Inactive

The Contractor shall demonstrate EO/IR systems employing novel optical technologies, specifically planar optics components such as metasurface optics, to achieve overall sensor systems which are small... The Contractor shall demonstrate EO/IR systems employing novel optical technologies, specifically planar optics components such as metasurface optics, to achieve overall sensor systems which are smaller, lighter, less expensive, and less complex than comparable conventional optical systems while maintaining suitable performance for the proposed mission function. The contractor shall demonstrate the ability to leverage planar optics in conjunction with computational imaging and/or processing to reduce overall system size, weight, complexity and power requirements to achieve warning or situational awareness functionality. This program is envisioned to consist of several of the following but may not be inclusive of all: 1. Definition of compact optical system concept suitable for integration in a small unmanned aircraft system with a mission system or self-protection function. 2. Modeling, simulation, and analysis of optical system, sensor system, associated processing/algorithms, and optical components to support overall system design and trade analysis. 3. Design, fabrication, and test of novel optical components to support demonstration activities, detailed performance analysis, and component testing. 4. System level functional analysis and modeling, including associated processing, to enable optimization and trade study analysis at the whole system level using system function, such as warning, cue generation, or situational awareness, as a primary optimization parameter. 5. Quantitative characterization and statistical analysis of conventional optical systems representing the state of the art as well as demonstration systems for comparative mission and platform class to enable comparative evaluation of system performance, size, weight, complexity and cost. The contractor shall prepare authoritative reports, papers, presentations, technical data, and best practices guidance for the purposes of assisting the USAF and USSF to assess new optical technologies, performance characteristics thereof, and relative performance within proposed mission, installation, and cost.

Inactive

The Air Force Research Laboratory is looking to apply novel concepts in optical technologies to compact EO/IR systems and sensors engineered for attritable and low-cost, small, unmanned aircraft syste... The Air Force Research Laboratory is looking to apply novel concepts in optical technologies to compact EO/IR systems and sensors engineered for attritable and low-cost, small, unmanned aircraft systems. The Low-COST Program has the objective of greatly reducing the cost, size, and weight of the optical systems used by the US Air Force on assets employed in highly contested environments. This will be accomplished as we implement, mature, and demonstrate new advances in meta-optics to realize increased system performance through hybrid and planar optic system. Specifically, exploiting the capability of highly configurable meta-optic system to work in concert with computational imaging and subsequent processing to demonstrate increases overall specific system performance outside of imaging applications is a primary goal of the program. This will provide a new capability for active and passive EO/IR sensors, addressing primarily small and attritable UAS platforms and providing autonomous sensing capabilities such as incoming missile warning, laser warning, and infrared search & track (IRST). These capabilities advance our current sensing concepts and currently do not exist at cost, size, and weight benchmarks that would be compatible with small UASs (SUASs) and attritable platforms.