SBIR-STTR Award

A low cost obstacle avoidance system for low flying airborne platforms will be developed. This system contains a passive infrared camera, a ranging sensor, obstacle detection and identification algorithms, obstacle location, processor electronics, and an end-user interface. These are all off-the- shelf components (hardware and software) that have been used in commercial applications, making for a low cost system. The Infrared camera will have a wide field of regard to allow for wide area detection. The system will be capable of autonomously detecting objects as small as one centimeter in diameter (i.e. wires) at a range of at least 600 meters. It will operate in day/night and in all weather conditions. Height, width, and range of the obstacle is determined with minimal processing time to allow ample time for the pilot or crew to avoid the obstacle. An audio and visual alarm will be provided to the pilot or crew. Packaging for this system will be designed for a low risk and low cost retrofit to existing fixed and rotary wing aircraft. All the hardware will be designed to work in a military aircraft, meeting the vibration, temperature, EMI/EMP, and environmental conditions.

Benefit:
This sytem will significantly improve flight safety for low flying aircraft in all weather conditions. The military has many air vehicles needing to fly below one-thousand feet. This system provides an affordable, retrofitable, early warning capability for avoiding catastrophic collisions. Ground target detection and identification, and an all weather flying aid, including take-off and landing, are other applications for this system. Commercial applications include law enforcement aircraft, Unmanned Air Vehicles, search and rescue air vehicles, and small private planes.

Keywords:
operations in day/night all weather, operations in day/night all weather, packaged for retrofits, Strikes, infrared camera system, image, system, Automata, obstacle detection algorithms, low cost system, imaging, passive, ranging sensor, cellular, detection, time, autonomous detection and warnings, obstacle, processing, Wire, Real

SVS has designed a passive, small, low-cost (under $100k) gimbaled, infrared imaging based system with advanced obstacle detection algorithms. Obstacles are detected in the infrared band, and linear features are analyzed by innovative cellular automata based algorithms. Processed images are presented to the aircrew on their display as color enhanced features, along with wide field of view visible images (situational awareness) for pilot evaluation and evasive action as appropriate. The core objectives of the current effort are to further the algorithm development, and to build a ?test bed? system. Several techniques have been identified to improve the algorithm performance and portability to a real time environment. The test bed system will be used to further the understanding of the radiometrics of the mission environment and explore the limits of system performance. This knowledge will allow for a more detailed understanding of the probability of detection and probability of false alarm for the system. Designs for the pointing and stabilization systems will be completed and proto-types built and integrated into the system. In order to transition this technology to the user community as quickly as possible, substantial effort will be applied to understanding the needs and capabilities of the user community.

Benefits:
Military aircraft routinely fly below 1000 ft. in support of their missions. These aircraft include fixed and rotary wing and may be manned or unmanned. Flying at these low altitudes presents a safety hazard to the aircrew and aircraft, due to the occurrences of obstacles within the aircraft?s flight path. The pilot must rely on eyesight and in some cases, infrared sensors to see obstacles. This can make it very difficult or even impossible to react in sufficient time to avoid collisions. This problem is exacerbated at night and/or in bad weather. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have the same problem, whether operating autonomously or under control of a ground operator. The UAV ground operator is even less likely to detect obstacles such as utility lines, as the displays used to control the UAV have less resolution than the eyes of the aircrew. Numerous catastrophic accidents have occurred in which aircraft collided with undetected obstacles. Accidents of this type continue to be a problem for low flying military and commercial aircraft. Under some conditions of sun angle, material reflectance, etc., obstacles such as utility lines are essentially invisible even to the alerted aircrew that is focused on the outside scene. A system that can identify these obstacles would significantly enhance the flight safety of the pilot, crew, and ground personnel.

Keywords:
Obstacle Detection Wire Strikes Cellular Automata Passive Imaging Real Time System Image Processing