Night Vision Ergonomics Enhancement

July 25, 2018

The closing date for this challenge has been extended to August 23, 2018 at 14:00 EDT.

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June 12, 2018

Attachment 1 contains questions and answers related to the challenge.

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This Challenge Notice is issued under the Innovative Solutions Canada Program Call for Proposals (EN578-170003/B).

Please refer to the Solicitation Documents which contain the process for submitting a proposal.

CHALLENGE TITLE: Night Vision Ergonomics Enhancement

CHALLENGE SPONSOR: Department of National Defence (DND)

Steps to apply:

Step 1: read this challenge

Step 2: read the Call for Proposals

Step 3: propose your solution

Funding Mechanism: Contract

MAXIMUM CONTRACT VALUE:

Multiple contracts could result from this Challenge.

The maximum funding available for any Phase 1 Contract resulting from this Challenge is $200,000.00 CAD (plus tax) including shipping, travel and living expenses, as applicable.

The maximum funding available for any Phase 2 Contract resulting from this Challenge is $1,000,000.00 CAD (plus tax) including shipping, travel and living expenses, as applicable. Only eligible businesses that have completed Phase 1 could be considered for Phase 2.

This disclosure is made in good faith and does not commit Canada to contract for the total approximate funding.

TRAVEL:  No travel anticipated.

Problem Statement Summary

Provide an innovative solution for enabling enhancement of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operators’ vision such as night vision goggles (NVGs) and counterbalance

Problem Statement

The extended use of NVGs can lead to high occurrences of neck and back pain, resulting in temporary, sometimes permanent, grounding of aircrew personnel and longer-term health repercussions. The Department of National Defence (DND) requires innovative solutions for enabling enhancement of CAF operators’ vision under low visibility conditions while mitigating significant deleterious head-borne load effects associated with wearing sensory enhancement equipment such as NVGs and counterbalance.

Desired outcomes and Considerations

The desired outcome is a human-system design that reduces or eliminates head-supported mass, improves head-system inertial properties, mitigates neck and back problems, enables operators to maintain operational task performance and system effectiveness, meets air-worthiness requirements, withstands the rigours of dismounted soldier use, and enhances visual perception under low or no light conditions across all anticipated operational environments.

Proposals should address privacy and ethical concerns as well as the physical requirements of female and male personnel.

Background and Context

Night vision goggles, typically mounted to the front of CAF operator helmets, amplify available ambient light and are issued to CAF personnel to enable them to see at night or under limited visibility conditions. Binocular NVGs (with two image intensification tubes) are issued to Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircrew and have been determined to cause considerable neck and back strain due to the NVG’s weight and imbalance (i.e., altered head-system centre of mass given NVG mounting location on the front of the helmet). Extended use of NVGs has been attributed to an unacceptably high incidence of neck and back pain, resulting in temporary, sometimes permanent, grounding of aircrew personnel. This contributes not only to loss of operational capability but also long-term health and wellbeing implications for aviators and their families.

Ground forces also use NVGs for fighting/operating in low and limited lighting conditions. While dismounted soldiers typically wear monocular NVGs (with one image intensification tube), there are situations where binocular NVGs could offer an advantage (e.g., driving, moving up and down stairs, or for any tasks requiring improved depth perception). Binocular NVGs, or hybrid monocular-binocular systems, may be considered for future employment by increasing numbers of ground forces in order to improve depth perception and/or to exploit the benefits of multi-spectral image fusion to enhance visual perception of threats in the environment. DND wants to ensure that by introducing binocular NVGs, we do not unnecessarily impose harmful effects on soldiers as a result of increased head-supported mass, poor human-system inertial properties or system ergonomics.

Enquiries

All enquiries must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Authority no later than ten calendar days before the Challenge Notice closing date. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.