Save lives — and reduce injuries — by accelerating the adoption of effective, low-cost technologies that improve pedestrian and bicyclists' safety around commercial vehicles.
Sponsoring Department: Transport Canada (TC)
Funding Mechanism: Grant
Opening date: October 18, 2018
Closing date: December 17, 2018, 14:00 Eastern Standard Time
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Challenge
Summary
Save lives — and reduce injuries — by accelerating the adoption of effective, low-cost technologies that improve pedestrian and bicyclists' safety around commercial vehicles.
Problem Statement
In 2016, 583 vulnerable road users (30.7% of all fatalities) lost their lives in Canada. A significant number of these accidents involved large commercial vehicles. These vehicles have blind spots that can easily obscure bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcycles or even an entire car from the driver's field of view. Even with large mirrors, blind spots can still be still present. This is particularly problematic in dense urban environments where these large commercial vehicles operate, i.e. refuse trucks, delivery vans, intercity buses, city buses, etc.
Most collisions involving large trucks and pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists occur at very low speeds, and often a degree of inattentiveness of either the vulnerable road user (VRU), the vehicle operator, or both.
An affordable after-market technology solution that is capable of detecting the presence of a vulnerable road user, and alerting the commercial vehicle operator of a potential/impending collision, could save lives, and also reduce injuries and property damage.
Although current technology solutions exist, they are very expensive ($10K+), and are primarily available as a factory option on new passenger vehicles. There are no "low cost" after-market solutions available ($<2,500) for commercial vehicles. Trucking is a very competitive and price sensitive industry, and wide adoption is contingent on low cost solutions.
Desired outcomes and Considerations
The primary objective is to develop an effective, low cost VRU warning system for commercial vehicles.
Essential outcomes:
The solution must:
- not require significant modifications to the vehicle;
- be adaptable to a variety of vehicle classes, i.e. straight truck, refuse truck, intercity buses, city buses;
- be affordable ($2,500 or less);
- be reliable and limit the number of false positives;
- not create additional driver distractions;
- operate in a variety of Canadian environmental conditions (i.e. winter) and unique road geometry (i.e. roundabout).
Additional outcomes:
Non-applicable
Background and Context
This challenge would contribute to Canada's "Vision Zero" objective of completely eliminating death and road injuries.
In 2016 the Minister of Transport created a Task Force, in collaboration with his FPT colleagues, to develop new approaches to enhance the safety of vulnerable road users. This challenge would support the Task Force's objectives.
Existing systems for commercial vehicles are limited, and extremely expensive to purchase — creating a significant barrier to broad adoption, particularly for small fleet owner-operators.
Other solutions that have been explored, such as ultrasound, live camera feeds or extra mirrors — offer partial solutions and often create more driver distractions.
Maximum value and travel
Maximum grant value:
Multiple grants could result from this Challenge.
Funding of up to $150,000.00 CAD for up to 6 months could be available for any Phase 1 grant resulting from this Challenge.
Funding of up to $500,000.00 CAD for up to 2 years could be available for any Phase 2 grant resulting from this Challenge. Only eligible businesses that received Phase 1 funding could be considered for Phase 2.
This disclosure is made in good faith and does not commit Canada to award any grant for the total maximum funding value.
Travel:
For Phase 1 it is anticipated that three meetings will require the successful bidder(s) to travel to the location identified below:
Kick-off meeting
National Capital Region
Mid-project meeting
National Capital Region
Final Review Meeting
Blainville, QC
Eligibility
Solution proposals can only be submitted by a small business that meets all of the following criteria:
- for profit
- incorporated in Canada (federally or provincially)
- 499 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employeesFootnote *
- research and development activities that take place in Canada
- 50% or more of its annual wages, salaries and fees are currently paid to employees and contractors who spend the majority of their time working in CanadaFootnote *
- 50% or more of its FTE employees have Canada as their ordinary place of workFootnote *
- 50% or more of its senior executives (Vice President and above) have Canada as their principal residenceFootnote *
Application guide
Evaluation Criteria
Part 1: Mandatory and Minimum Pass Mark Criteria
Proposals must meet all mandatory criteria (Questions 1a and 2) and achieve the minimum pass mark for Question 3 in order to be deemed responsive and proceed to Part 2.
