Advance Contract Award Notice - 23-58026
Title: Laser Seam Finding Welding Robot and a Laser Seam Finding and CMT Welding Cobot systems
1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN): An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.
2. Definition of the requirement:
This requirement is for the METALTec industrial R&D group that’s part of the National Research Council Canada. This group was established in June 2020 with the objective of building a research community that catalyzes innovation in the metal fabrication sector in the digital era.
METALTec mainly focuses on:
1. Improving manufacturing processes to increase productivity and agility;
2. Creating smarter, more complex and functional, and higher value-added products by advancing materials, processes and enabling digital technologies;
3. Reducing the environmental footprint associated with the manufacture of metal products
The METALTec industrial R&D group is a collaborative initiative that brings together member companies and various partners to share the costs and risks associated with R&D projects while providing access to NRC experts and facilities. METALTec activities are concentrated in the following technological areas:
• Additive manufacturing for mass customization;
• Advanced mechatronic platforms for incremental manufacturing;
• Manufacturing technologies for light weighting applications;
• Surface engineering and coating for Industry 4.0;
• Corrosion and durability assessment in a multi-material context;
• Intelligent tooling;
• Modelling, simulation and optimization of manufacturing processes;
• High-fidelity modelling, simulation and optimization of manufacturing processes;
• Data engineering and analytics applied to manufacturing processes;
• Advanced sensing systems;
This requirement is for a Laser Seam Finding Welding Robot, a Laser Seam Finding and CMT Welding Cobot systems, Controllers and a Welding System. The requirement was selected based upon NRC’s functional, technical and compatibility needs with NRC’s existing research equipment.
System 1: The Laser-Guided Tracking welding robot system
1. At a minimum, must have a 45kg payload, must be a laser-guided tracking welding robot system;
2. Must have an admissible reach = 2.5 meters;
3. Must find and reposition the initial starting point of the welding path using a laser sensor on typical joint configurations (ex. butt joints, tee-joints, fillet lap joints);
4. Must allow for the integration of a Servo-Robot seam finding and tracking camera in the robot controller;
5. Must allow the in-line robot position data transfer through OPC UA communication port on the robot controller;
6. Must allow for integration of an Fronius CMT TransPuls Synergic 4000 welding source (ROB5000 controller) on the robot controller;
System 2: Laser-Guided Tracking Welding Cobot System
1. At a minimum, must have a 25kg payload, must be a laser-guided tracking welding Cobot system
2. Must have an admissible reach = 1.8 meters;
3. Must allow the integration of a Servo-Robot seam finding and tracking camera in the robot controller;
4. Must allow for the integration of a Fronius CMT TPS 400i/600V/nc welding source on the robot controller;
5. Must perform automatic welding without off-line programming or using a numeric drawing (ex. CAD file);
6. Must manually acquire with the Cobot a welding path with a Servo-Robot camera;
7. Must transfer the acquired welding path to the robot controller;
8. Must perform an automatic welding path and adapt, during welding process, the welding path with the Servo-Robot camera;
System 3: Roboitic Welding System
1. Must have a Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) package compatible with the Cobot and Robot listed above;
2. Must have a push-pull automatic welding torch for aluminum research applications;
3. Must have a Remote-Control Unit (RCU);
4. Must have a table with manual functionalities to adjust the height to position the Cobot, must insert the welding source and with fixturing elements for securing plates prior to welding;
Compatibility Requirements between systems and NRC’s existing equipment:
For this procurement, the requirement is an integrated welding solution predicted on interchangeability and seamless compatibility with new and existing equipment. There’s one proven solution with capacity to integrate a Fanuc C3RX cobot, a laser triangulation vision camera for trajectory determination without off-line programming, and real-time trajectory recalibration during welding. This solution integrates a vision camera (Servo-Robot; Canadian SME) with the Fanuc R30iB Plus controller. The commercial version of the cobot-integrated camera option was delivered only in early 2023, and first to an NRC METALTec member (Canmec). This supply must be compatible with a Servo-Robot vision and automatic registration camera (subject to a parallel investment supply).
