controlled by an individual dismounted soldier, are employed in a Land environment for surveillance operations, a potential threat that is detected by one soldier may need to be observed by other soldiers either for better vantage points or for positive identification purposes. In order to generate position data for the potential threat, the position of each semi-autonomous aerial vehicle must be known in addition to the position of the threat relative to each vehicle. Various GPS signal-types exist to determine the position of the vehicle. However, as noted previously, GPS signals may not be available so another basis for location is needed. Determining the location of the threat requires the availability of bearing, elevation and range data that is measured by target location sensors. The accuracies of these sensors coupled with the accuracy of the vehicle position will affect the ability of another soldier to see the intended threat as the target data is handed off from vehicle to vehicle. A target hand-off architecture comprised of target location sensors, vehicle position determination algorithms and target hand-off algorithms is required. The proposed target hand-off architectures must be evaluated through field trials for their ability to accurately locate a threat among a team of semi-autonomous aerial vehicles equipped with surveillance sensors.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 3rd August 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Valcartier Seeks Technical Support For Autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control.
DRDC Valcartier, Precision Weapons Section needs specialized technical support in the area of guidance, navigation and control for precision weapons, satellite launchers, and unmanned aerial systems. The work to be performed will involve literature reviews, analytical developments, numerical modeling, simulations experimentations, data analysis and system design, as well as design, installation and commissioning of local experimental facilities.
Background
DRDC Valcartier, Precision Weapons Section, plans and executes applied R&D programs and direct support to Candian Forces projects in the areas of guidance, navigation and control (GNC) of precision weapons, satellite launchers and unmanned vehicles. Specifically, DRDC Valcartier seeks technical assistance and support for the research, development and numerical demonstration of:
- Guidance, navigation and flight control laws for missiles based on the concepts of fuzzy logic, multi-objective optimal control synthesis, nonlinear control, model predictive control, and real-time sampled-data control
- Off-line and on-line trajectory shaping for weapons flight path optimization and improved precision effects
- Homing guidance laws with increased precision on targets in terms of range and terminal impact angle
- Bio-inspired GNC concepts
- Vision and sonar-based algorithms for motion control and precision maneuvering
- Multi-vehicle cooperation, and coordination of groups of robots, with focus on autonomous GNC functions
- Health monitoring and management for single and multiple vehicles/robots/weapons
- Trajectory generation and path planning/following concepts
- Obstacle detection and avoidance techniques
- Numerical and hardware-in-the-loop demonstrations of novel GNC concepts for individual and multi-asset engagements and operations
Note
All work must be done on the premises of DRDC in Valcartier.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 28th June 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DND announces Open Season on Defence Industrial Research Program
Objective
The primary objective of the Defence Industrial Research Program (DIRP) is to support the strategic research interests of the Canadian Forces and to introduce new and innovative technologies into the Department of National Defence. The program is designed to provide research and innovation opportunities among the Canadian defence and security industrial base through the provision of cost-shared contracts and scientific support.
DIRP is about fulfilling a gap and providing direct benefit to Canada. The DIRP is a cost-shared program that issues contracts for Research and Development (R&D) projects at a maximum 50% sharing ratio to a maximum of $500,000. The Call for Proposal Solicitation has been updated to reflect the evolution in DIRP Investment Priorities. The four Priority Areas for DIRP are:
- Defence
- Defence and Security
- Emerging and Disruptive Technologies
- Global Trends
Note
Attachment A of the RFP contains of the types of technologies categorized under each Priority Area and includes autonomous intelligent systems under the Emerging and Disruptive Technologies category.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NEGOTIABLE
Closing Date: 11th June 2012
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Toronto To Build Augmented Cognition System For Remote UAV Operation - Needs Assistance
Objective
To provide competent augmented cognition expertise for evaluating and integrating psychophysiological technologies in support of DRDC's research programs on multimodal cueing (auditory, tactile, and visual) for controlling uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Background
Military organizations are using robotic technologies involving human-robot interactions such as uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) to play an increasing role in providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). To improve ISR capability, the Canadian Forces have recently prepared a Statement of Work which describes the requirements of a technical investigation to be performed in support of the Joint Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Surveillance Target and Acquisition System (JUSTAS) program. The JUSTAS program entails the acquisition of medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAVs. In this regard, DRDC Toronto has been involved in studying the Human Factors issues involved in the remote operation of UAVs.
