A NEW MOTION DETECTOR AS A NON-SCANNING OPTICAL TRACKING SYSTEM

RECENT RESEARCH ON MOTION DETECTION IN IMAGES HAS PRODUCED A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR FINDING OBJECT MOTION IN CLUTTERED NATURAL OUTDOOR SCENES. THE METHOD WORKS WELL EVEN ON IMAGES SEQUENCES FROM MOVING PLATFORMS. IN THIS PHASE I PROGRAM WE PROPOSE TO TEST ITS APPLICABILITY TO TARGET RECOGNITION AND TRACKING SCENARIOS IN FLIR IMAGES. IF APPLICABLE TO THESE SCENARIOS, THE METHOD CAN PROVIDE THE SEEKER FOR A NON-SCANNING, CHEAP, RELIABLE, MULTI-TARGET TRACKER, OR FOR A WEAPON LAUNCHED TOWARD SUSPECTED ENEMY TARGETS WHICH FINDS AND KILLS ANYTHING THAT IS MOVING. AS AN ADDITION TO CURRENT TARGET ACQUISITION AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGY, RELIABLE MOTION DETECTION CAN IMPROVE ITS PERFORMANCE DRAMATICALLY. FURTHER, THE METHOD WORKS WELL ON COMPLEX, CLUTTERED VISIBLE-LIGHT TV IMAGES, RAISING THE POSSIBILITY OF DRAMATIC COST REDUCTIONS BY SUBSTITUTING CHEAP TVS IN SOME SYSTEMS WHICH CURRENTLY USE FLIRS. THE METHOD HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED ON A SIMPLE PIPELINED IMAGE COMPUTER WHICH OPERATES AT VIDEO FRAME RATES. IT PROBABLY CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AS AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, ALLOWING IT AND A TV CMERA TO FIT INTO VERY SMALL WARHEADS. RELIABLE MOTION DETECTION IS A KEY ELEMENT PREVIOUSLY MISSING FROM AUTONOMOUS TARGET ACQUISITION AND TRACKING SYSTEMS.