26-58007 Mobile Ground Control Station (MGCS) and Cargo Trailer for Drone Field Operations

26-58007 Mobile Ground Control Station (MGCS) and Cargo Trailer for Drone Field Operations

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Centre for Drone Innovation (CDI), part of the Drone and Flight Autonomy Laboratory (DFAL), requires the design, integration, and delivery of a Mobile Ground Control Station (MGCS) and complementary enclosed cargo trailer (collectively referred to as the “MGCS System”). The MGCS System will support experimental flight data acquisition and processing in remote environments, and in-situ demonstrations of novel applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), counter-UAS technologies, and mobile sensor networks. It will support research activities in: • Concurrent multi-UAV operations, including ground robots; • Exploration and Mapping, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications; • Electronic Warfare (EW), Security, Counter-measures deployment, and drone threat mitigation; • BVLOS experimentation; and • AI/autonomy research.

Background Researchers at the NRC-CDI regularly conduct outdoor experiments and advanced technology demonstrations at remote test locations for government and industrial clients. These activities require transporting multiple drones, instrumentation, computing systems, field equipment, and crew.

Current deployments require multiple transport vehicles and significant setup time. The MGCS System is intended to consolidate these capabilities with efficient reliable operations into a mobile platform.

1.0 Requirement: The MGCS System must operate as an extension of NRC’s laboratory computing, and communications infrastructure and enable rapid deployment to remote field locations, with flight testing and data collection activities commencing within approximately 30 minutes of arrival.

Given the fast development pace of UAS and C-UAS technologies, the MGCS System must be modular in its design approach and implementation to support future expansion, subsystems replacements, and integration of future sensors, communications equipment, computing infrastructure upgrades, and mission systems.

The requirements identified in the following subsections represent NRC's fundamental requirements for the MGCS System and are intended to describe the minimum functionality, features, and performance objectives sought under this SOR. The requirements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all components, features, or accessories that may be required to provide a complete and operational solution. Where appropriate, Offerors may propose equivalent or alternative solutions, products, features, components, or configurations, provided that the proposed recommendation meets or exceeds the functional, operational, and performance requirements specified in this Statement of Requirement. Offerors should clearly identify any proposed substitutions and provide sufficient technical information and rationale to demonstrate equivalency.

Offerors may also identify optional features, enhancements, or add-ons that are not included in the proposed compliant solution. Any such optional items must be clearly identified and priced separately in the Annex Basis of Payment and will not form part of the evaluation unless expressly stated otherwise in the solicitation.

Following contract award, NRC's Technical Authority will work collaboratively with the successful Offeror during the design phase in a stage-gate review process to refine and finalize the requirements, system layouts, integration details, equipment list, and implementation plan to ensure the MGCS System is optimized for NRC's current and future evolving operational needs. Any resulting refinements must remain within the scope of the Contract and shall not reduce the minimum technical requirements specified herein.

Please refer to tender documents for the Specifications.