Notice of Intent: Phantom High-Speed Camera System

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

Contracting Opportunities Announcement Type: Special Notice
Announcement Number: NIST-NOI-26-01230

Subject: Procurement of Phantom High-Speed Camera System

Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.

Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed price purchase order on a sole source basis with the Vision Research Inc., located at 100 Dey Rd, Wayne NJ, 07470 USA. The purchase order will specifically procure the Phantom High-Speed Camera System. This system will be utilized by the Engineering Laboratory (EL), Production Systems Group at NIST Gaithersburg MD campus.

Authority
This acquisition is being conducted using the procedures at FAR Part 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334310 – Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 750 Employees.

Description
The Production Systems Group (PSG) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducts research in metal-based additive manufacturing (AM) with the goal of improving process monitoring, control, and qualification of AM processes. A key platform supporting this work is the Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT), a laser powder bed fusion research system developed at NIST to study the relationship between processing parameters, melt pool dynamics, and resulting material properties. The AMMT platform enables precise synchronization between the laser position and in-situ monitoring devices, including high-speed cameras used to capture melt pool dynamics during the laser–material interaction. These measurements provide critical information for understanding the AM process and improving process stability and part quality. The system is currently being upgraded to AMMT 2.0, which incorporates a dual-laser configuration to enable studies of coordinated laser processing, transient melt pool dynamics, and process control strategies under multi-laser operation.

The purpose of this acquisition is to procure one (1) monochromatic, silicon-detector-based high-speed camera for melt pool imaging in the AMMT 2.0 dual-laser system.

All items must be new.  Used or remanufactured equipment will not be considered for award. Experimental or prototype equipment will not to be considered.  The use of “gray market” components not authorized for sale in the U.S. by the proposer is not acceptable.   All line items shall be shipped in the original manufacturer’s packaging and include all original documentation and software, when applicable.

Minimum Requirements:

For the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing in-situ monitoring, the camera needs to have a combination of speed, resolution, sensitivity, and controllability. Specifically, the contractor shall provide a quantity of (1) camera, meeting the following minimum specifications.

Sensor type:                            CMOS

Color:                                      Monochrome

Pixel pitch:                              Less than or equal to 18 μm x 18 μm

Bit depth:                                12-bit or better

Resolution:                              1.2Mpix or larger

Sensitivity:                              >30 % Quantum Efficiency (QE x FF) @ 850 nm; >60 % @ 550

nm.

Shutter:                                   Global shutter

Minimum shutter speed:         Less than or equal to 1 microseconds

Data transfer protocol:            CoaxPress or 10 Gb ethernet

Onboard memory:                   72 GB or larger, able to partition and download while recording

Lens Mount:                            Must come with c-mount adapter

Frame rates:                            Greater than 10,000 fps at full resolution

Greater than 100,000 fps at a sub-window size 120 x 120 pixels or above. 

Triggering:                              Random external TTL triggering capability with frequency up to the maximum sample rate for the defined resolution.

Dimensions:                            Not to exceed 130 x 130 x 150 mm to fit within laboratory space

constraints at NIST.

Sole Source Determination
 

PSG previously acquired and integrated a Phantom high-speed camera into the existing system to perform melt pool imaging. This acquisition is for a second, identical Phantom high-speed camera to be installed coaxially with the second laser beam.

An identical camera is required to satisfy the Government's minimum technical requirements. The two imaging systems must produce directly comparable measurements under identical imaging characteristics, including sensor performance, spectral response, frame rate, exposure control, triggering, synchronization, and calibration. Using the same camera model ensures that both laser channels operate with equivalent measurement performance, enabling accurate comparison of melt pool behavior and supporting the validity and repeatability of experimental results.

Additionally, NIST has already developed, validated, and integrated the calibration procedures, synchronization architecture, imaging parameters, software interfaces, and data acquisition workflows for the existing Phantom camera. Introducing a different camera platform would require significant engineering effort to redesign, integrate, test, calibrate, and validate the second imaging system. Such an approach would increase technical risk, delay ongoing research, require substantial duplication of development costs, and could compromise the consistency and comparability of experimental data between the two laser channels.

Accordingly, only an identical Phantom high-speed camera is capable of meeting the Government's minimum technical requirements while maintaining compatibility with the existing research platform and preserving the integrity of the dual-laser measurement system. Therefore, PSG requests that this acquisition be conducted pursuant to 41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Marvin Jean, Contract Specialist, at marvin.jean@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to marvin.jean@nist.gov so that they are received no later than July 24, 2026, at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time (ET).

Each response shall include the following Business Information:

1. Contractor Name, Address,
2. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
3. Contractor (SAM) Universal Entity Identification (UEI)
4. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, HUBZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov.
5. Capability Statement