Spectrally and Spatially Foveated Multi/Hyperspectral Camera

This SBIR Phase I proposal introduces a spectrally and spatially foveated sensor (SSFES) in the visible to near infrared (VNIR) for Multi/Hyperspectral measurement. The sensor leverages on Kent Optronics pixilated variable bandwidth tunable filter (P-VBTuF) and NOVA Sensors’ variable acuity superpixel imager (VASI) FPA, where the former is for spectral foveation while the later for spatial foveation. SSFS has the highest spatial and spectral resolutions near the “center of attention” (COA), with a radially-symmetric spatial and spectral resolution diminishing radially out from the COA. The sensor permits the user to define the spatial distribution (size and location) and spectral distribution (center wavelength and bandwidth), and to change the distributions at the frame rate during the image capture process. The SSFS exhibits at least two orders of magnitude higher frame rates. Or, for a constant frame rate, a transmission bandwidth is reduced for more accurate target tracking and recognition In Phase I, two sensor designs will be evaluated for sensor FOV, spatial and spectral resolutions, frame rate, data transmission rate, data volume, size, weight and power. The Phase I Option will start to develop a demo SSFS. Phase II and beyond develops and tests prototype SSFS followed by the product commercialization.