Helmet-mounted uncooled FPA camera for buried object detection

John Lester Miller; Herbert A. Duvoisin III; George Wiltsey

doi:10.1117/12.280341

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13 August 1997 Helmet-mounted uncooled FPA camera for buried object detection

John Lester Miller, Herbert A. Duvoisin III, George Wiltsey

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Proceedings Volume 3061, Infrared Technology and Applications XXIII; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.280341
Event: AeroSense '97, 1997, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Software neural nets hosted on a parallel processor can analyze input from an IR imager to evaluate the likelihood of a buried object. However, it is only recently that low weight, staring LWIR sensors have become available in uncooled formats at sensitivities that provide enough information for useful man-portable helmet mounted applications. The images from the IR are presented to a human user through a see-through display after processing and highlighting by a neural net housed in a fanny-pack. This paper describes the phenomenology of buried object detection in the infrared, the neural net based image processing, the helmet mounted IR sensor and the ergonomics of mounting a sensor to head gear. The maturing and commercialization of uncooled focal plane arrays and high density electronics enables lightweight, low cost, small camera packages that can be integrated with hard hats and military helmets. The head gear described has a noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT) of less than 50 milliKelvin, consumes less than 10 watts and weighs about 1.5 kilograms.

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John Lester Miller, Herbert A. Duvoisin III, and George Wiltsey "Helmet-mounted uncooled FPA camera for buried object detection", Proc. SPIE 3061, Infrared Technology and Applications XXIII, (13 August 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.280341

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