Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: To address the Navy need for a compact off-board passive target discriminator using networ

Description

To address the Navy need for a compact off-board passive target discriminator using networked sonobuoys, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Covert Exemplar Low Power Maritime Activity Target-Discriminator (CELPMAT) system based on the innovative data fusion of multi-modal sensors for surface, subsurface, and air target detection. Based on a comprehensive integration of both a COTS array of acoustic vector sensors and total field magnetometers and POC"s novel multiband compound eye based nonimaging optical sensor, this system is able to passively monitor targets in complex environments through cooperative distributed sensing. In addition, the CELPMAT system possesses onboard ruggedized electronics for data fusion and low-power digital processing based on artificial neural networks and covert communications to rapidly detect targets and discriminate vessel intent. The system will be compact enough to fit into half the volume of an A-size buoy. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the system by providing system-level concepts and preliminary hardware designs validated by simulation and modeling with associated data fusion algorithms. In Phase II, fully functional data collection prototypes will be designed and fabricated for at-sea experimentation to discriminate targets of interest.