Piercing the Shadows with Multi-band Imaging

Camouflage and the cover of night can obscure threats effectively when human eyes are the only security tools. Imaging in multiple wavelength regions (UV, Visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and LWIR for example) can defeat these methods and provide a wealth of complementary information about a scene, enabling threats to be discerned from the background regardless of the lighting conditions. When these imagers are co-aligned effectively, the same physical location is seen in all bands, enabling the most effective decision making by the computer vision system on identifying threats.

The team shall design a multiband imager that will provide situational awareness regardless of illumination conditions. The imaging station must examine a field of regard. Careful system trades will balance scan rates, imaging resolution, and system complexity to decide on a static vs a scanned solution. A computer will control the system, readout the data from all the cameras, and report data to the user via a GUI. The system will identify and track objects it believes are outliers from the background. Stretch goals on specific object recognition sorting can be pursued by ambitious teams. The experienced BAE Systems sponsor team with significant optical and software design experience will be readily available to work with the team in pursuing a successful project.