DYNAMICALLY PROGRAMMABLE AND ADAPTIVE MULTI-BAND COMPRESSIVE IMAGING SYSTEM

Bridger Photonics and the University of Arizona will develop a passive multi-band compressive sensor for imaging and object recognition applications. The Army has identified a need for multi-band imagery for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions among others. Multi-band systems offer enhanced discrimination capability and the ability to perform in adverse conditions (at night, smoke, fog, etc.). Compressive sensing is ideally suited to multi-band imaging systems as it offers improved performance while reducing size, weight and power, as well as hardware and data bandwidth requirements. Compressive sensing is particularly beneficial when some of the desired spectral bands lie outside of the visible spectrum as focal plane arrays, especially in the mid-wave and long-wave IR bands, have poor performance and high costs. Furthermore, the on-going need for improved performance and increased functionality within shrinking form factors renders compressive sensing a logical choice for future systems. Under this effort, the team will examine advanced algorithms and architectures for compressive sensing, provide proof-of-concept adaptive and programmable multi-band hardware demonstrations, and design a portable and adaptive multi-band compressive imaging system and determine its feasibility for implementation during a Phase II effort.