Note
This project focuses on human perception and remote control of Uninhabited Vehicles. It is NOT concerned with autonomy or autonomous operation. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 28th June 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Valcartier Seeks Help In Developing Autonomous Airlift Capability
DRDC Valcartier is seeking a third party to investigate and develop the guidance, navigation and control concepts necessary for autonomous airlift.
Objective
To conduct an extensive study on the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) technologies for enabling autonomous airlift. The work should focus on GNC synthesis, analysis and validation to prove the concept of autonomous air lift (AAL) with multiple miniature unmanned air vehicles (MUAVs) of rotorcraft type.
Background
The force multiplier provided by the deployment of groups or formations of unmanned-manned aerial vehicles flying in a coordinated manner, and with autonomous control of the platforms and load, has the potential to enable robust and agile heavy lift without the need for specific pilot skills nor the design of massive, heavy and complex aerial platforms. DRDC Valcartier has undertaken a project to advance the maturity of technologies that will enable this capability and to position itself to provide this knowledge to Canadian Forces decision makers on emergent technology relating to autonomous networked aerial systems.
Designing a multi-vehicle heavy-lift system requires the acquisition of new knowledge in:
- Multi-vehicle autonomous systems operating in adverse weather conditions and possibly under degraded conditions
- Tether/sling load dynamics
- Precision sling/payload positioning and capture
- Coordinated multi-tethered air vehicles guidance and navigation
- Inter-vehicle aerodynamic coupling effects
This contract only addresses the first four items.
Note
Only miniature unmanned rotorcraft lifting tiny weights will be used. The assumption behind this project is that any resultant system will ultimately be scalable to heavy industrial use. The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 6th July 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
CORA Seeks Novel UAV Team Control Architecture
As of the 1st of April 2010, the Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA) at Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) has embarked on a three-year research project to explore concepts of operations for multiple autonomous unmanned vehicles. This research project is divided into three complementary parts. The first part consists in exploring concepts of operations for teams of autonomous unmanned vehicles. The second part focuses on developing algorithms for vehicles to learn from observations. The third part aims at developing an architecture to control multiple autonomous unmanned vehicles in complex missions. The purpose of this requirement is to conduct research for the third part of the project.
Objective
The objective of the requirement is to develop a novel control architecture that allows a team of autonomous unmanned vehicles to conduct complex missions in a dynamic and uncertain environment and under limited and unreliable communications.
Note
The focus of this call is academic qualification not capability. The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 14th April 2011
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
DRDC Atlantic Seeks Support, Training, and Maintenance Services For Atlantic Arctic Explorer AUVs
DRDC Atlantic is seeking a third party to provide operational support, operator training and general maintenance services for two Arctic Explorer AUVs and associated equipment on an "as and when requested" basis.
DRDC Atlantic has a requirement for interested vendors to provide specialized support services for two ISE Research Ltd. designed and built Arctic Explorer autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). These AUVs are under-ice capable, 5000m depth rated, are modular in construction and support both in-water battery charging and a variable ballast system for surfacing under the ice or resting on the sea bottom. The experienced vendor will provide support services in various locations including the Arctic and other non ice covered waters as required.
