The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Building and Fire Research Laboratory Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Program, in Gaithersburg, MD, has just awarded a contract worth $927,500 to the MLB Company of Mountain View, California for five Unmanned Aerial Systems to collect data characterizing the location of a fire perimeter spreading through wild lands, fuels and atmospheric conditions.
This award follows a Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued April 2010 and 100% set-aside for small business of less than 1,500 employees. The RFQ called for 5 air vehicles capable of 1-2 measurement payloads, portable ground control station and necessary software.
The contract specifies that ‘the contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, material, equipment, and services to fabricate, and test five Unmanned Aerial Systems.” More specifically, the requirement is for:
Five UAS equipped with a Measurement Payload of Infrared Cameras, Visible Cameras, Temperature & relative humidity sensing devices and Wind sensing devices.
One Support Trailer
One Ground Control Ground Control:
- Maximum 2 person ground crew
- Real time tactical imagery
- Multiple (3 to 4) simultaneous vehicle operation from one ground control station.
- Self tracking GPS antenna for accurate positioning Geolocation and archival of imagery and sensor data
- Datalink reach radius of 5 miles Capable of preload flight plan (via waypoints), autonomous loiter, and in-flight programming of updated flight profile.
The contract also a includes a warranty the entire system for a period of one year plus a training session for up to four users at the U.S. Department of Commerce Table Mountain Field Site, in Golden, Colorado. The training should provide a thorough demonstration of all system/solution functions, maintenance, data administration, and basic troubleshooting and be completed no later than 90 days after installation.