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The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center-Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) has a requirement to procure the annual renewal o... The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center-Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) has a requirement to procure the annual renewal of the Vortex Studio Simulations software licenses, a multi-body dynamics and deformable soil simulation software that supports soil-tool interaction simulation for earthmoving operations. This software provides a software development kit (SDK) to enable us to easily integrate the simulation with our existing robotic operating system (ROS) control software stack so that we can perform software in the loop (SIL) simulation. 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). Vortex Studio Software is published and distributed solely by Simulation CM Labs. Simulation CM Labs has provided a letter to stating that they will be directly selling and distributing the Vortex Studio software licenses, and support work to all US Government entities, confirming the are the sole source for fulfillment of this requirement. Vortex Studio (from CM Labs) is a simulation software designed specifically for construction equipment. It has a multi-body dynamics engine coupled with a unique discrete element modeling – mesh (DEM-Mesh) hybrid soil simulation. This enables real-time simulation of earthmoving operations using construction equipment such as an excavator, for which there is an existing model that can be used out of the box. Vortex provides an SDK that has been shown by other research programs to enable easy integration of the simulation with a ROS control software stack. This will enable us to perform software in the loop (SIL) simulation with earthmoving equipment so that we can seamlessly continue the development of control algorithms and autonomy capabilities for engineer Army Engineers. The Vortex software has the following additional capabilities Simulation Fidelity 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. 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. Wheel/track-soil interactions are modeled within the simulator using standard techniques based on the Bekker equations. Soil properties and density are configurable. 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 The Vortex Editor allows for creating simulation models and modifying the simulation environment and Windows. 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. The Vortex Player application is used for running simulations created with the Vortex Editor and is available on Windows and Linux. 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. The Vortex UDP plugin allows us to send information over UDP. This is an alternative method to using the SDK for connecting the simulation to ROS for SIL simulation. Training and Documentation There is a wealth of documentation on how to use Vortex Studio online which includes getting started guides, user guides, tutorials, and a glossary. With a license of Vortex Studio phone support is available for assistance with instillation, basic troubleshooting, and technical problems with modelling. Because of these reasons Simulations CMLABS Inc. is the sole source for this procurement. This is not a request for proposal and in no way obligates the Government to award any contract. This is not a small business set aside. 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 in any way alter the Government’s acquisition strategy. Please provide responses to this notice, no later than the date and time listed at the top of this posting, 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 offerors 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.