Award Data

Modern Directed Energy (DE) missions require target engagements at low elevation angles and long ranges.These engagement geometries require propagation through distributed-volume turbulence. To correct for distributed-volume turbulence effects, an estimation of the turbulence along the propagation path is required. Correcting for these image aberrations will improve the quality of the target image ...

Nutronics, Inc. and Montana State University propose to develop a method for characterization of the full Mueller matrix for reflective scattering from a test object. The Complex Object Reflectance Characterization System (CORCS) will initially be designed for laboratory use and characterization of test objects by active imaging to measure both the Mueller Matrix and the target depth associated wi ...

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 ...

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 ...

The objective of this program is to develop, demonstrate and implement a low reconfigurable, reliable Free Space Optical (FSO) link supporting high bandwidth communications for satellite to satellite or satellite to ground communication. The FSO Transceiver (Transmitter/Receiver) to be implemented will be small Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) such that it can be easily carried by compact spa ...

Target detection and recognition is a challenging problem because of changes in appearance, viewing direction, occlusion and other covariates. Systems that can accurately and efficiently detect and track objects can provide several benefits in surveillance, monitoring and other applications. As part of this effort, we propose to develop a robust learning-based approach to detect, track and recogni ...

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 ...

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) can be reliably used to perform on-line health monitoring of any type of structures with minimal human involvement. Current SHM systems can perform the functions required but are heavy, bulky and difficult to integrate with the structure to provide on-board real-time structural integrity assessment. Embedding of currently available sensors and electronics used by ...