Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A16-086

Description

To address the Army’s need for a high-fidelity scene simulator for hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing, in Phase II, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to advance the development of the new High Fidelity Reconfigurable Dynamic Scene Projector (HIRASP) system proven feasible in Phase I. The HIRASP system is based on the novel integration of broadband light sources, spatial light modulators and projection optics with multispectral image co-registration. With a modular design, HIRASP enables projection of high-fidelity images over UV, visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR/LWIR spectra. It is configurable to adjust the output radiance level in each spectral band, project images in all spectral bands simultaneously, selectively project a desired spectral band, or project images in each band in sequence. In Phase I, POC successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the HIRASP by providing system analysis and developing the top-level system design for HWIL testing. In Phase II, based on tradeoff analysis of design approaches, simulation, and evaluation of the expected system performance, POC will develop and complete the HIRASP system design, develop critical components, assemble, and build and test a functional Phase II prototype to demonstrate its operational performance as a scene simulator in HWIL testing.