Agile, detecting and discriminating, infrared electro-optical system (ADDIOS) application to coded aperture imaging and non-imaging sensor systems

摘要

The use of staring infrared imaging systems provides significant advantages for military missions such as single sensor dayight persistent tactical surveillance of all moving vehicles in a large urban battlefield. Monitoring of very wide instantaneous field-of-regard with the capability to allocate parts or all of the video-channel bandwidth for high-resolution imaging of a narrow field of view allows identifying and tracking targets from long standoff distances. This capability has been successfully demonstrated in the Agile, Detecting and Discriminating, Infrared Electro-Optical System (ADDIOS) developed by Applied Science Innovations, Inc. in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The system features electronically switchable resolution achieved with digital processing gain, which replaced optical or opto-mechanical gain typical of conventional cameras. The output of the system has an order of magnitude higher resolution compared to pixel-limited resolution of the imaging sensor alone. This capability, demonstrated in the working ADDIOS prototype, is universally applicable for boosting resolution of "pixel-hungry" imagers where available pixel counts fall short of desired, e.g., due to technology limitations of high costs. The ADDIOS modular design makes the flexible-resolution imaging core equally applicable to cameras with conventional lenses, coded aperture systems, and potentially other technologies such as holography and optical metrology. The system features millisecond switching speed and low power consumption, combined with reasonable cost, small mass, and compact form factor applicable to retrofitting existing imaging systems. With the experimental prototype already demonstrated in the visible and near-infrared, the spectral range can be expanded into mid-wave and potentially longwave infrared ranges. The paper summarizes the results of the ADDIOS technology development and addresses their application to DARPA's Large Area Coverage Optical Search-while-Track and Engage (LACOSTE) program, including coded aperture imaging.