SBIR-STTR Award

CST Corporation proposes a novel approach to an integrated signal-processing system for terminal guidance seeker by simulating the columnar organization of mammal's cortex areas of sensory processing. The columnar organization of mammal's cortex exhibits a very efficient way of using the computing and communication resources and an ideal matching of the physical organization with versatile signal/image processes, particularly the adaptive and robust vision processes for target acquisition, tracking, and pointing. The phase I work will develop processor architecture suitable for the imaging sensor based terminal guidance seeker. The functional requirements, the physical constraints, and the technology availability for the terminal guidance seeker of missile will be studied through literature review, computer experiments on key processes, and analysis. Important results from CST's previous work on imager based target detection and tracking will be incorporated into this R&D. Besides this application, the integrated signal-processor is also useful for industrial automation, manufacturing, robot vision and position location, UAV based survey systems and material delivery systems.

This phase II proposal is being submitted to Naval Air Warfare Center, in response to an invitation following the phase I contract N68335-01-C-0004. We propose a phase II effort to continue the research and development of an integrated missile seeker signal-processor (IMSSP). Target acquisition and tracking are the essential tasks of seeker processing for autonomous guidance. The computational complexity of automatic target recognition (ATR) involved in the two tasks was the main technical hurdle of this project. Through phase I effort, we developed a practical solution of the problem via a GPS/INS-guided-ATR algorithm, and demonstrated the general feasibility of the integrated missile seeker signal processor. The first objective of phase II work is to develop a detailed specification for the integrated signal processor with processing rates consistent with next generation imagers, compatible with the power and packaging requirements of the missile seeker, and with sensor exchangeability. Phase II objective also includes developing algorithms, software, and hardware for seeker information processing, and developing a demonstration of the system through application simulation and evaluation.

Keywords:
Terminal Guidance System, Target Tracking, Missile Seeker, Gps/Ins, Target Acquisition, Target Pointing, Integrated Signal Processor, Automatic