Question | Evaluation Schema |
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1 a. Scope Describe your proposed solution and how it responds to the challenge. Include in your description the scientific and technological basis upon which your solution is proposed and clearly identify how your solution meets all of the EssentialOutcomes (if identified) in the Desired Outcomes and Considerations section in the Challenge Notice. |
Mandatory - Pass/Fail Pass Fail |
2. Current Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
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Mandatory - Pass/Fail Pass: The Applicant/Bidder has demonstrated that the proposed solution is currently between TRLs 1 and 4 (inclusive), and provided justification by explaining the research and development (R&D) that has taken place to bring the solution to the stated TRL. Fail: The Applicant/Bidder has not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the current TRL is between 1 to 4 (inclusive) including:
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3. Innovation Describe the novelty of your solution and how it advances the state-of-the-art over existing technologies, including competing solutions. |
Point Rated with Minimum Pass Mark The minimum pass mark for this criteria is 4 points. 0 points/Fail: The Applicant/Bidder has not demonstrated that the proposed solution advances the state-of-the-art over existing technologies, including available competing solutions; OR The stated advancements are described in general terms but are not substantiated with specific, measurable evidence. 4 points:
6 points:
8 points:
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Part 2: Point-Rated Criteria
Proposals that do not achieve the overall minimum score of at least 55 points out of a possible 110 points (50%) will be declared non-responsive and given no further consideration.
The overall minimum score is determined by adding the Applicant/Bidder's scores from the following questions together (1b, 3, 4-13).
Question | Evaluation Schema |
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1b. Scope Describe how your proposed solution addresses the Additional Outcomes (if identified) in the Desired Outcomes and Considerations section in the Challenge Notice. If no Additional Outcomes are identified in the Challenge Notice, Bidders/Applicants will receive 10 points |
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4. Phase 1 Science and Technology Risks Identify potential scientific and/or technological risks to the successful development of the proof of concept and how they will be mitigated in Phase 1? |
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5. Benefits to Canada Describe the benefits that could result from the successful development of your solution. Applicants/Bidders should consider the potential benefits using the following three categories:
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6. Phase 1 Project Plan Demonstrate a feasible Phase 1 project plan by completing the table. Include:
Note: Phase 1 cannot exceed 6 months and TRL 4. |
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7. Phase 1 Project Risks Identify potential project risks (eg. Human resources, financial, project management, etc) to the successful development of the proof of concept and how they will be mitigated? |
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8. Phase 1 Implementation Team Demonstrate how your project implementation team has the required management and technological skill sets and experience to deliver the project plan for Phase 1 by completing the table. A member of the implementation team can have more than one role. Include the labour rates and level of effort for each member. A day is defined as 7.5 hours of work, exclusive of meal breaks. The labour rates and level of effort will be reviewed as part of the evaluation for Question 10. |
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9. Inclusivity If your business were to receive funding from Innovative Solutions Canada, describe what actions (e.g., recruitment strategy, internships, co-op placements, etc.) might be taken in Phase 1 to support the participation of under-represented groups (e.g., women, youth, persons with disabilities, Indigenous people, visible minorities) in the research and development of the proposed solution. |
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10. Phase 1 Financial Proposal Demonstrate a realistic financial proposal for the Phase 1 project plan by completing the table. |
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11. Phase 1 Financial Controls, Tracking and Oversight Describe the financial controls, tracking and oversight that will be used to manage the public funds throughout Phase 1. |
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12. Phase 2 Strategy Describe a realistic strategy for the prototype development if selected to participate in Phase 2. Responses should include:
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13. Commercialization Approach Describe your overall commercialization approach for the proposed solution. Responses should include:
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Questions and answers
All incoming questions regarding a specific challenge will be posted here with the corresponding response.
All enquiries must be submitted in writing to solutions@canada.ca no later than ten calendar days before the Challenge Notice closing date. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.
If you have a question about a challenge, please send it to ISED-ISDE@canada.ca.
You can also consult the Frequently asked questions about the Innovative Solutions Canada Program.
A glossary is also available.
What are some current technologies to reduce the risk of collisions between vulnerable road users and heavy commercial vehicles?
Current technologies that are used to enhanced vulnerable road users around heavy trucks include:
- 360 cameras that might cause distortion and distraction;
- ultrasound proximity sensors that have too short of a range to provide enough time to avoid a collision;
- radars that can't differentiate VRU from inert objects such as a garbage bin, other vehicles and therefore produce too many alerts to the driver.