A/
The Aeolipile was the world’s first rotating steam engine,
or, more technically correct, a steam reaction turbine. It
was devised by the great Heron of Alexandria in the 1st
Century AD and described in great detail in his
book Pneumatica.
This relatively simple device works by heating a reservoir
of water within the device to generate steam. The steam
is then conducted through one of the copper supports to a
pivoted brass sphere. Once the steam reaches the sphere,
it escapes through one of two nozzles at the ends of two
small, opposingly pointing arms. The escaping steam
generates thrust and causes the sphere to rotate.
Commercial Item Determination (CID)
The Commercial Item Determination (CID), companies such as
[Link] provide services to ruggedizing existing
electronic components and can ruggedize any hard drive to make it more
durable in various harsh conditions.
A review of the item(s) was conducted in accordance with
(IAW) FAR 10.002(b) and FAR 2.101, Definitions, to
determine if commercial items or non-developmental
items are available to meet the Government’s needs or
could be modified to meet the Government’s needs. A
summary of the findings from the review are detailed
below:
∙ The buying command performed pre-solicitation market
research and identified multiple industries that require
the use of ruggedized hard drives. These industries
include: military, medical, construction and oil industries.
All these industries have applications that require hard
drives to be able to operate reliably in hard usage
environments and conditions such as strong vibrations,
extreme temperature, and wet or dusty conditions.
∙ In addition, companies such as
[Link] provide services to
ruggedizing existing electronic components and can
ruggedize any hard drive to make it more durable in
various harsh conditions.
An SLA is a legally binding contract between a provider and a
customer that outlines services, guarantees, warranties, and other
mutually negotiated items between the two parties.
B/
Gears or cogwheels are integral components of any
rotating machine. They allow for a change in speed,
torque, or direction of power. They are some of the most
fundamental mechanical engineering innovations in history.
Any change in torque made with the use of gears and
cogwheels necessarily creates a mechanical advantage,
thanks to the phenomenon of the gear ratio.
Gear can also mesh with a linear toothed part, called a
rack, producing translation instead of rotation.
It is unclear exactly when gears and cogwheels were first
invented, but some credit to Archimedes. Today, gears are
present in many moving systems and machines, from
bicycles to ship engines.
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Commercial Item Determination (CID)
The Commercial Item Determination (CID), companies such as
[Link] provide services to ruggedizing existing
electronic components and can ruggedize any hard drive to make it more
durable in various harsh conditions.
A review of the item(s) was conducted in accordance with
(IAW) FAR 10.002(b) and FAR 2.101, Definitions, to
determine if commercial items or non-developmental
items are available to meet the Government’s needs or
could be modified to meet the Government’s needs. A
summary of the findings from the review are detailed
below:
∙ Market research found the proposed ruggedized
external hard drive being offered for sale on
[Link].
∙ Market research also identified several companies that
sell and offer ruggedized products similar to the subject
hard drive the Government is procuring. These companies,
which offer similar products, are HDrUS,
StorageSoltionsUnlimited (SSU), waterproofstorage
(WPS), and [Link] (HDTB). The
offered products are typically used for non-governmental
purposes in the aforementioned industries. ∙ The buying
command confirmed that there was no prior CID for this
item.
∙ Since alternative commercial solutions were identified
and are readily available to meet the Government
requirements, the buying command issued a solicitation
using FAR subpart 12.6 “Streamlined Procedures for
Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Items.”