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U.S. DOT FY 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A


* * * 2/3/23 Update: The Pre-solicitation is now closed. Topic questions are no longer being accepted. * * *

This U.S. DOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum provides small businesses an opportunity to submit clarifying questions on the topics published in the U.S. DOT Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation. Questions will be answered by the Technical Experts/Topic Authors at the U.S.DOT Operating Administrations during this period. Questions shall be limited to improving the understanding of a particular topic's requirements and should not share proposal ideas nor proprietary information.


The U.S. DOT’s FY 2023 Pre-Solicitation period is January 4, 2023, through February 3, 2023, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Only questions posted within this period will be responded to.

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Search: Browse the existing questions by category to find the topic you are interested in and to see if your question has already been addressed. If you see a question you are also interested in, you can add a vote to the question, or leave a comment.

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Please note, all comments will be public information. Potential offerors shall not include in the question(s) or comment(s) any information that they do not wish to be made public. Telephone inquiries or meeting requests will not be addressed and may be removed. The U.S. DOT shall not respond to requests for advice or guidance on any offeror’s solution to any SBIR topic, and shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.

Thanks for joining our SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum.

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52 results found

  1. This is for a *new* device, correct?

    To clarify: based on reading the various responses, it appears that the main interest here is a new, self-contained, edge-processing sensor system that is primarily video-based but will work with other sensors (e.g., loop sensors, etc.), and which can properly detect the conditions or sense the events described in those various questions (such as counting and discriminating vehicle types, detecting wet/frozen pavement, sensing accident events, etc.).

    It is NOT focused on retrofitting all existing traffic cameras or other sensors with an edge computing system. Correct?

    1 vote

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  2. Topic Clarifications

    For Phase I, is there an expectation that filming for the training program take place or just the curriculum build?

    1 vote

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  3. Topic Clarifications

    1) What are the constraints around ‘low-power’ – e.g. <1W, <10W, <100W? What power source is the solution expected to use (mains voltage, solar, etc)?
    2) Are the topic authors looking to fuse sensor and video metadata through edge computing, or replace all sensors with only cameras?-
    3) Will the topic authors provide sample data sets for video and sensor data to optimize proposed solutions?
    4) Are there any specific mounting location boundary conditions on the cameras and compute hardware – e.g. top of a pole, roadside at vehicle level, etc. ?
    5) Are the topic authors open to wireless…

    1 vote

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  4. 1 vote

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  5. Current human interaction in traffic management?

    What types of "human interference" currently happen via the Transportation Management Centers? Are there specific signals in the current videos that humans are monitoring to take traffic control action?

    1 vote

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  6. What types of events are of interest?

    What types of results or analytics are you envisioning produced from the vehicle and micro-mobility counts, classifications processed in situ? What types of events (crash, weather, etc) are of interest? Or are currently detected?

    1 vote

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  7. "real-time" traffic monitoring?

    The pre-solicitation mentions "real-time traffic monitoring." What is the time bound of "real-time" in this scenario? What is the expected application or value of the data being "real-time"?

    1 vote

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  8. What vehicle classes should the device detect/differentiate?

    What vehicle classes do you want the device to detect/differentiate? Are there any other types of detection, beyond vehicle count, vehicle class, electric scooters, electric bicycles, conventional bicycles, and speed, that USDOT is interested in?

    1 vote

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  9. Weather and Pavement Conditions Monitoring - future integration or current requirement?

    Is the capability to detect fogging, wet pavement, and icy pavement conditions required for this proposal? Or just the ability to eventually integrate with other sensors or devices that do this kind of monitoring?

    1 vote

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  10. Importance of Integration with other traffic sensors?

    Is this pre-solicitation asking for (A) an “edge computing device” to be developed that integrates with other traffic sensors, or (B) the development of a single device that does the sensing and processing in situ? i.e. In case (A), the integration is part of the deliverables, not the traffic monitoring sensors themselves. In this case, what types of other traffic sensors should this device take in/integrate?

    1 vote

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  11. Existing Traffic Data

    What are the types of “traditional traffic data sensors” this solicitation aims to replace or accommodate? What are high priority insights that are currently delivered to individuals in traffic management centers, and what actions are currently taken from those existing video feeds or other data?

    1 vote

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  12. Can you list some technologies or commercial sensors that were cited in the solicitation?

    Can you list some technologies or commercial sensors that were cited in the solicitation as "badge-type sensors and watch-type sensors" for hazardous gas detection?

    2 votes

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  13. More Reference Specifications and Designs?

    Beyond the AASHTO Guidelines for Traffic Data Programs, are there any other relevant reference specifications/designs for existing Transportation Management Centers and existing sensor layouts/configurations that are available for review? Whatever additional, reasonable details that can be shared on current implementations is helpful.

    1 vote

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  14. 1 vote

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  15. Clarification on the lifespan of the sensor aside from “durable and reusable”.

    If the sensor needs to be reusable, what would be considered a reasonable amount of uses?

    1 vote

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  16. 1 vote

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  17. 1 vote

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  18. 1 vote

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  19. amount of storage needed

    1. what type and volume of data being processed and stored at the edge?
    2. what size of the algorithms and models being run on the device?
    3. what amount of historical data being stored for analysis?
    1 vote

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  20. Relationship to law enforcement career learning curriculum

    When would this training be presented to officers? Experienced officers or early recruits? Is the hope that this system will be available for career-long learning? (as opposed to a class they pass and never go back to)

    2 votes

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