Direct Measurement of Targeting Coordinates from Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) EO/IR Gimbal Systems

Trillium proposes both hardware and software developments in the Phase II effort to further refine geolocation improvements found in Phase I and design a robust gimbal product that has future expandability. Trillium prototyped and flight tested a number of software algorithms in Phase 1 that can be extrapolated to show CAT-1 geolocation accuracy from a range of 2000ft. However, these were accomplished using 3 separate video processors which incurred both latency and inefficiency. Therefore, Trillium proposes moving to a new video processor that can replace the current hardware setup and provide a substantial increase in processing capability. With a higher power video processor available, Trillium then plans to develop key software algorithms to increase geolocation accuracy further including target tracking in earth-based coordinates, a moving target localization filter, and a nonlinear Kalman filter. Furthermore, the benefits of an onboard laser rangefinder and a higher accuracy GPS will be explored. Finally, extensive flight testing that mimics CAT-1 certification testing will be executed to verify functionality and prepare for eventual certification.