Real-time implementation of a multispectral mine target detection algorithm

Joseph W. Samson; Lester J. Witter; Arthur C. Kenton; John H. Holloway Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.501567

11 September 2003 Real-time implementation of a multispectral mine target detection algorithm

Joseph W. Samson, Lester J. Witter, Arthur C. Kenton, John H. Holloway Jr.

Proceedings Volume 5089, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets VIII; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.501567
Event: AeroSense 2003, 2003, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Spatial-spectral anomaly detection (the “RX Algorithm”) has been exploited on the USMC's Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) and several associated technology base studies, and has been found to be a useful method for the automated detection of surface-emplaced antitank land mines in airborne multispectral imagery. RX is a complex image processing algorithm that involves the direct spatial convolution of a target/background mask template over each multispectral image, coupled with a spatially variant background spectral covariance matrix estimation and inversion. The RX throughput on the ATD was about 38X real time using a single Sun UltraSparc system. A goal to demonstrate RX in real-time was begun in FY01. We now report the development and demonstration of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) solution that achieves a real-time implementation of the RX algorithm at video rates using COBRA ATD data. The approach uses an Annapolis Microsystems Firebird PMC card containing a Xilinx XCV2000E FPGA with over 2,500,000 logic gates and 18MBytes of memory. A prototype system was configured using a Tek Microsystems VME board with dual-PowerPC G4 processors and two PMC slots. The RX algorithm was translated from its C programming implementation into the VHDL language and synthesized into gates that were loaded into the FPGA. The VHDL/synthesizer approach allows key RX parameters to be quickly changed and a new implementation automatically generated. Reprogramming the FPGA is done rapidly and in-circuit. Implementation of the RX algorithm in a single FPGA is a major first step toward achieving real-time land mine detection.

Citation Download Citation

Joseph W. Samson, Lester J. Witter, Arthur C. Kenton, and John H. Holloway Jr. "Real-time implementation of a multispectral mine target detection algorithm", Proc. SPIE 5089, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets VIII, (11 September 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.501567

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KEYWORDS

Field programmable gate arrays

Image processing

Detection and tracking algorithms

Clocks

Multispectral imaging

Algorithm development

Land mines

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