SBIR-STTR Award

The program objective to develop a sensor system to enable teleoperation or autonomous behavior of small serpentine robots includes the following technical objectives in the Phase I effort: 1.) Conduct feasibility study for creation of a real time 3D representation of local terrain for use on the moving nose or tail of the serpentine robot 2.) Develop plans for design and demonstration of the most viable system. LCI has significant past experience with compact 3D imaging LIDAR systems. LCI previously was awarded a System Development Effort (SDE) contract by DARPA for participation in the JIGSAW program. LCI developed design concepts, performed system engineering studies, and developed performance models for an airborne flash 3D imaging LIDAR system to detect combat vehicles and personnel hidden from view by camouflage and trees.

Keywords:
Flash Lidar/Ladar, Real-Time 3d Imaging, 3d Mapping, Man-Portable, Eye-Safe, Large-Array, Compact, Light-Weight

During the program baseline, LCI will develop an eyesafe, large array RT3D camera system that generates both 3D and 2D grayscale imagery in real-time that can be mounted on the iRobot PackBot. The 3D and 2D grayscale imagery can be fused in software to display both range and albedo information for each pixel in the 3D image, a display that will provide better scene understanding. During the option phase of the program, the RT3D system will be integrated into a serpentine robot.

Keywords:
Rt3d; Robotics; 3d Imaging; Lidar