Streak Tube Imaging Lidar for Naval Autonomous Vessel Survival (STIL-NAVS)

The ability to map ocean waves around an unmanned surface craft and provide intelligent feedback control for survival steering in high sea states will enable the use of high speed, inexpensive, commercial watercraft to meet military requirements in thelittoral. Aret¿ Associates brings extensive experience in two key areas of expertise that will be combined to assess the feasibility of a LIDAR solution to sea wave mapping: Aret¿ is a leader in sea surface simulation software and has designed andfielded numerous ocean LIDAR systems.Aret¿ Associates developed a novel 3-D Imaging LIDAR system, the Streak Tube Imaging LIDAR (STIL) that can provide high resolution imaging of the sea surface and subsurface at significant standoff ranges. The patented STIL approach is based on applicationof mature technologies, and has been demonstrated in the laboratory, ship-based experiments, and airborne demonstrations.Aret¿ proposes to adapt the STIL sensor to the problem of sea wave mapping with a proposed sensor system called Streak Tube Imaging LIDAR for Naval Autonomous Vessel Survival (STIL-NAVS). The proposed Phase I effort will use existing ocean surfacerendering software tools to build a detailed model of STIL-NAVS that will be used to produce an optimized system design. Phase I will study the feasibility of STIL-NAVS for local sea surface mapping, and paves the way for immediate transition to Phase II engineering and development of a fieldable configuration. In addition to the sea-mapping mission, STIL-NAVS hasnumerous commercial and civilian applications, including dangerous wave warning for commercial craft, such as fishing boats, and assistance to search and recovery operations. Aret¿ has previously transitioned other high resolution, real time imagingsystems to the commercial marketplace, and anticipates similar success with the STIL-NAVS system.