University of Alberta - Advanced Contract Award Notice / Notice of Proposed Procurement - Barrett Haptic Wrist

The end user department has requested a competitive bid exemption for the procurement of the 3DoF haptic exoskeleton wrist from Barrett Technology LLC. Barrett is the only supplier capable of supplying a system that meets their technical and integration requirements. This purchase has to seamlessly integrate with existing 4DoF haptic leader arm (CFI JELF Item 2.2A), which Barrett supplied following a competitive bid in 2021. The new 3DoF wrist will mount directly onto this arm. The existing arm relies on four Barrett "Puck" motor drivers communicating via a proprietary language on a CAN data bus. To work in unison, the wrist’s three motors and drivers must also use Barrett Pucks and Barrett’s unique programming. This integration requires full compatibility with proprietary hardware interfaces and communication protocols that are not publicly available. A departmental market review confirms that no alternative suppliers offer a wrist module or components compatible with the Barrett platform. Procuring from another vendor would require a substantial redesign of system architecture. This would result in significant additional costs, critical timeline delays leading up to the CFI end date of August 2026, and severe risk to achieving funded research objectives. Because Barrett holds exclusive access to the technology, hardware, and expertise required for compatibility with existing infrastructure, they are the most viable provider.