See and Avoid Fly Eye Sensor System for Autonomous Air Vehicles

Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a novel See and Avoid Fly Eye (SAFE) 3D-image-based proximity and flow sensor system that will enable an autonomous air vehicle (AAV) to automatically avoid colliding with obstacles, enabling it to carry out missions autonomously in urban and confined environments. The SAFE sensor system combines a miniature staring multi-aperture compound eye (fly eye) with a low-cost CMOS smart vision sensor chip that consists of a compact miniature photodetector array and a neural network processor for high angular resolution and large field-of-view. Digital signal processing and a simple neural network support real-time flight path optimization for collision avoidance. This unique combination results in a high-speed and high-performance system that ideally matches the stringent cost, size, weight, and power requirements of small-scale autonomous air vehicles. The Phase I work will include the development and implementation of the SAFE system approach, and a demonstration of its collision avoidance performance to prove the feasibility of the concept. Phase II efforts will include system optimization, culminating in a full prototype built, field tested, and analyzed to confirm the suitability of SAFE for military and commercial applications.