Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument/Source Grading Co-botview on SAM.gov

NIST-SS26-11 PSC/NAICS (AMD) – 6640/811210 Title: Sources Sought Notice Upgrade to a Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument/Source Grading Co-bot. BACKGROUND 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. The National Institutes of Standards & Technology neutron imaging team, in the Radiation Physics Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory, is developing a far-field grating neutron interferometer to measure the projection of the pair correlation function, G(Z), of a sample of interest. This interferometer geometry is unique in that one can tune the period of moiré pattern by changing the relative spacing of the phase gratings. In order to maintain high flux, the period of the neutron source grating must match that of the moiré pattern, thus one needs multiple source gratings. NIST has developed several source gratings, and requires the ability to change the source gratings during a measurement in an automated fashion, while avoiding using a large carousel that can suffer stability issues. The solution NIST is pursuing is a robotic arm that can remove the currently employed grating with the next. NIST anticipates procuring a Upgrade Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument/Source Grading Co-bot and is seeking information from manufacturers capable of meeting the following needs: Technical Specifications: Vertical Translation (phase stepping) stage The cobot shall be capable of moving a payload of at least 3 kg The cobot shall have a reach of at least 800 mm (more is better) The cobot shall have at least 6 degrees of freedom The cobot repeatability shall be less than or equal to 0.04 mm (small is better) The cobot shall be supplied with a controller and software to program movement. The cobot shall be supplied with a software development kit compatible with C#, C, C++. NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above. HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response: 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. 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 co…