MEMS Beam Steering (MBS) Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Module for a Small Robotic Platform

The objective of this program is to develop a novel Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) architecture & design approach that leverages the MEMS Beam Steering (MBS) sensor miniaturization technology currently being developed by Aret¿Associates. The MEMS Beam Steering (MBS) architecture was initially developed as a solution for addressing the 2p sr 3D imaging requirement for MK 80 class bomb in our ongoing Streak Tube Imaging LIDAR Aim Point Selection (STILAPS) program. The MBS RSTAconcept could be a major support element of the Land Warrior or Future Combat Systems architecture, providing a modular mission re-configurable information gathering capability. The MBS architecture provides significant benefits to the RSTA concept.First, it eliminates the requirement for gimbals or external scan mechanisms to address large sensor fields of regard. This results in lower volume, lower mass, less power (MEMS consume mW's), higher reliability with no moving parts exposed to theenvironment and higher Line of Sight pointing accuracy with no need for rotational encoders or resolvers. Due to MEMS scan mirror's small size, extremely high scan rates are possible. In the STILAPS application, the MBS scans 4000o/s, covering 2000 sr/s.