Optical Projectile Identification and Inventory System

"As armaments are loaded into a magazine, a pair of cameras sits silently by, allowing a computer to dutifully record what type of round-including fuze type and charge setting-goes into each location. An automated armament system now has enough informationto call upon the magazine, index to the required projectile, extract it, and load it into the gun to complete a fire mission. In this Phase I project, we propose to leverage our existing technology and experience in machine vision to design a systemcapable of identifying and tracking rounds based on physical characteristics such as size, shape, color, and standard markings and recording their position in a magazine during loading. Given CAD files of the types of rounds that could be loaded, thecomputer would compare the images from the cameras to the three-dimensional representations and markings database and return the type and position of the round found. The system will be able to quickly and accurately assemble the exact location and typeof each round available. In addition to the military benefits of an optical recognition and inventory system, commercial interests include picker robots, assembly line robots, and warehousing systems."