Aug 27 2010
Goodrich Corporation has launched a minuscule SWaP (size, weight and power), SWIR (shortwave infrared) camera for use in fully automated vehicles. The camera’s total volume is lower than 4.9 cubic inches and its weight is less than four and a half ounces which makes it suitable to be fitted on most of the unmanned ground or airborne vehicles.
This unique camera has been installed recently in the nosecone of a hand-launched unmanned aerial system (UAS), Raven.
The novel camera which was developed by the ISR System’s team of Goodrich Corporation, Princeton, N.J., spotlights the proprietary indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) technology to perceive the wavelengths of the light in the range of 0.7 to 1.7 ìm, in comparison with the conventional night vision cameras which detect wavelengths only upto 1.0 ìm .The potentiality of the SWIR camera permits the user to determine and trace a broad range of bright or dark lasers used for military purposes with high precision and clarity.
The SWIR camera has been installed on the Raven UAS with a resolution of 320x240 long-wave infrared (LWIR) microbolometer. The camera intensifies the thermal night imaging of the microbolometer facilitating the visual monitoring of the laser location and imaging while thermal crossover during the sunrise and sunset whereas in the conventional thermal cameras the clarity of the images are weak during such thermal crossovers.
Martin Ettenberg, the director of business development, Goodrich ISR Systems team, commented that the combination of a SWIR camera with the LWIR microbolometer permits fulltime image covering from a single airborne automated or unmanned systems, supporting and simplifying the operations of the warfighters by carrying a modern battlefield camera and eases the physical load.
Goodrich will demonstrate the SWIR cameras for use in unmanned vehicle applications at the AUVSI exhibition, scheduled from 24th Aug to 27th Aug, 2010 in booth #2215 at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colo.
The ISR Systems team of Goodrich, Princeton, N.J. is leading the fabrication and production of SWIR and NIR cameras and systems exploiting the indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) imaging technology for commercial, agricultural, industrial, military, and scientific markets.
Source: http://www.goodrich.com