Imaging through low-visibility fire smoke for ship-board navigation of robotic fire-fighting systems

With the increased threat of shipboard fires, due to the use of composite structures, automated 3D fire control has become an important requirement. These sensors must provide fire detection and 3D localization that can trigger an automated firefighting response. Advanced Scientific Concept's (ASC) eye-safe 3D Flash LIDAR cameras provide a unique 3D imaging solution for fire suppression systems. 3D Flash LIDAR (3DFL) is a near infrared 3D imaging sensor that can penetrate fog and smoke. ASC has developed 3D LIDAR staring array imagers based on its patented 3DFPA technology that output 128x128 3D point clouds at video rates. The proposed effort will leverage the ASC"s on-going development work, with a focus on producing a autonomous 3D fire sensor that will provide navigation and 3D localization of shipboard fires. To answer the Navy"s request for a sensor that can image through smoke, ASC is proposing to combine its 3D sensing capability with UCSBs image processing and path planning algorithms. In Phase I, ASC will demonstrate the 3D sensing capability and create a Phase I system concept to be built and tested in Phase II.