Novel Ultra-Miniature Flexible Videoscope for On-Orbit NDE

Conventional videoscopes for NDE suffer many shortcomings, including large diameter, limited flexibility, inadequate image quality, high cost and lack of 3D imaging capability.The primary objective of this SBIR is to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel ultra-miniature flexible videoscope (UMFV) that could eliminate all above-mentioned drawbacks and acquire high resolution video image (mega-pixel images at a rate of 30 frames per second), with an ultra-miniature size (~ 1~2 mm in diameter) for NASA's on-orbit NDE applications. Innovations of the UMFV include:Â? Ultra miniature size: it is possible to make the entire videoscope probe diameter ~ 1 mm; Â? High resolution images at video rate: images with mega-pixels can be acquired at 30 fps speed; Â? Full color images: red, green and blue colors of the object surface can be obtained; Â? Flexibility of the probe: the UMFV uses only a few fibers and can be made very thin and flexible; Â? Wider selection of spectral ranges: UMFV design is applicable to UV (<400nm), visible (400 ~ 700 nm), or near infrared (700 ~1100 nm) spectral ranges;Â? Dynamic control of image resolution and field of view(FOV): By controlling the speed, magnitude, and pattern of scanning, image resolution and FOV can be dynamically adjusted Â? 3D imaging capability: An unprecedented ability is simultaneous 2D/3D surface image generation. Â? SWaP: TheUMFV's structure design is ideal to meet stringent requirements on size, weight, power (SWaP) for various space applications - We expect to see at least a 10x SWaP reduction.