IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROPOSAL INTRODUCES AN INNOVATIVE SENSOR TO ADVANCE GROUND COLLISION AVOIDANCE FOR UAS PL…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROPOSAL INTRODUCES AN INNOVATIVE SENSOR TO ADVANCE GROUND COLLISION AVOIDANCE FOR UAS PLATFORMS BY PROVIDING REAL-TIME HEIGHT MAPS FOR HAZARD ANOMALY DETECTION. THIS SENSOR WILL ALSO PROVIDE ENHANCED VISION TO OVERCOME REDUCED VISIBILITY IN FOG, DRIZZLE AND LIGHT RAIN AND THE DETECTION OF HAZARDS/OBSTACLES ON RUNWAYS FOR LANDING AND TAKEOFF APPLICATIONS. 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 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 II 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 II, A TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL OF 5 WILL BE ACHIEVED.