Camgian awarded DARPA UAV-UGS fusion contract
Today’s soldiers rely on advanced ground and airborne sensors to identify, track, and monitor critical targets; as stand-along platforms, UAVs and unattended ground sensors (UGS) have operational limitations such as endurance, coverage, and target resolution; Camgian is teaming up with BAE Systems to exploit the fusion of these assets in an automated network architecture to provide powerful ISR capability
Starkville, Mississippi-based Camgian Microsystems Corporation, a specialist in advanced microelectronic systems and semiconductor technologies, has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO).
In this program, Camgian, teamed with BAE Systems Advanced Information Technologies, will aim to develop a multi-tiered Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) network architecture comprising both small UAVs and long-endurance Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) that will provide persistent detection, classification, and tracking of ground targets over very large operational areas of interest.
“In today’s asymmetric warfare, the warfighter relies significantly on advanced ground and airborne sensor assets to identify, track and monitor critical targets,” said Dr. Gary Butler, Camgian Microsystems president and CEO. “As stand-along platforms, UAVs and UGS have operational limitations such as endurance, coverage and target resolution. The focus of this effort is to fully exploit the fusion of these assets in an automated network architecture that supports cross cueing and data fusion to provide the warfighter with a revolutionary ISR capability.”
The program will use Camgian’s expertise in developing advanced, ultra-low power electronic sensor systems with BAE’s innovative image fusion and mining technologies.
“In an ongoing government funded program, Camgian and BAE Systems are developing a multi sensor testbed that combines Camgian’s UGS expertise with BAE’s innovative image fusion and mining technologies,” said Ryan Jorgenson, Camgian’s Vice President of Advanced Systems. “Results from this testbed will be used as the baseline to enable a unique fingerprint of the target to be developed that a UAV can use to reacquire and discriminate potential targets.”