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Supplier To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NOT APPLICABLE
Closing Date: 19th January 2011
Public Security Technical Program - Call 3
DRDC has announced a call for proposals under the federal government’s Public Security Technical Program (PSTP). PSTP’s mission is to strengthen Canada’s ability to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from high-consequence public safety and security events by employing S&T as a strategic enabler and lead investment for the federal government’s public safety and security agenda. These investments encompass a broad range of subject matter and are currently organized into four domains:
- Defeat Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Threats
- Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
- Surveillance, Intelligence and Interdiction (SII)
- Emergency Management Systems and Interoperability (EMSI)
The PSTP promotes whole-of-government, industry, and academic collaboration in the CIP, SII, and EMSI domains through activities that are identified and prioritized by "expert groups" and stakeholders, as members of Communities of Practice (CoPs). The CBRNE component is handled separately. Inside each of the three domains mentioned above (CIP, SII, and EMSI), a number of distinct CoPs are being formed:
- Critical Infrastructure Protection (for CIP)
- E-Security (for CIP)
- Border and Transportation Security (for SII)
- Biometrics for National Security (for SII)
- Emergency Management Systems and Interoperability (for EMSI)
The PSTP provides funding of up to $200,000 (per study) for approximately 2 to 4 studies per CoP, depending on the quality of proposals received and funding limits. PSTP is seeking proposals in CIP, SII, and EMSI that will begin to address key capability gap investment priorities in each CoP as defined in each Statement of Work (SoW). Of particular interest to the autonomous systems community are the Border and Transportation Security components.
The RFP, Application Guide, and Border Surveillance SoWs are available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NEGOTIABLE
Closing Date: 25th January 2011
DRDC Suffield Seeks Third Party To Develop UAV Autonomous Perching And Landing Capability
DRDC Suffield are seeking assistance in the building of autonomous manoeuvering and landing behaviours for small-scale UAVs.
Objective
The first objective of this contract is to develop algorithms to increase the autonomy of a small commercial off-the-shelf unmanned rotorcraft (Draganfly X8). The second objective is to develop behaviours for the UAV that allow it to land on stationary and moving targets for surveillance and stowage to extend range and utility.
Scope of Work
The research is to be focused on the following capabilities:
- Landing on high relatively open, flat roof tops or perches, where the vehicle has to avoid occasional obstacles (roof installations, satellite dishes, antennas, railings, etc.).
- The ability of the UAV to position itself to provide strategic surveillance of a defined area or target.
- Landing on inclined surfaces (inclined roof tops).
- Landing on a moving target.
The approaches developed to implement these behaviours should be robust in the event of loss of GPS
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 7th December 2010
DRDC Suffield Seeks Help On Perception and Navigation For UAV Project
Objective
The objective of this work is to develop navigation and control algorithms enabling a small commercial off-the-shelf rotorcraft UAV (Draganfly X8) to execute simple autonomous behaviours thereby reducing the operator's control burden. To this end, an "autonomy package" that will subsume and build upon the sensing and control functions provided by the UAV's existing autopilot will be developed. The integration of the autonomy package with the autopilot will enable the provision of additional capabilities required for autonomous operation.
Scope of Work
The work is comprised of three tasks:
- Development of a vehicle dynamics simulator
- Development of the autonomy package to interface with the rotorcraft’s autopilot
- Investigation of autonomous behaviours
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 30th November 2010
DRDC Suffield Seeks Third Party to Build SLAM System
DRDC Suffield is seeking a third party contractor to build them an "appearance-based" Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) system. The system will use a combination of imagery, laser, and radar and must work in both indoor and outdoor terrain under varying conditions including night time operation. The system must also be rotation invariant and robust to changes in illumination.
Objective
The objective of this contract is the research and development of real-time Appearance-Based SLAM system for day/night operations in indoor and outdoor environments. These algorithms will perform place recognition based on sensor data gathered from a UGV as it travels through the environment. When the vehicle returns to a previously visited scene, the ASLAM algorithm will recognize the scene, update its internal representation, report this to the UGV, and finally provide a mechanism for closing the loop with geometric SLAM. The system must be capable of running in real-time in a variety of test conditions.
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 24th September 2010
DRDC Valcartier Seeks Help To Build Indoor Integrated Development Environment For Autonomous Multi-Vehicle Research
DRDC Valcartier is seeking a supplier and systems integrator to build them an indoor integrated development environment for autonomous multi-vehicle research. The environment is defined as an integrated system that consists of a Mathworks MATLAB Simulink-based mission development toolbox and a group of integrated electrically powered aerial and ground test vehicles. The purpose of the integrated development environment is to facilitate the understanding and creation of single and multi-vehicle guidance, navigation and control algorithms that will allow vehicles to operate autonomously.
