TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS NSW Naval Special Warfare Visual Augmentation Systems (VAS) Program

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) topic is to investigate applications of foveal imaging for night vision systems by developing an imaging system that maintains high resolution in the center and trades resolution away from the center with an increased field of view.

DESCRIPTION: The goal is to develop concepts and prototype a system with a wide angle foveal imaging capability that increases the field of view over existing standard optical designs. Standard Night Vision Goggle (NVG) designs have a field of view of 40 degrees and a resolution of 1 to 1.3 cycles/mrad across the entire field of view. The field of view of the foveal imaging system should be a minimum of 80 degrees. The image displayed to the eye shall have little or no distortion.

The benefits of this research are improved NVG field of view. One of the key objectives is aimed at solving technical problems associated with WFOV NVG system designs. This capability will result in improved performance by increasing the situational awareness associated with the wider field of view.

The project requires a Wide Angle Foveal system to be investigated through development of creative optical systems, sensor configurations, image processing or any combination of these elements. The first phase includes an engineering analysis and prototype or model of the design. The product should incorporate an imaging component (optical), a low light sensor (image tube or intensified low light level imager), and a display for handheld or helmet mounted applications. The second phase includes the development of a prototype for evaluation in an operational environment. The third phase incorporates the foveal imager concept into a U.S. Navy system along with test and evaluation for production readiness into the transition program. A wide range of additional transition programs are explored.

PHASE I: A concept for a foveal imager with low distortion and field of view of 80 degrees or more shall be developed. The imager concept shall include all components necessary for handheld or helmet mounted use including consideration of tradeoffs including light weight, low power and small size.

PHASE II: A demonstration system shall be developed for concept evaluation. The system shall be suitable for demonstration purposes in an outdoor operational environment and be battery operated. The system should demonstrate a wide field of view capability in a compact assembly which will demonstrate the ability to transition to a small portable system.

PHASE III: In Phase III, the small business will produce developmental systems to be used for operational test and evaluation. The system produced will be evaluated for transition to military night vision goggle programs. Additional applications of the Wide Angle Foveal technology may include vehicle navigation, wide area surveillance and tracking, handheld and head mounted visual augmentation systems used by Naval Special Warfare, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Private Industry uses wide angle foveal imaging technology for applications including law enforcement, commercial security and surveillance, robotic navigation, home security and similar commercial products can benefit from this research in applying resulting concepts to develop wide angle visual systems.

REFERENCES:
1. S. Shimizu, et.al., "Wide-Angle Vision Sensor with High-Distortion Lens," JSME International Journal, Series C, Vol 41, No.4, 893-900 (19981.12).

2. K. Wakamiya, T. Senga, K. Isagi, N. Yamamura, and Y. Ushio Nikon Corp. (Japan), "A new foveated wide angle lens with high resolving power and without brightness loss in the periphery," Proceedings of SPIE, Volume 6051 (Optomechatronic Machine Vision), Kazuhiko Sumi, Editor, 605107 (Dec. 5, 2005).

3. "FOVEATED WIDE-ANGLE IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING AND VIEWING WIDE-ANGLE IMAGES IN REAL TIME" United States Patent 20060209194, Abstract: A foveated wide-angle imaging system and method for capturing a wide-angle image and for viewing the captured wide-angle image in real time. In general, the foveated wide-angle imaging system includes a foveated wide-angle camera system having multiple cameras for capturing a scene and outputting raw output images, a foveated wide-angle stitching system for generating a stitch table, and a real-time wide-angle image correction system that creates a composed warp table from the stitch table and processes the raw output images using the composed warp table to correct distortion and perception problems. The foveated wide-angle imaging method includes using a foveated wide-angle camera system to capture a plurality of raw output images, generating a composed warp table, and processing the plurality of raw output images using the composed warp table to generate a corrected wide-angle image for viewing.

KEYWORDS: Wide Angle Foveal (WAF); Optics; Electro-Optic (EO); Infrared (IR); Wide Field of View (WFOV); Night Vision Goggle (NVG).

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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