Technologies to Defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's)

We propose to develop an optical Improvised Explosive Device (IED) activity detection system that is designed for military applications. The purpose of the Phase I program is to demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed approach. The proposed system is intended to detect tampering with or disturbance of pre-treated areas that are prone to IED deployment. After pre-treatment, optical Images of the target areas will be captured and analyzed to determine if there has been IED related activity. The proposed system can be configured to be carried on a moving vehicle or held by hand. On a vehicle, the detection system will be scanned in order to interrogate a wide target area. The system will function at night and in broad daylight. At the center of our approach is a fluorescent material that will be dispersed over target areas. A filtered, intensified optical detection system will be used to image fluorescence from pre-treated areas and to monitor changes that signal IED deployment. Emphasis for the Phase I program will be on the development of suitable fluorescent materials and on the construction of a breadboard demonstration for proof-of-concept.