Autonomous Underwater Vehicale (AUV)

Trade Agreement: NONE
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: None
Competitive Procurement Strategy: Lowest/Lower Bid
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Nature of Requirements: 
100 meter depth rated Autonomous Underwater Vehicale

5P033-130034/A
Wilkie, Neil
Telephone No. - (819) 956-0704
Fax No. - (819) 956-0897

BACKGROUND:

The Underwater Archaeology Service (UAS) of Parks Canada
conducts comprehensive scientific diving and remote-sensing
surveys to identify, inventory, and assess submerged cultural
resources within the Parks Canada mandate. This includes the
expanding system of National Historic Sites, National Parks,
National Park Reserves, National Marine Conservation Areas,
National Marine Parks, and Heritage Rivers. The UAS is also a
recognized Federal Authority for the evaluation of submerged
cultural resources under the provisions of the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act. As such, the UAS is called upon to
conduct archaeological site investigations throughout Canada in
both marine and fresh water environments (including the Pacific,
Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes).

The UAS has a requirement for a 100 m depth rated autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with high resolution side-scan
sonar to support its archaeological survey operations across
Canada, specifically to complement an existing capability for
traditional towed side-scan sonar from surface vessels. A
flexible and expandable AUV platform is required, one that will
enable future integration of diverse mission-specific sensor
packages including magnetometer, stereo-photogrammetric still
photo, and multi-beam echo sounder configurations. The system
design will necessarily have to be modular to permit end-user
integration of 3rd party instrumentation.

The AUV will be deployed from a variety of vessel platforms,
including survey vessels belonging to the UAS, as well as from
other vessels of opportunity including rigid hull inflatable
boats and zodiacs. Consequently, the system must be readily
transportable to field locations by commercial air carrier, and
must also be of a size and weight allowing manual deployment of
the vehicle by a two-person crew from small boats.

As the vehicle will be used in all regions of the country,
including at northern latitudes where traditional magnetic
compasses are typically unreliable, a high-performance inertial
navigation system is required to guarantee accurate navigation
of planned survey lines and gap-free sonar coverage (with
position drift typically not exceeding 0.5% of underwater
distance travelled).

GENERAL:
The basic system shall consist of the underwater vehicle,
battery charging system, and mission planning software.



MANDATORY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

 	The underwater vehicle must be equipped with a Kearfott
KI-4921S inertial navigation 		system (INS).

 	The underwater vehicle must be equipped with an L3 Klein
UUV-3500 dual-frequency 		(455 khz/900 kHz nominal) side-scan
sonar system.

 	The underwater vehicle must be equipped with an RDI 600 kHz
Explorer phased array 		Doppler velocity log (DVL).

 	The underwater vehicle must be equipped with a Teledyne
Benthos ATM-900-BC1 		acoustic modem OEM card with compatible
remote transducer.

 	The underwater vehicle must be equipped with a
direct-measurement sound velocity 		sensor accurate to ¡Ó 0.025
m/s or better.

 	The underwater vehicle with all specified instrumentation
installed and integrated must 		be depth rated to at least 100 m
of sea water, as certified by the manufacturer.

UNDERWATER VEHICLE (BODY):

 	The vehicle shall be of a ¡§torpedo¡¨ body style with single
rear-mounted propeller.

 	Servo-powered control surfaces can comprise either
individually actuated fins or a 		gimballed duct (Kort nozzle).

 	The vehicle shall possess an antenna mast containing both GPS
and Wireless 802.11n 		Ethernet antennae.

 	The antenna mast should also be fitted with an LED light to
facilitate spotting of the 		vehicle when surfaced in conditions
of limited visibility and/or darkness.

 	The body design should be modular allowing expansion with
additional body sections as 		future sensor integration may
require.


NAVIGATION SENSORS:

 	The INS shall accept real-time aiding inputs from an onboard
GPS receiver (when 		surfaced) and DVL (in water depths of 80 m
and less).

 	The DVL transducer shall be mounted on the underside of the
vehicle to enable bottom 		tracking and altitude control.

 	The GPS antenna and receiver should have integrated
satellite-based augmentation 		system (SBAS) reception
capability.

 	The vehicle shall be equipped with a digital 3-axis compass.

 	The vehicle shall be equipped with a pressure depth sensor.

PAYLOAD SENSORS:

 	The side-scan transducers should be securely mounted and
positioned along the vehicle 		body so as to minimize acoustic
noise in the sonar data.

 	Ambient speed of sound from the sound velocity sensor must be
relayed in real-time to 		the DVL to improve the accuracy of the
bottom track vector.

 	The transducer for the acoustic modem shall be installed on
the underside of the vehicle 		to enable acoustic communications
with nearby surface vessels when the AUV is 			surfaced.

CPU AND DATA STORAGE

 	The underwater vehicle must possess an Intel Dual Core 1.6 GHz
low power CPU or 		equivalent.

 	The underwater vehicle must possess a solid state hard drive
of at least 250 GB capacity.

 	A water-tight data port should be provided on the vehicle to
allow easy download of
	completed mission data and upload or planned mission parameters
while on deck.

PROPULSION AND POWER SUPPLY:

 	The vehicle should be equipped with a brushless DC motor with
velocity feedback.

 	The vehicle should be capable of a nominal underwater speed of
4 knots without current.

 	The underwater vehicle must be powered by lithium ion
batteries providing at least 750 		Whr of total reserve power.
Individual batteries must not exceed 100 Whr capacity due to
	transportation restrictions on commercial aircraft in Canada.

 	A battery charger should be provided with the system.

 	A water-tight charging port or connector should be provided on
the vehicle to allow easy 		replenishment of power while on deck.


SOFTWARE:

 	Mission planning software should be provided to allow the
operator control of mission 		design and real-time monitoring of
mission execution.

 	Via the specified acoustic modem (when underwater) and by
wireless 802.11n ethernet 		(when on the surface), the mission
planning software should enable critical mission status
	information such as the vehicle¡¦s estimated position, depth,
altitude, heading, remaining 		battery power, sensor status, and
survey progress to be transmitted. It should also permit 		the
operator to command the vehicle to both start and abort missions
as necessary.

 	The software should enable common geo-referenced raster and
vector chart backgrounds 		such as Geotiff, S-57 and BSB to be
displayed for mission planning purposes.

DELIVERY:

	One AUV is required for delivery to:

	Parks Canada
	Cultural Sciences Branch
	Underwater Archaeology Service
	1800 Walkley Road
	Ottawa, Ontario
	K1A-0M5	

	Delivery is requested by 9th August 2013.


Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.