The Fanuc R30iB Plus controller provides access to several options required for robotic welding (e.g. Servo-Robot camera compatibility, oscillation with automatic TAST registration, robot position acquisition via OPC UA communication), which were required for welding on various NRC projects. The same type of controller is already in operation in welding at NRC-Saguenay, and integrated into an internal functional SQL database (Ignition). As cobot welding is a field of research in its own right, the controller must be identical for the robot and the cobot, enabling the two solutions (standard by robot and new by cobot) to be compared.
For these welding systems, another requirement is to be able to use a simpler, more compact laser repositioning system, compared with the integration of a repositioning and adaptive camera. To this end, supplier AGT Robotics has developed and owns LTS (Laser Touch Sensing) technology, which enables recognition of different welding joint configurations for initial automatic repositioning. For certain applications, the use of this type of compact system may be more suitable (e.g. accessibility) than a Servo-Robot. Both systems (robot and cobot) must have this compact automatic initial position readjustment option.
A Fronius CMT TransPuls Synergic 4000 welding source with controller (ROB5000) is currently in use in the NRC-Saguenay welding laboratory. A request for an identical unit that’s compatible in terms of fit form and functionality is essential for interoperability between the two systems. The benefits of identical compatible platforms (hardware and software) operating on the same platform maintains interoperability without issues compatibility issues arising. In addition, the system and welding source is compatible and is integradable with the welding robot. The integration of Fronius CMT sources with Fanuc controllers is well known, and is a solution favored by the NRC as the function issues are easily addressed. What's more, in this purchase, the cobotic system will also integrate a Fronius CMT source with the same Fanuc controller. These elements will simplify integration and the learning curve on the systems for the technicians and researchers involved at NRC. There are no other known solutions that preserve and maintain NRC’s compatibility considerations other than the proposed solution.
By our requirements, our robotic and cobotic welding systems must have the same Fronius welding source, as such a source is currently in the NRC-Saguenay laboratories and will be integrated into the Fanuc welding robot. This type of source (Fronius) enables Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) mode, and is required in our welding projects, particularly when rebuilding with an electric arc. The CMT mode, is patented by Fronius (US20090026188A1)
3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements):
1. Any proposed Statement of Capabilities must address all requirement listed in Question (2) for System 1, System 2 and System 3 inclusive of the compatibility requirements;
2. The supplier must have distribution rights all products listed herein;
4. This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
o Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
o Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
o Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
o Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
o Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
o Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
o Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)
o Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA),
5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier:
The proposed supplier is the only know source that can address all three requirements listed in Section 2 including the Compatibility Requirements between systems and NRC’s existing equipment. The Trade agreements allow for non-competitive contracting under the following conditions
Limited Tendering included in the Trade Agreements:
(b) Where the goods can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods exist for any of the following reasons (Exclusive Rights): the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
(c) additional deliveries by the original supplier of goods or services that were not included in the initial procurement where a change of supplier for such additional goods or services (Interchangeable Parts):
cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, software, services or installations procured under the initial procurement; and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the procuring entity;
6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s):
The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work".
7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons:
Limited tendering reasons contained in the trade agreements due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:
Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-16 (2) (c): necessary to protect intellectual property;
Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article 17.11 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement – referencing the WTO Protocol Amending the GPA, Article XIII (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article 16.10 (1) (b) (iii): because of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) –Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) – Annex 10-6 (2) (a): any form of preference, including set asides, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises; and Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement: refer to CETA as the provisions of CETA are incorporated by reference into and made part of this Agreement. (CETA) Article 19.12 (b) (iii).
8. Ownership of Intellectual Property:
Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor and the vested owners and developers of the products.
9. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:
The supplier is the exclusive distributor for all the products listed in the statement of requirement listed in section 2. The supplier is the sole authorized distributer with exclusive distribution rights for the IP in question.
AGT Robotics
8800 Bd Parent,
Trois-Rivières,
QC G9A 5E1
10. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.
11. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is July 10th 2023, 2pm Eastern Time
12. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities
Include the name, position, address, phone, fax and e-mail address where suppliers may inquire or submit a statement of capabilities.
Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
Johnathon Gillis
National Research Council Canada
1200 Montreal Road, Building M55
OFRM Procurement and Contracting
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6
Email: Johnathon.Gillis@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
