Award Data

Nutronics, Inc. and Montana State University propose to develop an approach for non-linear control of hysteresis and incorporate (if necessary) integrated Multi-Input-Multi-Output real time control with this capability.Our control systems already include a proven high speed real time control approach to determine the optimal set of actuator commands that satisfy inter-actuator stroke limitations.O ...

Adaptive optics (AO) system performance is hindered by the mechanical limits of the deformable mirror (DM), namely stroke limits, interactuator stroke limits, and mechanical resonance.The nature of the multi-in multi-out (MIMO) control system does not lend itself well to notch filters to combat the mechanical resonances, and the stroke limits introduce non-linearities to the system.The traditional ...

This proposed effort will focus on the design, development and analysis of a high voltage BST based varactor for tunable filter applications. The high voltage BST varactor will enable wide tuning range filters with high quality factor and increased power handling and linearity. Advanced filter design techniques will also be leveraged to increase the effective quality factor of the filter resonator ...

The Air Force needs tunable laser systems with high average power in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum for military applications including defense against heat-seeking missiles.Currently-fieldedlaser systems, based on nonlinear frequency conversion in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN), have limited optical power at wavelengths between 4 m and 5 m because of intrinsic absorption in th ...

The Biomagnetics Micro Dosimetry System (BMDS) program will design, model, and simulate a microdosimetry system that can measure and create a three dimensional map of weak radiofrequency signals in biological organisms. The heart of the BMDS project is the front end called a Quinc, that delivers very sensitive, broad band measurements with high spatial resolution.The Quinc based front end is a val ...

The introduction of computer vision in precision-guided ammunition will potentially increase their targeting capabilities, in particular for moving targets such as tanks, vehicles and mobile command posts. EO/IR cameras offer a relatively inexpensive, low-SWaP payload solution which, combined with latest advances in SIMD hardware (GPUs), are finally starting to allow running sophisticated visual g ...

Free Space Optical (FSO) communication systems provide many benefits for satellite communications, including high data rates and low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) compared to traditional RF communication systems.Additionally, FSO systems operate without RF emissions and are inherently immune to RF interference and jamming.The narrow optical beams and small Field-of-View of the optical receivers al ...

Nutronics, Inc. and Montana State University propose to develop and evaluate computational methods for a Volume Digital Holographic Wavefront Sensor (VDHWFS).VDHWFS based imaging offers the potential to provide the equivalent of wide field of view adaptive optics (AO) compensated imaging, but without the added complexity of AO components and hardware.Recent result for coherent imaging developed by ...

Phase I of this effort involves the creation of a comprehensive end-to-end model of a novel holographic polarimeter.The polarimeter that can be constructed based on our model will be able to determine the full polarization properties (Mueller matrix elements) of scattering, reflecting and absorbing media as a function of the materials depth.Unlike previous attempts, this system will be a real-time ...

Previous research indicates the digital holography (DH) methods when combined with model-based iterative reconstruction can solve the challenging problems posed by the need to image through deep turbulence real time. In this Phase I STTR research, we propose to analyze and design a high-performance computing system and associated Deep-turbulence Estimator for Anisoplanatic Propogation (DEAP) algor ...