SBIR-STTR Award

SaraniaSat will develop a combined hardware/software, Hyperspectral Imaging and Sensor Fusion (HYFUSE) solution to augment the 3D Virtual Reality (VR) Planning System for CV-22 and other aircraft platforms for conducting landing/takeoff operations in Degraded Visual Environments (DVEs) and low level flight operation in terrain with natural and man-made obstacles. The use of a hyperspectral sensor in addition to the aircraft's existing ISR sensor suite, and combined with SaraniaSat's advanced weak-signal detection and sensor fusion algorithms will provide critical composition information of natural and man-made hazards in the landing zone as well as the nature of terrain obstacles during low-level operations. By augmenting the 3D VR Planning Systems onboard these aircraft, HFUSE will minimize pilot error due to lack of needed information of the battlespace and thereby save lives and equipment.

SaraniaSat's algorithms for weak-signal detection in highly-cluttered backgrounds and sensor fusion of multiple ISR sensor outputs will be adapted for the proposed ECHO (Edge Computing High-performance Onboard Testbed) SBIR Phase II proposal in response to the AFWERX Space Pitch Day competition. The increasing demand for acquiring Hyperspectral Imagery (HSI) and other "Big Data" ISR sensor information combined with the limited bandwidth available for the transmittal of the high-volume data from remote-sensing platforms such as satellites and high-altitude balloons drives the need for high-performance, edge computing onboard these platforms. The primary goal of the proposed ECHO1 ground testbed will be to demonstrate SaraniaSat's capability rapidly analyze high-volume remote-sensing information and deliver actionable information to tactical users and the tactical cloud. During the execution of the Phase II SBIR project, SaraniaSat, in collaboration with Dr. Laila Jeong's (AFRL/RVSU) Space-Based Resilient ISR Next-Gen Technologies (SPRINT) program and Col. Gary Helfeldt, Director, AF Warfighters Edge (WEdge) Laboratory will design and develop the ground-based ECHO testbed. Air Force End Users for the EDGE solution will be Ms. Charlene Jacka, MicroSatellite Military Utility Project Lead, AFRL/RVEN and Mr. Charles Finley, AFRL/RV Flight Experiments and Prototypes Portfolio Lead, for satellite and stratospheric balloon implementations respectively.