Small Video Processor (SVP) Onboard Video Processing Platform for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS)

ABSTRACT: The past decade has seen dramatic improvements in miniature electronic cameras, and materials science enables commensurately small, lightweight flying vehicles. These enhancements have made small UAS viable and delivered increasing value to the military, but weight and power remain key limiters; it is well known that total aircraft size and cost are multiplied by payload mass fraction, so payloads must be reduced. Barriers to continually improving ISR vehicle performance in the immediate future lie in two principal areas: propulsion and electronics. A substantial fraction of the electronics are dedicated to collecting, processing, interpreting, compressing and telemetering the acquired mission data, especially video imagery. Advances in computation, software, and in the science of video data interpretation are all needed. This is a dual-use program which offers a 17-fold increase in video processing performance over existing gimbal processors. The benefits will apply to both military and commercial UAV payloads. The SVP program aims to deliver significant improvements in the first two aspects: computation and software. This will enhance the effectiveness of scientific development efforts in video processing, and provide better technology with lower Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) to improve the performance of todays systems. BENEFIT: The Small Video Processor (SVP) is a dual-use program which offers a 17-fold increase in video processing performance over current chipsets used in gimbal processors. The benefits will apply to both military and commercial UAV EO/IR payloads that perform onboard video processing. This benefit equates to higher resolution of multiple imagery streams for improved identification, tracking and data fusion when performing DoD missions. For commercial users, the improved performance equates to greater efficiency, improved confidence in analysis, and new applications that leverage the higher resolution and onboard processing power. Following Phase II prototype development, work will be focused on creating a commercialized Small Video Processing (SVP) module that will essentially update Adsys Controls existing XSight product. Adsys Controls plans to incorporate the resulting next generation module into both our commercial FalconVision and Arrow EO/IR payloads for improved performance and increased market share. Our commercial and government contracts will be fully leveraged to bring this technology to a marketable configuration.