High bandwidth, low latency wavefront sensing for airborne directed energy applications

In Phase I, Alphacore plans to create a “digital twin” of the very high-bandwidth wavefront sensor (WFS) technology in the near infrared (NIR)  which will be a virtual representation of the physical system (by detailed modeling of each module), that is designed to simulate performance and behavior. and help aid in design of development of the system. This digital twin will be used to then conduct a comprehensive trade-space study and architecture optimization of the entire system chain. As detailed in the technical sections, Alphacore will assess various optical WFS architectures, including both direct (pupil) and indirect (focal plane) types. The feasibility study with these various optical front ends will be performed against our in-house designed and built existing ultra-high-speed image sensor/camera (>300k fps frame rate) portfolio. In addition, the team will investigate the effect of the algorithm of choice on reconstructing the wavefront, as well as real-time hardware implementation details (FPGA/GPU/CPU). As a final step of Phase I, laboratory-based proof-of-concept tests using COTS Shack-Hartman lenslets and Alphacore’s own Falcon-LN camera will be conducted – that will also be used to test the model. This “all inclusive” approach to the Phase 1 program has been selected for the purpose of an early mitigation of technical risks, as well as for ensuring optimal cost and schedule management when moving into a Phase II prototype production stage. In Phase I, Alphacore plans to create a “digital twin” of the system which will be a virtual representation of the physical system (by detailed modeling of each module), that is designed to simulate performance and behavior. and help aid in design of development of the system. This digital twin will be used to then conduct a comprehensive trade-space study and architecture optimization of the entire system chain. As detailed in the technical sections, Alphacore will assess various optical wavefront sensor (WFS) architectures, including both direct (pupil) and indirect (focal plane) types. The feasibility study with these various optical front ends will be performed against our in-house designed and built image sensors, drawing from our existing portfolio. In addition, the team will investigate the effect of the algorithm of choice on reconstructing the wavefront, as well as real-time hardware implementation details (FPGA/GPU/CPU). As a final step of Phase I, laboratory-based proof-of-concept tests using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Shack-Hartman (SH) lenslets (visible light) and Alphacore’s own ultra-high-frame-rate Falcon-LN camera will be conducted – that will also be used to test the model. This “all inclusive” approach to the Phase 1 program has been selected for the purpose of an early mitigation of technical risks, as well as for ensuring optimal cost and schedule management when moving into a Phase II prototype production stage.