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SONY and Garmin Who is going to buy the other first...

Exclusive: Garmin to Show Pedestrian Nav on Sony SmartWatch at MWC

Garmin is expected to show a pedestrian navigation software embedded in the Android-based Sony SmartWatch 2 at the Mobile World Congress trade show starting in Barcelona next week.

Little details about the solution have filtered so far.

Sony SmartWatch 2, launched at the end of last year, works in conjunction with an Android smartphone. In the case of a navigation software it would leverage the GPS of the smartphone.

Pedestrian navigation is an interesting use case for a smart watch that has not been showcased that much yet.

More information on the Garmin solution will be revealed at the show.

Action Cams with GPS

HD Video Action Cameras With GPS

INCLUDES FREE ▪ SanDisk 32GB microSDHC Extreme Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card with microSD Adapter Value $44.95

• Supports 4K, 2.7K, 1440p & 1080p Video
• Capture up to 12MP Photos at 30 fps
• Ultra Wide Angle Glass Lens
• Camera Housing Waterproof to 131'
• Built-In Wi-Fi & GoPro App Compatible
• Wi-Fi Remote & Basic Mounts Included
• Wi-Fi Remote Has 600' Transmission Range
• Auto Low Light & SuperView Video Modes
• HERO3+ Is 20% Smaller Than HERO3
• Battery Lasts 30% Longer Than HERO3
• GPS by Red Hen Systems

By Fred Zahradnik

The latest generation of rugged, waterproof action cameras let you capture life moments from a personal point of view. Record and share your tracks and other stats with built-in GPS while you shoot HD action video. Most models are available with optional waterproof cases, and a wide range of mounts so you can capture the action from the desired perspective. 

Garmin VIRB Elite Action Camera ($399)

Garmin has introduced innovative new action cameras, the VIRB ($299), and VIRB Elite ($399). "VIRB features a rugged and waterproof (IPX-7) housing, so there is no extra case necessary to withstand the elements. The unique 1.4-inch Chroma color display makes setup and playback a breeze and uses minimal power so VIRB can record up to three hours of true HD (1080p) video on one charge," states Garmin. The Elite model has built-in GPS, while the VIRB does not. The cameras also feature digital image stabilization and lens distortion correction. Garmin has also introduced a free companion smartphone app for controlling VIRB.

Sony POV Action Camera ($190)
Sony

Sony's Compact POV Action Cam (shown here with an optional $39waterproof case) shoots 1080p video with image stabilization and a slow-motion capability. Some features setting it apart include built in WiFi and a wireless remote control - important for stopping and starting a camera affixed to a helmet or other difficult-to-reach mount. In this model, Sony also integrates GPS: "Built in GPS can be used in conjunction with the free PlayMemories Home software to make viewing and sharing videos fun and easy," states Sony. "Location and trail information as well as speed information add more layers to your ability to analyze your performance that can be captured and displayed on your video." A wide range of mount accessories are available for the Sony.

Contour+2 Action Camera ($349)

Contour was an early entry in the action cam market. Its top-line model, the Contour+2 has a super-sturdy brushed-aluminum housing to withstand abuse. Contour complements the camera's built-in GPS capability with a tracks video overlay feature to provide all the location, speed, and direction details of your adventure. The camera has four different HD modes including 1080p. The Contour+2 also shoots 120 frames per second in 480p for super-slow motion capability. An optional waterproof case ($35) is rated to 60 meters.

Ricoh WG-4 With GPS ($379)
Ricoh

Ricoh camera has jumped into the growing action-cam market with aWG-4 GPS model ($379, available in black or blue) that shoots still images and video. The WG-4 is rated waterproof to 14 meters, and is shock resistant (tested up to a two-meter fall), as well as dust-proof and crush-resistant. Also important in an action cam, the WG-4 includes a dual shake-reduction system that minimizes the effect of camera shake on final images and videos. On the GPS side, "The WG-4 GPS comes equipped with a sophisticated GPS module, which automatically records position data and travel log data onto captured images and adjusts the built-in clock to local time," states Ricoh.

Hitcase For the iPhone ($90)


You probably already own a camera with GPS, in the form of an iPhone or Android smartphone. One option for action photography is simply putting that phone in a ruggedized, waterproof case that you can mount on a helmet or other location. You'll miss a lot of the features and big high quality lenses found on dedicated cameras, but it may suit your needs. Hitcase offers a $90 case that seals things up tight, and offers a range of mount accessories.

