The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), Cambridge, MA, seeks a contractor to support work to develop new communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management systems (CNS/ATM) design which includes the task to examine and assess considerations attendant to the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) (e.g., electric Vertical and Take Off/Landing (EVTOL)) vehicles and associated capabilities into routine NAS operations; e.g., detect-and-avoid (DAA) functionality
The Volpe Center is conducting market research to identify businesses for services to provide high-technology capabilities and skills targeted to the Volpe Center’s programmatic requirements in the area of CNS & ATM support.
The Volpe Center requires services to assist in the execution of projects in area of CNS & ATM which advance the mission and goals of the US DOT. The Volpe Center requires services to research, define, execute, and enhance projects in such technical work areas as communications, navigation, and surveillance systems and air traffic management systems, including system requirements definition; planning, including policy and environmental considerations; testing and evaluation; operations and maintenance of developmental and prototype systems; and the interfaces between these systems and other elements of the transportation infrastructure.
Tasks will include:
• Developing new traffic management systems;
• Modifying existing traffic management systems with goals of improving the efficiency of traffic flow;
• Improving the efficiency and increasing the safety of intermodal transitions;
• Reducing the impact of weather on traffic;
• Reducing the impact of traffic incidents on traffic;
• Reducing the impact of traffic on the environment;
• Increasing the fuel efficiency of traffic;
• Increasing traffic capacity through traffic management;
• Improving collaboration between all decision makers and users;
• Improving the accuracy of traffic predictions;
• Generating air traffic management system requirements
• Evaluating air traffic management capabilities
Specific requirements to be met for which sources are sought can be categorized within the following Task Areas:
- Operations Assessment
- Analyze the impact of traffic and traffic management systems on fuel efficiency;
- Analyze the environmental impact of traffic, traffic-related infrastructure, and traffic management systems;
- Provide support for forecast metrics, project metrics, project forecasting, and earned value management;
- Recommend the types, accuracies, precision, and frequencies of vehicle position measurements needed to achieve a desired improvement;
- Specify desired routes and predict future positions of vehicles or crafts, from a variety of information which may include past positions, velocities, accelerations, decelerations, historic data, weather data, incident data, surveillance data, fuel economy, and other data;
- Recommend the most desirable human interfaces necessary to meet system and display requirements,
- Assist in hazard analysis in accordance with the FAA Safety Management System (SMS)
- Plan and coordinate requirements for site assessments, including team staffing, security clearances, site contacts, and notifications;
- Support in-briefs and out-briefs, including benefits and features of planned NAS improvements along with general system requirements and logistics concepts and anticipated implementation schedule;
- Provide support on ATC operational and user evaluations of the systems at the selected test sites. An evaluation might require systems testing, assessment of human factors considerations, interviews with site facility personnel, and documentation of findings;
- Provide technical assistance for various System Life Extension Program (SLEP) activities on existing systems;
- Provide operational support for data feeds originating from NextGen automation systems and services;
- Identify and assess technical, operational, and procedural considerations (e.g., integration opportunities, program conflicts) attendant to potential interactions between legacy NAS automation systems and future NextGen automation systems and procedures;
- Examine and assess considerations attendant to the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) (e.g., electric Vertical and Take Off/Landing (EVTOL)) vehicles and associated capabilities into routine NAS operations; e.g., detect-and-avoid (DAA) functionality
- Concepts and Requirements Development
- Assist in developing cost estimates, analyze benefits, and perform trade-off studies to support the economic feasibility of proposed traffic management systems and solutions;
- Provide support for forecast metrics, project metrics, project forecasting, and earned value management;
- Assist in developing the framework and/or strategic plans for dealing with the nontechnical factors such as the institutional, financial, and legal aspects of traffic management;
- Assist in the development of design specifications, user guide documentation, training and training materials;
- Assist in developing procedures to implement, test, and demonstrate system capability;
- Characterize the dynamics of motion of vehicles within the traffic environment, and analyze and design CNS & ATM systems to control the motion and maintain the desired positions of vehicles with respect to other moving vehicles and fixed obstacles;