General Requirements
The integrated development environment shall be comprised of a mission development toolbox that will be used to develop guidance, navigation and control algorithms for autonomous vehicle studies. The mission development toolbox shall use the MATLAB Simulink method of code generation to allow algorithms to be evaluated using mathematical representations of aerial and/or ground test vehicles in test scenarios. The mission development toolbox shall use the MATLAB Simulink method of code generation to allow the algorithms to be compiled and uploaded to an embedded computer on the physical representations of the aerial and/or ground platforms and tested. The mission development toolbox, using MATLAB Simulink blocks, shall permit online control and real-time monitoring of a non-homogeneous fleet of mathematical and/or physical air and/or ground test vehicles as they undergo system performance evaluations. The mathematical and physical representations of the aerial and ground vehicles shall be integrated seamlessly with the mission development toolbox to permit rapid algorithm evaluation.
The RFP is available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Integrator To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 30th August 2010
Dept. Environment Seeks RC Helicopter For Airborne Sampling
Environment Canada has a requirement for one Remote Controlled (RC) helicopter for air sampling and incident surveillance, along with associated operational training. The RC helicopter is to be deployed for remote sampling. In particular, to collect soot and vapour samples of combustion products in the smoke plume of in-situ burn experiments. A training seminar is to be established for training one or two personnel, at the contractors establishment. This one or two day course is to define advanced RC helicopter operations. Typical applications for this unmanned airborne drone will be as follows:
- Rapid screening for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and semi-VOC on site
- Airborne surveillance using wireless video real-time downlink
- Evaluatuation of background level of contamination by covering a large area in a short time
Functional requirements:
- Ability to take still pictures and video in support of the incidence response
- Hands free operation using GPS coordinates and on-board stabilisation
The RFP is available from the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Supplier To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: YES
Closing Date: 29th June 2010
DND Seeks Hand Launched Miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
As part of the Land Force family of UAV systems, DND Canada has a requirement for a modular, light weight, easily operable, man-portable, hand launched, electrically propelled Miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) capability. An MUAV system is the platform of choice with the appropriate level of endurance, reliability and sustainability for mounted and dismounted Land Force "manoeuvre force" units and sub-units to possess and operate to fulfill immediate Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) tactical objectives in Afghanistan, in Canada, and potentially anywhere they are deployed by Canada.
This asset shall be operated by teams of two qualified MUAV operators to provide security and escort services for deployed organisations. Within Canada the system shall also be used for force generation activities, support to studies related to operations and for the development and validation of unit and sub-unit tactics. Most importantly, the complete system must be field proven, robust, reliable, and able to withstand the harshest of conditions.
The RFP and Specification documents are available on the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Supplier To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: YES
Closing Date: 26th June 2010
DND Seeks LOI - Remote Minehunting And Disposal System (RMDS) Project
The Department of National Defence (DND) has a requirement to provide a remote mine hunting and disposal capability to detect, classify, identify, and dispose of sea mines that present a threat to Canadian interests or impede the conduct of maritime operations by Canadian Forces warships. Please note that this project is AUV centric.
- LOI - 2nd Quarter 2010
- Potential RFP - 3rd Quarter 2012
- Potential Contract award - 2nd Quarter 2013
- Potential Full Capability Delivery - 4th Quarter 2014
The LOI is available from the Downloads page. Interested parties are requested to respond via MERX, the official tendering mechanism.
Developer To Retain Intellectual Property Rights: NO
Closing Date: 26th June 2010
Global Hawk Supply Chain
There is an opportunity to meet with Northrop Grumman at the the upcoming the Southeastern United States–Canadian Provinces Alliance (SEUS-CP) Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA from April 11-13. Should this be of interest, you can register on the SEUS-CP website, but please make sure that you also register for the matchmaking service. NSBI will cover any costs of transportation to meetings held outside the conference hotel (with receipts).
The opportunities are centred on the Global Hawk supply chain. A match-making presentation specific to this event is available from the Downloads page.
For further information, please contact Peter Giffin or Troy Sawler at NSBI.