Self and Citizen Sensor Innovation

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/14/state-of-the-early-wearables-world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Depth of Field <> Field of View

Below are two photographs, taken one right after the other, using the EOS 30D and EOS 5D with a Sigma 105mm Macro lens, pointing at a yardstick from the same exact distance using a tripod. I'm manually focusing on the 20 inch mark of the yardstick. The only obvious difference between the shots is the field of view (not to be confused with the depth of field.) The EOS 5D will give a wider field of view than the 30D using the same focal length lens. If you examine the depth of field provided in both shots by tracing the yardstick from the 20 inch mark, you'll see that the focus field is roughly identical.

EOS 30D, Sigma 105mm Macro/f2.8/ISO 100 EOS 5D, Sigma 105mm Macro/f2.8/ISO 100

I can't think of any better way to explain this than by using actual photographs. The depth of field is the same, the field of view is different. The crop body does not modify the depth of field.

Sony delivers Sub-Second Autofocus

Sony α6000 claims to use world's fastest autofocus at 0.06 seconds

Electronista | The Macintosh News Network 5:51 am

One month after updating the α5000, Sony has launched another Alpha camera with what it claims uses the world's fastest autofocus in an interchangeable lens camera. The α6000 is able to focus on a subject in 0.06 seconds using Sony's Fast Hybrid AF system, consisting of a 179-point focal plane phase-detection AF sensor working with a contrast-detection AF....

Every Little Bit Helps....

SanDisk's U3 SDXC card supports 250MB/s write speeds, 4K video

Engadget by Zach Honig 8:00 am

With Affordable 4K cameras from Panasonic and Sony set to ship soon, it's time for flash memory manufacturers to begin readying stockpiles of high-speed SD cards. Today, SanDisk is announcing its latest flagship, the Extreme Pro SDHC/SDXC UHS-II. It...

Absorb those pesky data cards... 256GB by five as a single image?

Addonics releases five-slot compact flash RAID drives

updated 02:00 pm EST, Sat February 8, 2014

Drives use compact flash or CFast to emulate SSD RAIDs

Addonics Technologies has released two storage solutions using Compact Flash (CF) cards in five slot drive configurations with the Sapphire five-slot CFast and Sapphire five-slot CF drives. The drives use CFast and Compact Flash cards, respectively, to create RAID arrays for SSD storage solutions, aimed at systems using USB 2.0/3.0 or eSATA interfaces.

Each of the Sapphire five-slot drives looks like a standard removable media reader, giving the user to ability to remove cards freely without the use of tools or having to open up a computer case. Each of the Sapphire five-slot drives houses up to five cards in independent slots, with an LED next to each card slot to show drive activity. The devices are plug-and-play, with an internal port multiplier like the HPM-XU in the USB versions, and are able to be used with any operating system. Power consumption for the Sapphire models comes in at around one watt.

Between the CFast and Compact Flash models, each has a USB and eSATA combo model and an eSATA-only version, differing in their abilities and the way the system they are used with recognizes them. The USB and eSATA combo models will still be seen as independent cards (or drives) by the OS which can then be paired together in a RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD, or Clone mode connected to the computer for a maximum throughput of 3GB per second.

The eSATA models will see the five separate cards linked together, with throughput reaching 6GB per second depending on the Compact Flash cards used. The drives, still seen as independent cards, can then be formed into the same RAID modes as the USB and eSATA models. However, the eSATA model must be connected to a compatible port multiplier controller.

The Sapphire five-slot drives are available now from Addonics for $279 for the USB/eSATA models, or $249 for the eSATA-only versions.

Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/14/02/08/drives.use.compact.flash.or.cfast.to.emulate.ssd.raids/#ixzz2svsnHE1X

FUN Stuff

Parrot - Sensfly

And when ready...

Hardened Tablet

PARIS — Mobility solution provider Logic Instrument has developed a new range of ruggedized mobile solutions that reflect the integration of Android tablet specialist Archos. 

