IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROPOSAL INTRODUCES AN INNOVATIVE SENSOR CONCEPT FOR THE MITIGATION OF AIRCRAFT HAZARDS D…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROPOSAL INTRODUCES AN INNOVATIVE SENSOR CONCEPT FOR THE MITIGATION OF AIRCRAFT HAZARDS DUE TO REDUCED VISIBILITY IN FOG, DRIZZLE AND LIGHT RAIN AND THE DETECTION OF HAZARDS/OBSTACLES ON RUNWAYS. SPECIFICALLY, THIS EFFORT WILL BUILD UPON A DEVELOPING SYNTHETIC VISION SYSTEM FOR LANDING PILOTED AIRCRAFT TO: 1) CUSTOMIZE THE DESIGN AND FEASIBILITY FOR TARGETED UNPILOTED AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS (UAS), AND 2) INCORPORATE INTERFEROMETRY FOR TERRAIN MAPPING AND HAZARD DETECTION. DUBBED "PATHIN", THE PROPOSED SENSOR IS COMPRISED OF A KA-BAND DIGITALLY BEAMFORMED (DBF) RADAR INTERFEROMETER THAT WILL SERVE AS A COMPLEMENT TO EXISTING INFRARED (IR) AND NEAR-IR ENHANCED VISUALIZATION SYSTEMS AND PROVIDE A REAL-TIME DATA INTERFACE FOR GROUND-COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED EFFORT IS ALIGNED WITH THE EFFORT TO INTEGRATE UAS INTO THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE (NAS). THE PHASE 1 EFFORT WILL ASSESS THE PATHIN PERFORMANCE FOR SAMPLE UAS FLIGHT SCENARIOS OVER VARIABLE TERRAIN USING A HIGHFIDELITY POINT TARGET SIMULATOR TO PROVIDE SYNTHETIC DIGITAL SURFACE MAPS AND OBSTACLE DETECTIONS. THIS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE POTENTIAL OF THE PATHIN AS A TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TOWARD SAFE UAS OPERATION IN THE NAS AND IN THE TERMINAL AREA. IN PHASE II WE WILL REALIZE A PROTOTYPE OF THE PATHIN SENSOR, LEVERAGING OUR EXTENSIVE RADAR, INTERFEROMETRY AND DBF EXPERIENCE AND KEY TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITIES. IN PARTICULAR A FPGA-BASED DIGITAL RECEIVER SYSTEM WILL BE EXTENDED FOR REAL-TIME BEAMFORMING AND INTERFEROMETRY. AT THE END OF THE PHASE I, A TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL OF 3 WILL BE ACHIEVED.