Less-Lethal Eye Safe Handheld LED-Based Incapacitator for Law Enforcement

Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) has developed and demonstrated a prototype dazzler that utilizes an array of super-bright Light Emitting Diode (LED) clusters to produce disorientation and strong flashblindness with afterimages. In this project, IOS proposes to develop a significantly improved device that can operate at distances up to 50 feet at the maximum permissible eye-safe level. Two new innovations will be incorporated into the device: (1) a rangefinding technology that will permit rapid adjustment of the radiant power to the maximum eye-safe level, in real time, at any of the operational target distances; and (2) a novel scanner that will allow the device to cover an area much larger than the beam size, while still providing a flash frequency and exposure level as effective as the single beam over the entire area. Control electronics and a preprogrammed chip will be used to allow operation at randomly varying frequencies within the band of maximum effectiveness, and to utilize several colors of light to enhance disorientation