FEDBIZOPS NOTICE OF INTENT FOR SOLE SOURCE: The 10CONS/PKB, Contracting Squadron, USAF Academy, US Air Force Academy received a Sole Source justification for the purchase of two (2) SoftBank Robotics Humanoid Pepper Robots (model number 18AWHGDGD), accompanying JP/US/EU power cord - multilingual documentation. This procurement is for the acquisition of a sole source commercial item using simplified procedures in accordance with FAR Part 12 and 13. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) number is 339930 and the business size standard is 500. Only one responsible source and no other item will satisfy the USAFA requirement for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Outreach , senior capstone projects and research using advanced humanoid robots. SoftBank Robotics America, Inc. is the manufacturer and Depco Enterprises, LLC is the only reseller for these Pepper Robots in the United States. This request is issued for the USAF Academy Dean of Faculty. SoftBank Robotics America, Inc, is the only known source that meets the USAFA requirements. The only other humanoid robots that are commercially available are the Boston Dynamics Atlas robot which costs in excess of $100,000 and is too large, heavy and scary for use in STEM Outreach in the classroom or office environment and the Honda Asimo which is not for sale but can be leased for $150,000 per month, also too large and heavy. The salient characteristics required are as follows: robot must be humanoid in appearance and capable of interactions, programmable, ideally compatible with the NAOqi software framework for portability of our existing code base, have computer vision capabilities with face detection, tracking, and recognition, text to speech generation capabilities, weigh 75 lbs. or less for two-person transportability, 50 inches or less in height for transportability and to not intimidate children, have speech recognition capabilities, programmable gestures, be able to move about a room on its own, be able to sense and avoid objects as it moves about and have emotion recognition capabilities. This synopsis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation for bids or proposals. DO NOT submit a bid/quote at this time. Any offerors believing they can provide the required SoftBank Robotics Humanoid Pepper Robots (model number 18AWHGDGD) of the requirement described above or an equal robot may provide evidence for consideration. Evidence must support the offeror's claim they can provide this product (model number 18AWHGDGD). All qualified sources may submit a response, which if timely received, will be considered by this agency. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement can be conducted. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on response to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses must be received NLT 12:00 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST) on 27 September 2017. Responses received after this will be considered late IAW FAR 52.212-1(f) and will not be evaluated. The Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this announcement. Contractors must have a current registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) at http://sam.gov/ . The Government intends to award a Firm Fixed Price contract processed IAW FAR 12 and 13. The closing date of this synopsis is 12:00 pm , Mountain Standard Time (MST) on 29 September 2017. Questions should be addressed to the Primary POC Sharon D. Scheetz , Contract Specialist, (719) 333- 8927 or sent via e-mail to
[email protected]. Alternate POC is Diana Myles-South , Contracting Officer, (719) 333- 8650 ,
[email protected]. 5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (JUN 2016) (a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the Center/MAJCOM/DRU or AFISRA ombudsmen, James A. Anderson 8110 Industrial Drive, Ste 103 USAFA, CO 80840 Telephone number 719-333-2074 FAX 719-333-9018 email:
[email protected] Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU or AFISRA level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2397, facsimile number (571) 256-2431. (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer. (End of clause)