The next generation of the USAF's seeking munitions might get a bug-inspired upgrade to its optics.
In order for an imaging munition to find and make its mark, a variety of information is required, including high-resolution video imagery. Future Air Force munitions will likely feature wide field-of-view (WFOV) imaging seekers that provide Air Force war fighters several advantages over using traditional imaging seekers, including improved capability and lower cost.
The Air Force Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program office recently provided nearly $100,000 of additional funding for a SBIR effort that will give the warfighter a WFOV technology system.
The objective of this SBIR Phase II follow-on contract is to address critical sub-system technologies in the WFOV system and its biologically-inspired Artificial Compound Eye (ACE) optical technology. Spectral Imaging Laboratory, located in Pasadena, California, will use the additional funding to address the data acquisition hardware and software requirements needed for image acquisition and processing, maturing the technology for the WFOV Seeker Program.
According to Dr. Nicholas Rummelt, an AFRL researcher involved in the project, new ACE optical systems generate images from multiple sub-images that view different parts of the field-of-view, similar to the compound eye of an insect.
“The WFOV seeker concept was originally inspired by insects such as bees which use the optic flow field to control their flight and navigate. So one of the advantages of having a WFOV seeker is the potential for GPS denied navigation,” said Rummelt.
Source: USAF
