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The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center – Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) in Champaign, IL has a requirement for a multi-... The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center – Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) in Champaign, IL has a requirement for a multi-body dynamics and deformable soil simulation software that supports soil-tool interaction simulation for earthmoving operations. This software should provide an SDK to enable the research team to easily integrate the simulation with existing ROS control software stack and perform software in the loop (SIL) simulation. The research team will use this simulator to develop control algorithms and autonomy capabilities for engineer construction. ERDC-CERL intends to award a purchase order on a sole source basis to Simulations CMLABS Inc in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). Market research indicates that Simulations CMLABS Inc is the only source for this requirement because Vortex Studio, published by CM-Labs Inc, is the only simulation software designed specifically for construction equipment that possesses both the simulation fidelity and simulator features required. Simulation fidelity requirements are as follows: a. Given sensor data from a real piece of equipment, such as forces exerted at each joint, it is possible to use the modelling capabilities within Vortex to model the dynamics of the equipment accurately enough so that these measured forces can be replicated by the simulator. b. The soil-tool interaction nearest the blade is simulated using Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) to ensure realistic behavior while a mesh deformation technique is used for the remainder of the interactions to reduce the computational burden and to enable real-time soil simulations. c. Wheel/track-soil interactions are modeled within the simulator using standard techniques based on the Bekker equations. d. Soil properties and density are configurable. e. Simulations of construction equipment performing earthmoving can be run at real-time (1:1 simulation time to actual time) or faster than real-time (>1:1) on a standard desktop computer. Simulator Features required are as follows: a. The Vortex Editor allows for creating simulation models and modifying the simulation environment and Windows. b. The CAD importer plugin provides the capability to import CAD models into the Vortex Editor so that the models can be used for visualization purposes. c. The Vortex Player application is used for running simulations created with the Vortex Editor and is available on Windows and Linux. d. The Software Development Kit provides low-level access to the vehicle state (base position, base velocity, joint positions, joint velocities, joint forces/effort) the state of the dynamic terrain. CERL will use the SDK to interface the simulation with ROS for SIL control of the vehicle. CERL may also use this SDK to interface with other simulation frameworks such as V-Rep or GAZEBO. e. The Vortex UDP plugin allows CERL to send information over UDP. This is an alternative method to using the SDK for connecting the simulation to ROS for SIL simulation. This is not a small business set aside. This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however interested parties may identify their interests and capability to respond to this requirement. Any interested party that believes they can fulfill this requirement should submit a capability statement to be reviewed. All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will be in any way alter the Government’s acquisition strategy. Please provide responses to this notice no later than the Response time listed above in this notice, to: CERL-CT_QUOTES@usace.army.mil Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses to this notice will not be considered as a response to any solicitation, a request to be added to a prospective offers list, or to receive a copy of any solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.