Sources Sought for Quadruped Robot with Integrated Manipulator Arm

Active

Contract Opportunity

NOTICE ID NO. NIST-SSN-25-737788

Title: Sources Sought for Quadruped Robot with Integrated Manipulator Arm

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) performs research to develop standards for robots and robot systems for manufacturing, emergency response, and industrial and on-road automated vehicles.

NIST research projects require a quadruped robot with an integrated manipulator arm to assist in the development and validation of test methods and metrics for the Measurement Science for Robotics and Autonomous Systems program.

CAPABILITIES SOUGHT

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a robot and software for laboratory-environment use with the following attributes:

1. One quadruped robot with an integrated arm that attaches to the chassis of the robot. The quadruped base and robot arm should be powered from the same source, and the software should be able to perform coordinated control of the base and the arm. The arm should be at least 6 degrees of freedom, ending in an actuated gripper.
   
   
   
   1. Required Capabilities:
      
      
      
      • The quadruped robot shall be capable of robustly performing basic mobility tasks such as balance, walking at up to 1.5 meters per second, obstacle avoidance, walking up and down standard height stairs, climbing up or down a 30-degree incline, and traversing common rough terrains such as grass, sand, and shallow water.
      
      
      • The robot should be capable of carrying at least two (2) external payloads
      
      
      • The arm should have a continuous lifting capacity of 5 kg and be able to drag objects of up to 25kg. It should be capable of additional dexterous tasks such as grasping common objects, valve turning, close-up visual inspections, door opening, zipper opening, hook and carry, dragging objects, pushing E-stop buttons, and pick and place tasks.
      
      
      • The arm and robot together should be able to reach a height of at least 1800 mm.
      
      
      • The robot shall be able to operate continuously on battery power, at a moderate level of activity, for at least 90 min.
      
      
      • At minimum, the robot should possess the following sensors: 360-degree vision cameras, lidar sensing for mapping and navigation of the immediate environment, at least one central inertial measurement unit, and joint force-torque sensing.
      
      
      • The front and rear legs of the robot should be able to operate independently for advanced mobility.
      
      
      • The robot should be capable of self-righting to a standing position after a fall or other failure.
      
      
      • The robot should be capable of autonomous functionality, with an option for preprogramming and triggering semi or fully autonomous action sequences.
      
      
      • The software API or other interface with the robot shall provide the option to record and save data from all on-board sensors for later analysis.
        
        
      
      
      
      
   
   
   2. Desired Additional Features:
      
      
      
      • Wheeled Locomotion – Wheels present at the feet for combined wheeled and walking motion.
      
      
      • Scanning Lidar – additional Lidar to scan object and environment.
      
      
      • On-board 2-way audio – capable of verbal communication with nearby people.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.

Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response:

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  
  
  
  • Manufacturer name
  
  
  • Model number
  
  
  • Technical specifications
  
  
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)
  
  
  
  

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
  
  
  
  • Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.
  
  
  
  

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications that you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

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  • Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.
  
  
  
  

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  • If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.
  
  
  
  

• Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by June 3, 2025. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed six (6) pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!

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