CSAR-X Digital Visionic System

The proposed system is a wide field of view helmet mounted system that will incorporate short wave infrared (SWIR) camera technology with dual imaging lenses placed just above the operator’s eyes, and fused with a thermal long wave infrared sensor (LWIR). The Sage Team will take a component approach (sensor, processor, and display) that offers the best leverage of commercial technology. The Sage team will take advantage of recent developments in SWIR digital FPA technology, and combine that with current LWIR micro-bolometer advances, a programmable image processor chip, and a high resolution OLED (organic light emitting diode) display. The result will be a small binocular device that is expected to provide about 105° by 50° FOV with resolution roughly comparable to the GEN IV NVGs, while providing visible, NIR, SWIR, and LWIR sensitivity for 24/7 vision enhancement capability. The power consumption of this arrangement is expected to be about 2.5 W. Unit size, weight and power are major design considerations to achieve user acceptability in a helmet mount configuration.