Technology Development of a Polarization Capable Multi-Mission EO/IR Turret (On-board Real Time Processor)

The focus of this effort is to take Advanced Coherent Technologies, LLC's (ACT's) current multispectral/hyperspectral (MSI/HSI) system, developed in the first two Phases of this SBIR, and miniaturize the onboard processor and improve the onboard processing algorithms. Miniaturization is needed to insure the overall system fits within the size, weight, and power (SWaP) envelope of the RQ-21A Group 3 UAS platform without utilizing all of the available payload space (RQ-21A is the smaller of the two STUAS platforms). This is done by porting the existing processing from the current graphics processing unit (GPU) to a field programmable gated array (FPGA)-based system. The algorithm improvement is necessary to both take advantage of FPGA-specific processing and to make the overall system operate in parallel with the UAS's main ISR gimbal. The miniaturized system, once complete, can be transitioned as part of the Turreted Modular MSI/HSI System (TUMMS) rapid innovation fund (RIF) project to the STUAS program.