UK technology company Qinetiq is developing a lens-less imaging system under a two-year, $5 million contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of the Large Area Coverage Optical Search-while-Track and Engage (LACOSTE) programme.
LACOSTE's goal is to develop a suite of sensors that can operate above 65,600ft (20,000m), from an airship or long-endurance unmanned air vehicle, to detect and simultaneously track large numbers of moving vehicles in dense urban areas with a 300mm resolution across a 500km2 (195 miles2) area, 24h a day.
To achieve this goal the sensors need to have a high resolution with a wide field-of-regard and a variable, almost instantaneously reconfigurable field of view. "The lens-less technology has mass and volume benefits. Lens-less technology is applicable to a wide range of wavelengths, from infrared to visible to ultraviolet," says Qinetiq's optronics business technical director Christopher Slinger.
The first phase of the three-stage programme is likely to last up to 18 months and involve scaled-down laboratory demonstrations. As well as the imaging system itself, Qinetiq will work on processing of the data and software for interpreting the imagery and tracking identified objects in the sensor's view. Qinetiq's subcontractor Goodrich Surveillance & Reconnaissance Systems will act as system integrator to build the sensor package into a vehicle.
Source: Flight International