Stitch-Free 360ş Borescope for Rapid, High-Fidelity Aircraft Inspection

Problem: Current aircraft inspection methods, particularly borescope-based non-destructive testing, are limited by narrow fields of view (FOV), optical distortion, and stitching artifacts. This leads to prolonged maintenance downtime, missed defects in "blind spots," and increased costs. Conventional borescopes require repetitive insertions and repositioning, hindering efficiency and risking foreign object damage (FOD).Solution: Circle Optics proposes developing a novel, miniaturized, stitch-free 360° borescope for rapid, high-fidelity aircraft inspection. This system leverages a patented polygonal-lens fusion architecture, creating a broad, undistorted, parallax-free panoramic image in a single shot. Unlike traditional multi-lens setups, our design uses an array of small polygonal lens facets, precisely fused in hardware, eliminating computational stitching and distortion correction. The probe head, under 10 mm in diameter, will utilize a 16-facet hemispherical lens stack feeding an 8-MP sensor via coherent fiber bundles. This technology, proven at TRL 7 in our Hydra camera system, will deliver a full 360×180? FOV without blind spots or the need for rotating optics. Phase II Objectives: Phase II will focus on parallax optimization, detailed optical and mechanical design, component procurement, calibration software development, system integration, and laboratory testing. The final phase will involve field evaluation with DAF personnel, culminating in a fully functional, deployable inspection capability ready for Phase III transition. This includes rigorous testing for MTF, FOV, IP66 ingress, and MIL-STD-810 vibration/drop.