The Fieldbook E1 is an Android tablet built to withstand extreme conditions and hostile environments. It is IP65-certified to withstand drops up to 1.8m (6 feet) and is water- and dust-resistant. Its 10.1-inch screen relies on FieldView Pro technology that provides the best in its class in sunlight readability. Certified to the MIL-STD810G military standard guarantees its resistance to shocks vibrations and other extremes including a wide operative temperature range between -20 to 60°C (-4 to 140°F). 

Fieldbook H1

Made to resist water and dust, the IP54-certified Fieldbook H1 Android smartphone further ruggedizes the Fieldbook range. Its tempered glass screen and the rubber case, give it excellent drop resistance and the 3500 mAh battery guarantees the Fieldbook H1 smartphone a runtime up to two full days of use. 

Logic Instrument is offering eight core products across tablets smartphones and PCs that that combine technological performance, expertise, fleet management and Android and Microsoft security solutions. These products feature Archos’ Android expertise and have complete Google certification. 

The company also plans to build a new global network of distributors, integrators and resellers.

VIDEO Quality and Red Hen Gem

Video quality charts – February 2014

Monday, 03 February, 2014 15:02Written by Andrew Reid

Comment on this article

This chart is an overall look at the whole spectrum of video and cinema cameras from the Arri Alexa right down to the Fuji X series of stills cameras.

The thing you have to know about this chart is that it only takes into account the ‘overall’ image, the way the end result looks. It is also partly subjective and emotive – as filmmaking should be (not outright specs-based).

If you rearranged the rank based on a single attribute such as resolution or low light performance it would look quite different.

Then there are cameras like the Nikon V1 which have less moire and aliasing than, say, the Nikon D800, but ranks lower – why? It’s simply because I’d rather shoot with the D800 because of the aesthetics of the much larger full frame sensor. But in reality I’d shoot on neither – and that’s where I hope this chart is useful. It gives you an idea of the better options available for the same money.

League 1

1. Alexa Studio
2. Alexa / Amira
3. Sony F65
4. Red Monochrome
5. Red Dragon
6. Sony F55
7. Canon C500 (4K with external recorder)
8. Canon 1D C (4K internal – lightly graded only)
9. Sony F5
10. Red MX

League 2

1. Canon 5D Mark III (Raw Video)
2. Blackmagic Cinema Camera (2.5K raw)
3. Blackmagic Cinema Camera / Pocket Cinema Camera (1080p ProRes)
4. Sony F3 (10bit SLOG)
5. Digital Bolex and Ikonoskop (well lit scenes only, ISO 400)
6. Canon C300 (Jumps Digital Bolex for low light)
7. Canon C100 (External recorder)
8. Canon 5D Mark II (Raw video with Mosaic Engineering anti-aliasing filter)
9. Sony FS100 (Internal AVCHD)
10. Sony FS700 (Internal AVCHD – slightly more aliasing than FS100)

League 3

1. Canon 5D Mark III (stock ALL-I codec) and 1D X
2. Panasonic GM1 (only below 5D Mark III due to smaller sensor)
3. Panasonic GH3 (falls below D5300 in low light, ditto for GH2)
4. Panasonic G6 / Panasonic GH2 (hacked)
5. Canon 7D and 50D (Raw video with Mosaic Engineering anti-aliasing filter)
6. Nikon D5300 / D5200
7. Olympus OM-D E-M1
8. Panasonic GH1 (hacked)
9. Canon 5D Mark II (stock video mode) and 1D Mk IV
10. Sony RX10

League 4

1. Nikon D800
2. Sony A7R
3. Olympus OM-D E-M5
4. Nikon V1 / J1 (less moire and aliasing than others but small sensor)
5. Sony RX100
6. Sony NEX 5N / 7
7. Canon 6D
8. Nikon D610 / D600 / Sony A7
9. Canon 70D
10. Canon 60D / 700D / other Rebels

League 5

1. Sony VG900
2. Sony A99
3. Sony RX1
4. Samsung NX series
5. Fuji X series (X100s, E-M2, X Pro 1)

Have I missed anything significant? Help fill in the gaps on the forum

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Free VHD or Mpeg-LA?

 From top-left, clockwise:

VP9 (experimental), VP8, H.265/HEVC, x264. 

Energy Informed Operations

Staying in Command of Demand

Armed with Science by jtozer 5:33 am

Increased capabilities for the soldier increase energy demands on the battlefield. Fuel and battery use at forward operating bases, specifically patrol bases and combat outposts at the “tip of the spear,” has been problematic.

The power and energy community has been working to keep up with that demand, creating smaller, lighter, energy-dense power sources that are more efficient and will allow soldiers to go longer between resupply.

However, the increase in demand has been far outpacing supply.

There is more that needs to be considered in order to achieve a solution. Instead of focusing efforts into producing better power supplies, a serious examination need to be done on how best to manage and reduce demand.

Engineers at CERDEC’s Command, Power and Integration directorate are attacking the problem on all fronts. They believe that the key is through better power management. They’re working to enable an energy-informed environment at the tactical edge where systems interoperate intelligently.


Energy Informed Operations Architecture. Seamless power and power data transfer across the mission space with an intuitive interface with the missions, commander and soldiers. (Graphic illustration provided by CERDEC/Released)

All the parts of the power system play an important role, but historically not much attention has been paid to power management for the battlefield. CP&I’s new Energy Informed Operations (EIO) program enables two key management components which aid in a more effective use of available power: the ability to closely match energy supply with energy demands and the ability to prioritize loads.

The first point allows power systems to operate more efficiently, thereby reducing the amount of fuel needed, while the second makes the best use of the available energy in order to assure the mission can be completed before running out of power.

Generator systems typically run inefficiently because trained personnel are limited. These inefficiencies lead to a significant amount of wasted fuel and a higher incidence of generator failures. Generator “right-sizing” and the use of microgrid type distribution systems can help alleviate some of the fuel use problems.

These solutions have seen little use due to difficulties of implementing them into forward operations.

CP&I is developing applications and algorithms that will make power generation and management systems intelligent. That is, capable of monitoring and communicating power data, and developing creative ways to deal with unintelligent loads. This is the key to implementing intelligent tactical microgrids.

CP&I is demonstrating this capability for tactical operations by leveraging work previously accomplished under its Hybrid Intelligent Power (HI-Power) program, with the addition of this advanced communications and controls piece to support contingency base power.

However, this power management concept can be applied across the tactical battle space. The idea is for power systems to automatically inter-operate and share usage data, moving seamlessly from the Tactical Operations Center to the vehicle and ultimately to those worn by the soldier.

Let’s take batteries, for example. They are used to power almost every piece of equipment a soldier carries. While batteries have made incremental improvements over the years, they still suffer from short runtimes and must be swapped out frequently.

Consider the current rifleman radio. The desire is to allow the soldier 72 hours of dismounted operation without resupply. However, at the current power consumption rates, currently fielded batteries would last less than 10 hours. CP&I battery development is looking to extend that window of use to 24 hours,with the goal of reaching 60 hours by the year 2020.

However, even with those advances, it’s not enough to keep up with the demand.

One answer to this complex issue, CERDEC believes, is SIMPLE – the Soldier Interface to Manage Power of Local Equipment. This EIO effort places a hub on the soldier, which is used to manage the power of the equipment as well as collect data on the power systems.


Architecture for the Soldier Interface to Manage Power of Local Equipment (SIMPLE). In this configuration, a mobile application provides critical, mission-relevant energy information to the soldier via the EUD. (Photo provided by CERDEC/Released)

It is also designed to develop an interface to display that data on the end user device.

As this effort progresses, the individual soldier data will be compiled and available at the squad and platoon levels and will be used to determine how to more effectively utilize power across the formation.

The CP&I team is working to achieve power-aware development. This is where power consumption is taken into consideration early in the development cycle, and alternative low-power methods to achieve the same goal are considered. Power consumption information plays a critical role in accomplishing an energy-informed architecture.

Knowing the power draw of a load allows units to more closely match power generation to usage, which leads to efficiency. It can also assist in predicting the power needed for a mission or time between resupply.

Obtaining applicable information on the demand side of the power equation, however, is problematic since the power draw of equipment is rarely, if ever, constant due to daily and seasonal fluctuations. Furthermore, the conditions and the duty cycles seen in the field are not necessarily analogous to the ones developed by stateside experimentation.

Ideally, all the loads will be intelligent, capable of sensing, storing and communicating their peak and average power draw. This is a substantially larger challenge due to the vast amounts of equipment used by the Army fielded through various offices, and will take some time.

These efforts work in concert to significantly reduce energy use in the battlefield.

This reduces costs to the Army, reduces the amount of fuel conveys on the roads, and allows the soldier to spend more time focusing on his mission, rather than worrying if he will run out of power.

CP&I is strategically postured to add value in the power management space for the Army as its core competencies of power, mission command and integration provide the personnel and skill sets needed to attack problems where those capabilities merge.

Additionally, CERDEC seeks to partner with others in the Department of Defense to help them complete their goals.

Through the OECIF sponsored efforts for the Tactical Microgrids Consortium and Energy Efficient Outpost Modeling Consortium, CP&I is partnered with CERL and Office of Naval Research, respectively, as well as with numerous other DoD and Department of Energy organizations through those efforts, including the PM customer base.

To succeed in achieving the seamless intelligent operations the EIO program is looking for, there will need to be consensus among government organizations on how these systems are supposed to operate and interface. Inter-operational ability of systems is a critical component of the Energy Informed Operations, which makes these strategic partnerships essential to a successful program.

At the end of the day, it will be everyone working together – whether it’s intelligent power systems with information sharing, or coordination of efforts in government agencies – that will really make an impact on solving the power problem on the battlefield.

Written by Marnie de Jong, CERDEC Command, Power and Integration
Edited by Jessica L. Tozer

http://science.dodlive.mil/2014/02/04/staying-in-command-of-demand/

Rugged Phones - CAT tough...

Odyssey - multi-channel

ODYSSEY 7Q REVIEW from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

GIS BRICS Industry

Expanding role for geospatial data and technology in the utility sector in BRICS countries

Between the Poles by Geoff Jan 16

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are geographically, culturally and economically diverse, but have one common point on their agenda — the rapid development of the energy industry as a national priority. This is owing to the fact that the primary contribution to the projected increase in world energy consumption (the International Energy Outlook 2013 projects 56% growth between 2010 and 2040) comes from the BRICS. The BRICS countries represent 36% of total global renewable power capacity and almost 27% of non-hydro renewable capacity in 2012.
The BRICS face a wide range of challenges with respect to energy, the critical ones being universal electrification, especially in rural areas; rapidly increasing demand; the need to decrease energy intensity by deploying more renewable energy sources; reducing the high rate of energy losses, especially non-technical; and improving energy efficiency.

BRICS countries have been employing geospatial technology in various capacities in planning, generating, transmitting and distributing electric power. In a just published article in Geosspatial World we've provided a snapshot of the application of geospatial technology in these emerging countries and how we see it evolving in the future.

Utilities in BRICS countries are uniquely positioned as they have been using GIS as an operational tool for some time and are familiar with its capabilities. At the same time, they are not encumbered to the same extent by old, legacy IT systems based on operational silos that remain a challenge for utilities in developed economies. Their work forces are younger, more internet savvy, and more willing to adopt new technologies.  The dawn of the data-driven, geospatially aware era promises new opportunities to deliver improved availability, efficiency and affordability. If utility leaders in the BRICS understand the vision and seize the opportunity, they could propel these countries into a leadership position in the electric power utility sector.

NanoSAR, Tricorders, and EO and IR Fused Cameras

A SiN-VAPOR sensor is mounted in a pin grid array package. The sensor is made of silicon nanowires and is roughly the size of a quarter. (Jamie J. Hartman / U.S. Navy)
http://www.c4isrnet.com/article/M5/20131115/C4ISRNET08/311150023/There-s-relentless-push-mini-sensors-give-soldiers-new-tools?odyssey=nav|head

A SiN-VAPOR sensor is mounted in a pin grid array package. The sensor is made of silicon nanowires and is roughly the size of a quarter. (Jamie J. Hartman / U.S. Navy)

Written by
ERIK SCHECHTER

Bigger is most definitely not better when it comes to military sensors.

Indeed, in the ceaseless scramble to push every aspect of situational awareness down to the individual war fighter, government and industry have been working to get radar, cameras and other equipment onto smaller and smaller platforms — from hand-thrown UAVs to cellphones. Hence, miniaturization.
Synthetic aperture radar: mini and nano

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) emerged as a battlefield application in the 1980s with improvements in data processing speeds, notes Bryan Burns, a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories. Since then, the ability to see at long ranges, through cloud, rain and other obscurants, and to deliver that radar imagery in near real time has driven the desire to get SAR onto smaller airborne platforms.

To accommodate this demand, SAR has been shedding weight. For example, in 1990, a typical unit weighed 500 pounds and offered imagery with a 6-inch resolution. Eight years later, Sandia and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems pushed that weight down to 120 pounds, (and improved resolution to 4 inches) with the Lynx SAR.

Today, the multimode Lynx Block 30 comes in at under 85 pounds, light enough to be employed with other payloads on an MQ-9 Reaper UAV.

Sandia also developed MiniSAR in the early 2000s. Weighing some 25 pounds, the radar can fly on tactical UAVs like the RQ-7 Shadow. Alternately, MiniSAR could share space with other sensors on a larger platform for multi-intelligence collection.

“It’s a very desirable position to be in,” Burns says.

Burns sees SAR weight coming down even further. For example, solid-state transmitters — now used for communications — could take the place of heavier traveling-wave tube amplifiers and microwave power modules, while electronically steerable arrays would eliminate the “gimbals often used to point antennas for SAR systems in various directions.”

In the meantime, some radar companies have been making dramatic advances with weight and form factor. Utah-based ImSAR, for example, has been developing a series of NanoSAR systems for small UAVs like the ScanEagle and RQ-20A Puma AE. The resolution of these NanoSARs is “very fine,” says ImSAR LLC CEO Ryan Smith, but he won’t get into details, citing International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

The original, now-discontinued NanoSAR A debuted in 2009. This lightweight system had a 12-inch resolution and could image at 1,000-1,500 feet. But it took a lot of fixes to get it there.

The first retooling took place in 2006-’07, when ImSAR discovered problems with the system’s processors. “We actually did a full reset and went back and redesigned every component,” Ryan says. “It was kind of a gutsy move.”

Then the system had to be reworked again in 2008-’09. “U.S. government customers” — Smith won’t specify agencies or offices — wanted a NanoSAR with higher resolution radar imagery and a precision gimbal.

The NanoSAR A has since been replaced by the multimode NanoSAR B, which weighs around 6 pounds, can operate at higher than 6,000 feet and has a better than 12-inch resolution. And at the 2013 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Washington, D.C., ImSAR unveiled its NanoSAR C, which is half the size of the B, but with all the same capabilities.

Commenting on the weight difference between ImSAR’s nano systems and Sandia’s much heavier MiniSAR, Burns insists, “It’s kind of an eggs and apples comparison because the data they send is the raw radar data, or the phase history data,” adding that while such an approach reduces airborne processor weight, it also creates issues of data bandwidth usage.

Smith brushes aside this characterization of his systems. No raw data is ever sent down to the ground, he says; it is either fully or partially processed in the air.

“We don’t take up any more bandwidth than what a processed image take,” he emphasizes.
A thermal sensor in every eyepiece

As SAR migrates to tactical and mini-UAVs, DARPA’s Low Cost Thermal Imager-Manufacturing (LCTI-M) program has been trying to get cheap thermal sensors into eyepieces, weapon sights and smartphones.

“The vision is to drive the cost and form factor down to a point where every soldier can own one,” says Nibir Dhar, the program manager in DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office leading LCTI-M.

A thermal weapon sight can cost in the $9,000-$20,000 price range because of the tedious manufacturing process involved in making it.

“The optics, the lens, is made separately. Then the focal plane array, the actual sensor part is made separately. They are assembled manually,” Dhar explains.

The vision is to miniaturize thermal cameras — even their pixel sizes must shrink — and manufacture them for less than $500, which necessitates new ways of producing IR sensors. He says the wafer-scale manufacturing process used with cheap computer microprocessors is the way forward, but there are challenges in following that model.

For example, the thermal sensors “have to be inside a vacuum. A Pentium chip doesn’t need a vacuum,” Dhar notes, adding that making the germanium or other specialized material for thermal lenses also is tricky at the wafer scale.

In September 2011, the LCTI-M program awarded contracts to BAE Systems ($12.8 million), DRS ($11.1 million) and Raytheon Vision Systems ($13.4 million) to develop inexpensive miniature thermal cameras. In November, the companies are scheduled to demonstrate their prototypes, show price models for getting below $500, and prove that they’ve shrunk their pixels from 17 microns down to 12 or 10 microns.

