INERTIAL GUIDANCE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION (IGTD) SEEKER DEVELOPMENT

UBC, INCORPORATED, AN ENGINEERING FIRM PERFORMING RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONSULTING TECHNOLOGY OVER THE ENTIRE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM, SPECIALIZING IN INFRARED AND MILLIMETE WAVE SENSORS, PROPOSES AN SBIR PROGRAM TO PROVIDE THE DESIGN AND SUPPORTINGANALYSIS LEADING TO A LESS THAN $5K UNIT PRODUCTION COST 2-COLOR VISIBLE/NIR SEEKER (FOR THE NEAR TERM) AND 2-COLOR THERMAL IR (3-5U/8-12U) SEEKER (FOR FUTURE TECHNOLOGY INSERTION) IN SUPPORT OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE INERTIAL GUIDANCE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION (IGTD). INCLUDED IN THE SEEKER DESIGN ARE IMAGE PROCESSING/TARGET TRACKING ALGORITHM APPROACHES PREDICATED ON A TARGET/SCREEN TEMPLATE MATCHING TECHNIQUE WHICH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF A PRIORI DATA. THESE ARE THE KNOWN ACCURATE INERTIAL GUIDANCE OF THE IGTD TO THE ENDGAME, KNOWN TARGET HEADING, AIRFRAME DIVE ANGLE TO THE TARGET, TARGET TYPE AND SHAPE, AND RANGE TO GO AT LAUNCH. TO KEEP COSTS LOW, THE SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES PREFERRED WILL BE MATURE MONOLITHIC, UNCOOLED SILICON MICROBOLOMETER (THERMAL IR). SIGNAL AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPROACHES WILL BE BASED ON SILICON ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS SUCH AS THE TMS3020XX SERIES.