Southern Methodist University researchers are taking a different approach to producing photo and video images for military surveillance cameras outfitted on unmanned aerial vehicles and helmets.Southern Methodist University researchers are taking a different approach to producing photo and video images for military surveillance cameras outfitted on unmanned aerial vehicles and helmets. William Matthews of Defense News reported June 8 on research in the lab of Electrical Engineering Associate Professor Marc Christensen.
Christensen, chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, has built a nationally recognized research group in photonics and computational imaging. His work with imaging sensors and micro-mirror arrays has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, among others. In 2007 he received the DARPA Young Faculty Award.
Excerpt:
By William Matthews
Defense News
When the U.S. military gets into a fight, it wants to see everything that’s going on, so it relies on a plethora of optical sensors.Cameras on UAVs are increasingly numerous. So are cameras on vehicles and cameras on soldiers’ helmets. And cameras on satellites have been around for a long time.
But traditional cameras have a drawback. They’re bulky and relatively heavy.
Related links:
SMU Profile: Marc Christensen
Wired: Darpa’s smart, flat camera is packed with beady eyes
Unfair Park: On the hilltop, SMU prof creating teensy-weensy military camera
Hi-tech lens sharpens military surveillance
Marc Christensen
Conference paper on Panoptes
Department of Electrical Engineering
Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering
