Unmanned ground vehicle technology with integrated EO-IR Sensors and payloads play a key role in border surveillance
and security. In recent years, unmanned ground vehicle such as iRobot's PackBot have been a critical tool in providing
situational awareness to combat terrorist operations around the world. There is increased recognition of the importance of
unmanned ground vehicles with sensor suites as a force multiplication for the infantry and special forces units in future
combat or reconnaissance missions and perimeter and border security and first responders. They function as the "eyes,
ears, and hands" of the unit and can be remotely deployed without placing the observer's unit in harm's way in risky
environments. Evolving unmanned ground vehicle technology produces significantly lighter, more maneuverable, greater
endurance UGVs with improved EO, IR and other sensors for reconnaissance, surveillance and situational awareness.
They dramatically reduce the risk for soldiers in MOUT operations, relay evidence of booby traps, hidden enemy, and
other dangers in caves, tunnels, buildings, vehicles and other areas where the soldier(s) may be at risk. They have
expanded mobility in debris fields, stairs, and rugged terrain with IR and visible video and audio links. New sensor
technology enables new tactics to be developed and tethers allow secure operation. These UGVs are extremely
rugged withstanding the harshest military use. They have high reliability as demonstrated in operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq. They are easy to operate with a short set-up time and battery change out time of less than one minute.
In this paper we will present innovative design approach for UV Focal Plane Array for Photon Counting Applications. This Focal Plane includes the building a large area silicon micro-channel plate (MCP) using GaN photocathode. In this paper, we will present the design and simulation of silicon micro-channel plate with GaN photocathode with large area array with 2 micron pores and 3 micron pitch. We will also present results for the ICP-RIE process to fabricate 2 micron pores, and Growth of high conductivity GaN photocathodes using MOCVD to produce 40% QE. We will also discuss approaches for development of readout architecture and circuit for Silicon based MCP 4096x4096 UV FPA. The readout architecture scheme uses a series of charge sensitive amplifiers (CSA) to boost the charge received on each anode. The signal from each CSA is then passed into a shaping amplifier (SA) that produces a smooth waveform. The peak of the smoothed waveform is captured by a sample and hold (S/H) circuit that holds the signal until an analog to digital (A/D) converter can sample it. Details of the ROIC circuit will be presented.
High Speed Multi-Channel Fiber-Optic Transmitter (Tx) and Receiver (Rx) modules have been developed for Next Generation Ground Vehicle Applications. These fiber-optic multi-channel modules take advantage of the high speeds (10 Gb/Sec/Channel) and have the ability to connect multiple sensors and systems using a rugged fiber-optic cable capable of working with very high data rates for real time information. In this paper we present design, development and application of these high Speed modules for Tethered Robotic Applications. We will present design, development and performance results for 12 channels - Tx and Rx fiber-optic module capable of providing 120 Gb/Module operations for Army's Manned and Unmanned Vehicle Applications. This technology enables the application of very high data rates and multiple channels of real time, high-resolution visible and thermal IR streaming video that enhances the ability for real time information without any bandwidth limitations.
Conference Committee Involvement (1)
Infrared and Photoelectronic Imagers and Detector Devices II
13 August 2006 | San Diego, California, United States
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