Once past that hurdle, the final field test for all three companies will be the following September. There will be no downselect for LCTI-M, Dhar says, “because we want to have more manufacturers; that will drive the cost down even farther.”
Drones with all-purpose goggles

While BAE Systems is working with DARPA to develop tiny infrared sensors, the company also plans to begin production later this year on its Digitally Fused Sensor System (DFSS) for unmanned systems and unattended ground sensors. Weighing 6 ounces and measuring 2.5 inches wide, DFSS is a miniaturized, wide-field spinoff of BAE’s offering for the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle Program. (Army Night Vision Labs chose the ITT Exelis solution for that program.)

Like its Enhanced Night Vision Goggle predecessor, DFSS layers low-light and thermal camera views in one scene for increased situational awareness, but it does so in a form factor so small that it can fit on a Puma AE.

“DFSS is the smallest EO and IR fused camera that is available today for unmanned airborne, ground, maritime and unattended systems,” says Roman Hachkowski, technical director of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Solutions at BAE Systems.

DFSS can operate in a wide range of tricky conditions, from a blindingly bright day in the high desert to an illuminated parking lot to a moonless night. In the illuminated parking lot scenario, a law enforcement officer using DFSS could rely on the low-light EO camera to see through the windshield of a car, while the IR sensor could see past the overhead parking lot lights and identify suspects and what they are carrying once the vehicle door is opened.

In addition to demonstrating these capabilities, BAE Systems has been working with Army Night Vision Labs to see how well the DFSS can identify the beams of laser designators and peer into a “brown out” generated by helicopters.

“We were able to identify into the cloud of sand much farther than our customers expected, and with the fusion, we were able to see elements of the scene within the cloud,” Hachkowski says.

In January, DFSS participated in the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiments at Fort Benning, Ga., and BAE Systems has been talking with companies to get DFSS on new unmanned airborne, ground and maritime platforms as well as unattended sensors. (It’s currently not on any program of record.)

Production of the fused sensor is set for later this year, with a next-generation DFSS planned for release in 18 months.

Building a Star Trek tricorder

In addition to shrinking radars and optics, the Naval Research Laboratory is developing a sensor called the Silicon Nanowires in a Vertical Array with a Porous Electrode (SiN-VAPOR), for mobile, real-time distributed chemical sensing.

“It’s a big, long title, but basically it means putting a sensor on a cellphone so that everyone can do chemical detection, so that everyone becomes a point detector on the battlefield, at the airport, at a football stadium, wherever,” explains Christopher Fields, the Naval Research Laboratory lead on the project.

Mounted on a cellphone, the platform offers high processing power, an easy interface and wireless communications in one small, low-power package. The sensor, working with others, could identify and map a chemical plume in any area.

“Really, what we’re trying to build is the Star Trek tricorder,” Fields notes, adding that for standoff detection, the device could be mounted on a robot used to approach a suspected IED or parachuted by the dozens into an area that might be suffused with harmful chemical gases.

Leveraging the work that others have done with silicon and microprocessors, the Naval Research Laboratory has shrunken SiN-VAPOR down to a 1-centimeter-by-1-centimeter pin grid array — and as tiny as that sounds, that’s just the chip carrier, which was designed for easy grasping with tweezers. The actual sensing part is only 5 millimeters by 5 millimeters.

Within that area are 100 million nanowires lined in a vertical configuration to create maximum surface area for maximum sensitivity.

According to Fields, SiN-VAPOR has already demonstrated TNT trace detection at the parts per billion and parts per trillion levels, and has performed under conditions that have thwarted other lab prototypes.

“We have data that suggests that our sensor actually performs better in a humidified environment,” he says.

The next step is to not just detect TNT but to detect, identify and quantify various types of chemicals and explosives in a target area. This requires coating groups of nanowires with different chemicals and employing pattern recognition algorithms, like those used in facial recognition software, to identify compounds. That will be challenging, but Fields nevertheless expects to see a SiN-VAPOR prototype tested as early as January.

With their tricorders, thermal eyepieces and mini-drones bristling with SAR and fused sensors, tomorrow’s war fighters will be bombarded with data about friend and foe and battlefield. One wonders if ultimately it will create super-soldiers or just information overload

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