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DOD funds tiny cave camera, iris recognition technology for military, homeland security

Subiimager.jpgResearchers are expanding new miniature camera technology for military and security uses so soldiers can track combatants in dark caves or urban alleys, and security officials can unobtrusively identify a subject from an iris scan.

The two new surveillance applications both build on “Panoptes,” a platform technology developed under a project led by Marc Christensen at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and funded by the Department of Defense.

Panoptes is a compact, lightweight, high-resolution smart camera that is named for the Greek mythological character Argos Panoptes, the giant sentry with a hundred eyes.

DOD is funding development of the technology’s first two extension applications with a $1.6 million grant to SMU.

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Wired: DARPA’s Beady-Eyed Camera Spots the ‘Non-Cooperative’

Both the tiny cave camera and the iris recognition application will aid the military, border patrol, intelligence officials and airport security, according to Christensen and Delores Etter, a leading researcher in biometric identification.

Both are electrical engineers in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. The new applications may be ready for fielded demonstrations as soon as late 2011, said Christensen.

The Panoptes imaging system has been field-tested in tactical environment simulations by defense contractor Northrop Grumman and is currently in an independent test with Draper Laboratory.

“The Panoptes technology is sufficiently mature that it can now leave our lab, and we’re finding lots of applications for it,” said Christensen, an expert in computational imaging and optical interconnections. “This new money will allow us to explore Panoptes’ use for non-cooperative iris recognition systems for Homeland Security and other defense applications. And it will allow us to enhance the camera system to make it capable of active illumination so it can travel into dark places — like caves and urban areas.”

The new grant brings total DOD funding of Panoptes — short for “Processing Arrays of Nyquist-limited Observations to Produce a Thin Electro-optic Sensor” — to $5.5 million. The new applications have been dubbed AIM-CAMS, for “Active Illumination with Micro-mirror-arrays for Computational Adaptive Multi-resolution Sensing,” and Smart-Iris, for “SMU’s Multi-resolution Adaptive Roving Task-specific Iris Recognition Imaging System.”

Hi-rez “eyes” in caves, urban alleys

helmetcamera.jpgPanoptes initially was designed for military aerial drones and combat helmet cameras for use in daylight environments. The technology produces sharp, clear images without the size and weight of a conventional camera system because it doesn’t rely on a large, bulky, curved lens for high-resolution images.

Instead, arrays of agile and precisely controlled microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirrors are integrated with low-resolution sub-imagers on a silicon base for the purpose of sampling a wide field of view. The analog steerable MEMS mirrors adaptively redirect plexiglas sub-imagers to zoom in on regions of interest. The captured images are stored in an onboard computer and restored to high-resolution by an information theory-based super-resolution algorithm.

The sub-imagers are tiny off-axis-shaped paraboloids, fabricated using injection molding. At 8 millimeters by 5.7 millimeters by 4 millimeters, the sub-imagers have an effective focal length of 4 millimeters and are tiny enough to fit on the surface of a small coin.

The honeycomb-shaped micro mirror array comprises 61 hexagonal mirrors, each with three actuators to mechanically move and control the mirrors. The usable circular aperture, the opening through which light travels, is 3.9 millimeters in diameter. The end result — a digitally restored image — while not super-resolution, approaches optical limit, the researchers say.

The flat sub-imagers can be tiled unobtrusively almost anywhere, from the underside of a small drone to the outside of a soldier’s helmet to the walls of a hallway.

The Panoptes architecture is unique in its ability to adapt its field of view to steer to a region of interest, capturing only images of value, Christensen said. That preserves computing power by eliminating uniform allocation of imaging resources, which is wasteful, he said.

Smart-Iris narrows from wide field-of-view to narrow field-of-view

To develop the biometric Smart-Iris, the adaptive resolution of Panoptes will be paired with iris recognition technology.

“It’s very challenging to get the resolution with a wide field-of-view camera, but with a zoom camera, it’s hard to find the iris because it’s like looking through a soda straw,” Christensen said.

