TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Electronics, Weapons

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-266

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this SBIR is to develop Fast Steering Mirror (FSM) technology that balances the need for high pointing and position accuracy and high speed with small package size. In order to achieve the capability described in the specifications for an FSM for use with a long-range LADAR sensor while reducing the footprint of existing FSM designs, new technology development will be required.

DESCRIPTION: The Navy is developing LADAR sensors for responsive Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) use where ranges to targets exceed 10km. If such a LADAR sensor is to image a target area by scanning one or several laser beams at such long ranges, high-pointing-accuracy is required if a high-quality LADAR image is to be obtained. A two-axis Fast Steering Mirror (FSM) is typically utilized to steer laser beams in a LADAR system. As the angular separation of laser beams is reduced in an effort to obtain small pixel spacing within a LADAR image, performance requirements for an included FSM used for pointing become more difficult to achieve.

Existing FSM designs that can achieve high pointing accuracy and are small enough for use aboard a tactical unmanned air vehicle often require significant settling times to achieve the pointing accuracy, and knowledge of the location of the FSM (angularly) is not well-known throughout the mirror motion. When used to steer a pulsed laser beam with pulse repetition frequencies on the order of kilohertz, it is necessary to have accurate knowledge of the mirror position whenever a laser pulse occurs.

Existing FSM designs for which accurate mirror position knowledge can be known throughout mirror motion with high-resolution tend to be much too large for use in a tactical sensor system or within a weapon seeker. The size criterion must be interpreted to include the FSM itself along with any Digital Signal Processing (DSP) hardware required for operation.

In order to meet the requirements for use with a long-range LADAR sensor, a FSM will need to achieve the following specifications:

� Mirror size: > 2.25 inches x 1.5 inches (elliptical)
� Mirror flatness: lambda/8
� Mirror surface: 20-10 or better
� Reflectance: > 99% at 1645nm
� Angle Range: +/- 1 degree optical
� Resolution: 5 �-radians
� Repeatability: 10 �-radians
� Response time: < 10ms
� Scanner size: 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches x 1 inch
� Electronics size: < 4 inches x 6 inches (PWB)
� Control signal: RS-422

PHASE I: In Phase I of this SBIR effort, the contractor shall investigate existing approaches to developing FSM scanners and associated electronics and shall assess their potential for size, weight, and power reduction while achieving the specified capability. Based on the outcome of the assessment, the contractor shall prepare a detailed design for the FSM and control electronics and shall provide with the design a description of the likely cost, in quantity, of producing such a device.

PHASE II: In Phase II of this SBIR effort, the contractor shall construct a reduced-footprint FSM prototype that could be tested in a laboratory setting with a suitable laser source. The prototype must demonstrate achieving the specifications listed in order to move to Phase III.

PHASE III: In this phase a FSM in a military package shall be constructed and demonstrated in a flight test environment aboard a Navy helicopter. The details of the demonstration shall be negotiated between the Navy and the contractor during Phase II.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Revisiting multiple targets in reduced timeframes could be valuable for several commercial applications. Examples include rapidly surveying faces in a crowd to make a positive identification, or monitoring large amounts of traffic to isolate on an individual vehicle for tracking and monitoring.

REFERENCES:

KEYWORDS: Fast Steering Mirror (FSM); Reduced footprint; Slew Rates; Stabilization; Absolute pointing; Revisit rates

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 12 and December 7, 2008, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 8, 2008, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (09.1 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 09.1 topic under which they are proposing.

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