Date: Jul 15, 2010 Author: Joe Singleton Source: MDA (
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by Joe Singleton/jsingleton@nttc.edu
A new, highly versatile imaging technology can quickly give users accurate three-dimensional depictions of objects being tracked—be they incoming missiles or the faces of suspects in a crowd.
The technology, being developed by Visidyne, Inc. (Burlington, MA), promises plenty of application possibilities beyond missile defense. The Missile Defense Agency originally funded the company through a 2003 SBIR Phase II contract. Visidyne leaders are actively seeking commercial areas for which their imaging system would be a good fit.
The system's basic components are a laser imager (using a laser or a laser-diode array as an illumination source), sensors, and a processor. The patented system Visidyne has devised looks out at objects much like a regular camera does, registering them in two dimensions—for example, objects such as a military tank, an obstacle in the road, or a human face in a crowd.
But the way the system illuminates those targets in that 2-D view allows the company to extract three-dimensional images that can give human users (or sophisticated analysis software) a better view of a scene from which to make better decisions about actions to take. For example, Visidyne's innovation could help surveillance cameras distinguish human faces from photographs, or it could give intelligence or security users more accurate 3-D renderings of targets of interest.
And the speed at which Visidyne's system can process and render image data offers both military and law enforcement users the ability to make split-second decisions, as well offering a key competitive advantage: Other LADAR systems do not provide the same measurements in real time, according to Visidyne President A.T. Stair.
The key to the technology's processing speed and 3-D renderings relies on illuminating the target with modulated light (at frequencies of a million cycles per second or faster depending on application needs) and then measuring the light that comes back using a "three-phase" approach. Specifically, the technique involves measuring recurring modulated light at three phases in time to get three images. The approach is akin to watching someone on the dance floor while a strobe light flashes. Visidyne's technology can then process and analyze the subtle or not-so-subtle changes in light reflectance, distance, and brightness in those three images to effectively determine and render the 3-D shape of that target's surfaces. And the more an object rotates, or the more Visidyne's imager rotates around an object, the more complete the 3-D rendering of the object can become.
The potential for this technology extends far beyond military applications—into areas such as video-gaming, where the approach could be used to render more exact likenesses of players on screen, or where imaging (and then tracking) the shape and position of a player's hand could serve as a means to control the video game. Visidyne contends its LADAR system shows pro-mise especially in the areas of building and perimeter security, to monitor people trying to access secure areas. The company sees potential for its system's use in the industrial processing arena, namely in monitoring the shape of pills being prepared for packaging at pharmaceutical plants. In factories, the technology also could help spot misaligned or missing bottle caps, for example, or circuit-board components.
Another possible application of this system is in the apparel market. Company officials said the LADAR tech-nology could be used to create a 3-D image of a person, and then help to properly fit the person for clothes or shoes. And in automobiles or robotic vehicles, the technology could be coupled with controls to help vehicles identify and avoid obstacles.
The viewing range for Visidyne's technology can be configured according to application requirements. For ground-based applications, such as facial recognition for security cameras, the range could be configured for less than 1.5 meters. The adaptable viewing range of Visidyne's imager differs from competitive LADAR systems, which are unable to operate in all environments or quickly focus on targets both near and far.
MDA funding helped Visidyne develop and piece together the concept for the system, which, as envisioned in its final form, would incorporate an innovation—a powerful image-processing chip—developed through an additional Visidyne partnership with MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. (The current proof-of-concept prototype incarnation of the system substitutes a three-processor setup using Kodak charge-coupled devices.) The final version of the system would incorporate a processor integrated with the system's focal plane array to do nearly instantaneous nonmechanical scanning—looking at and processing every image pixel on the array electronically at the same time, rather than looking at each pixel sequentially. The approach makes for fast and powerful 3-D imaging.
Visidyne leaders look to find new market opportunities, as well as to break into the ones they already consider good fits. The company continues to seek partnerships that would further advance its technology.
