Adaptive Neuromorphic Focal Plane Arrays for Agile Target Pursuit, Threat Avoidance, and Flight Control

This Direct-to-Phase II (D2P2) effort seeks to develop and demonstrate a biologically inspired vision system for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that enables critical flight capabilities such as target pursuit, threat avoidance, and flight stabilization. The proposed system will incorporate novel focal plane array (FPA) architectures and neuromorphic processing to overcome limitations of conventional computer vision approaches, which struggle in high-speed, dynamic environments due to high computational demands and latency. Inspired by the mode sensing hypothesis and biological vision research, the developed FPAs will incorporate heterogeneous pixel configurations, variable acuity, and event-based sensing to provide real-time, efficient image processing capabilities.This effort will integrate insights from biological studies conducted in partnership with Florida International University (FIU), focusing on how flying insects such as damselflies adapt their vision for agile flight control. These findings will inform both FPA designs and back-end processing, ensuring that the resulting sensors maximize information extraction while minimizing computational overhead. The FPAs themselves will be designed by Centeye and fabricate in a mixed-signal process, with at least two design iterations planned to optimize performance. Vision sensors incorporating these FPAs will be assembled into complete sensor arrays, with optics including gradient-index (GRIN) lenses to support multiple fields of view. Firmware will be developed to support frame-based, pseudo-event-based, and fully event-based processing modes, enabling the system to adapt dynamically to different operational needs.Flight demonstrations and evaluations will be conducted in multiple phases. Initial validation will take place at Centeye using internal test platforms to refine sensor performance. The final vision system will then be delivered to AFRL or to a designated testing team for further evaluation on relevant UAS platforms. The project aims to achieve a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 by the end of Phase II, with sensors and assemblies designed to be readily manufacturable at scale.