- Specify the types, accuracies, precision, and frequencies of vehicle (ground, water, and/or air) position measurements that are needed to achieve a desired improvement;
- Develop or refine architectures describing all aspects of traffic management automation and display systems and assist in the decomposition of architectures into functional components and program products;
- Develop or modify requirements documentation for CNS and ATM systems
- Assisting in the identification, definition, and implementation of advanced traffic management concepts and support traffic management research and development efforts;
- Assist in developing and composing documents to support the advancement of concepts and programs through the FAA’s Acquisition Management System (AMS) Lifecycle Process. AMS is FAA’s process that details the full life cycle of an FAA program. AMS consists of guidance for life cycle management from initial system definition through deployment, in-service maintenance, and decommission. Work may include developing Concepts of Operation (CONOPs), shortfall analyses, cost benefits analyses, risk assessment, implementation strategy, Enterprise Architecture (EA) artifacts/products, and engineering alternatives and solutions, among others;
- Assist in the development of requirements for future FAA, NASA, and DOD automation systems and concepts (e.g., ATM and tracking systems) including planning, coordination, site evaluations, assessment, interface and transition engineering, site preparation and installation of joint FAA/D NAS systems to be deployed at Air Force bases, and prototype systems to be field tested at civilian air traffic control facilities;
- Provide input to vendor and sensor manufacturers with requirements definition, support, troubleshooting and/or diagnosis of installed equipment or future equipment to be installed;
- Assist in developing cost-benefit, cost estimation, safety analyses, and other data as required to support development of a concept, capability, functionalities, and/or systems and system components (e.g., for an FAA Joint Resources Council [JRC] program investment decision);
- Proof-of-Concept (POC) Prototype Development, Demonstration, and Evaluation
- Develop, engineer, and maintain proof-of-concept prototype capabilities, software/hardware, devices, technologies, and applications in support of legacy or advanced NAS operational concepts;
- Provide support for forecast metrics, project metrics, project forecasting, and earned value management;
- Develop models and simulation capabilities to support the exploration and demonstration of future ATC and ATM concepts and requirements;
- Perform functional and engineering analyses to evaluate the viability of proposed NextGen functions and capabilities and provide proof-of-concept prototype demonstration and evaluation
- Systems Engineering
- Provide engineering input and support for information systems security (ISS);
- Provide network/telecommunications engineering and Cloud engineering services;
- Prepare load scenarios that examine the system under varying traffic conditions and evaluate safe and reasonable thresholds;
- Assist in designing, developing, installing, and maintaining software and hardware for system-wide processing, transfer, and distribution of near-real-time traffic information
- Develop algorithms to achieve automated improvements in the safe and efficient movement of persons and freight to their destinations;
- Provide support for forecast metrics, project metrics, project forecasting, and earned value management;
- Assist in the analysis of archived data and the development of simulations that demonstrate, either analytically or by event tracking, the effects of various traffic management methods;
- Conduct and document of software verification and validation testing;
- Build, test, and support traffic management adaptation datasets;
- Support the operation and maintenance of operational traffic management systems in the areas of communications, interfaces, flight database processing, adaptation data, and other related traffic flow management technology;
- Assist in the deployment of traffic management systems by providing integrated operation concepts and procedures; site implementation assessments, coordination, and surveys; and develop and provide training;
- Prepare and update documentation for installed equipment and system modifications;
- Provide support for optimizing system and user performance, delivering technical knowledge to users, technology transfer, and maintenance and sustainment of systems and system components;
- Provide support for conducting performance tests and analyses for automation systems (e.g., response times, bandwidth needs;
- Provide support for installation and maintenance of NextGen automation system hardware and software;
- Provide support for site implementation engineering, analysis, and planning. This may include site visits and operations analysis for select existing or conceptual capabilities;
- Provide support for data models including FIXM, Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) and Weather Information Exchange Model (WXXM) including collaboration with stakeholders, logical model development, XML schema creation, release package creation, and document preparation
- Retrofit fielded NAS systems with hardware and software upgrades.
Solicitation Number: 6913G6-19-SS-1008
Agency: Department of Transportation
