MINIATURE LIDAR SYSTEM FOR STANDOFF DETECTION

A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A FORTY-POUND COMPACT LIDAR SYSTEM BASED ON A UNIQUE LSI LASER DESIGN. THE GOAL IS A SYSTEM HAVING FOUR FREQUENCY AGILE COAXIALLY ALIGNED CO2 LASER BEAMS WITH AN ENERGY OUTPUT OF AT LEAST 100 MJ, A PRF OF 100 HZ, AND TUNABILITY TO 66 LINES AT A TUNING RATE OF 100 HZ. THE SYSTEM SHOULD USE NINE INCH COLLECTING OPTICS, STATE-OF-THE-ART DETECTORS, HAVE A SEALED LASER LIFE OF 10 MILLION PULSES, OPERATE ON A 28 VOLT POWER SUPPLY AND PROVIDE BUFFERED 16 BIT DIGITAL DATA (TTL LOGIC), USING AN A/D RATE OF 20 MHZ, STORING 4K WORDS OF DATA FOR EACH LASER SHOT. THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE PHASE I FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL BE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A LIGHTWEIGHT LASER HEAD CAN BE BUILT WHICH MEETS THE PULSE ENERGY AND PULSE RATE REQUIREMENTS, THAT A LIGHTWEIGHT AGILE SYSTEM CAN BE DEVELOPED, AND THAT TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE TO DEVELOP A LIGHTWEIGHT RECEIVER AND DATA HANDLING SYSTEM. EACH MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE SYSTEM WILL BE ADDRESSED THROUGH A COMBINATION OF FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION, ANALYSIS AND DESIGN STUDIED. VARIOUS PACKAGING CONCEPTS WILL BE CONSIDERED TO SELECT A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AND ESTIMATES WILL BE MADE OF WEIGHT, SIZE AND PERFORMANCE. THIS DESIGN WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR A PHASE II PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND TEST A SYSTEM.