Laser Irradiance Sensor and Alert System

To address DARPA’s need for a lightweight, wearable laser alert sensor system, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new Laser Irradiance Sensor and Alert (LISA) system based on a multi-aperture detector array that covers a 2-pi steradian (360 by 90 degree) field of view (FOV) and distinguishes laser sources from non-laser sources by the correlations in intensity among the detectors. By using dual-band, high-speed photodiode detectors, LISA provides high sensitivity, thereby allowing it to detect both continuous wave and pulsed laser sources at power levels of only 500 microwatt per sq. cm. This, combined with its large dynamic range across both the visible and shortwave infrared wavebands (450-1600 nm), enables it to operate in day and night lighting conditions while minimizing the number of sensors required, thereby minimizing the overall size, weight, and power requirements of the system and thus ensuring compatibility with conformal wearable battery sources while providing operating times >72 hr. As its correlation algorithm, which incorporates checks to minimize false positives, need only correlate a small number of detectors, LISA is able to notify the user of the presence and location of a laser source in