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Every iris is unique

Iris recognition — currently used worldwide by airports, prisons, laboratories, fitness clubs, hotels and other institutions — is the most accurate biometric available because no two irises are alike, said Etter, a former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense who leads SMU’s Biometrics Engineering Research Group. The technology is challenged, however, by interference when the iris is being scanned, she said. Problems can include glare, eyelashes, eyelids or dim lighting.

With Panoptes, the camera can start with a wide field-of-view at low resolution, find a face, then narrow to the area of interest — the iris. At the same time, Smart-Iris will extend the range of iris acquisition. Instead of one person cooperatively standing motionless with their eye pressed to a scanner, Smart-Iris will make it possible for people to pass through a standard doorway, each one getting their iris scanned — without so much as even pausing — by equipment mounted on walls or door frames. At the same time, the camera would maintain high resolution and more than 150 pixels across the iris.

Easier Smart-Iris scan is unobtrusive, but accurate

That could benefit the Department of Homeland Security. More than 600 million people pass through security to fly aboard commercial airlines each year, according to the agency. Homeland Security relies on the latest technology to monitor more than 700 security checkpoints and 7,000 baggage screening areas.

“Our goal is to develop an iris recognition system that is unobtrusive and accurate. We want to ensure that the right people have access, and that potential intruders are identified, all without impacting flow in high-traffic areas,” said Etter, who directs the Lyle School’s Caruth Institute for Engineering Education.

Into caves and dark alleys

To develop AIM-CAMS, Panoptes is being paired with new off-the-shelf pocket projector technology known as Pico. Pico projectors, often compared in size to a candy bar, make it possible to project digital pictures taken by cell phones and other portable devices onto any wall for large-format viewing.

Combining Pico with Panoptes will allow the low-resolution camera to be used in dark places, such as caves and urban alleys, providing troops with situational awareness, said Christensen, who is chair of the SMU Department of Electrical Engineering and an associate professor.

SMU is collaborating on the research with Santa Clara University in California, Northrop Grumman and Draper Laboratory. Funding came from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research and Army Research Laboratory.

Watch a news video about the Panoptes research

Related links:
DOD adds $2 million to SMU’s camera research
Marc Christensen
SMU Profile: Marc Christensen
Conference paper on Panoptes
Department of Electrical Engineering
Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

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Technology

Will high-density PICs be the next big thing?

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Gary Evans in SMU’s Photonics Lab.

Lasers have the potential to improve and revolutionize human lives in many ways, from consumer electronics and communications to medical equipment and homeland security. Helping unlock the barriers to these advancements is the research of SMU Electrical Engineering Professor Gary Evans.

Evans has been recognized by his peers for his contributions to the development, design and fabrication of semiconductor lasers, microscopic manufactured devices that can amplify subatomic light particles called photons.

This technology, in turn, can lead to applications that transmit data, energy, pictures or sound.

The field of photonics already has many claims to fame: Laser pulses deliver information through glass fibers to create the high-speed Internet; certain wavelengths of laser light are used in cancer therapy; lasers read CDs and DVDs; and at industrial plants, lasers cut materials with precision.

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But future development of high-power applications requires research advancements of the kind Evans is tackling in his laboratory: He is looking for a way to fit billions of lasers and other optical components atop a microscopic chip.

The challenge is similar to the one faced in the late 1950s by the engineers who developed the electronic integrated circuit. The revolutionary high-density electronic integrated circuit paved the way for powerful hand-held calculators, laptop computers and myriad microelectronic devices and technology that have transformed the world.

Evans and other researchers believe photonic integrated circuits (PICs) may have that same vast potential, but there are technical problems to resolve. One key to manufacturing high-density PICs, which can hold billions of optical devices, is an “isolator.” An isolator would allow photons to flow unrestricted in the forward direction, but would prevent any reflected light from traveling backward. Without an isolator, unavoidable reflections would cause instabilities and chaos in the PIC.

“An isolator allows integration of large numbers of lasers and other optical components to produce stable, robust photonic circuits,” Evans says. Since 1994 he and Jacob Hammer, a retired colleague from RCA Labs, have been working along with graduate students to develop an isolator.

“We have a good understanding of the theory and we realize what problems need to be solved to make an integrated isolator in a semiconductor,” Evans says. “But more theory needs to be done to understand the materials that need to be developed. The materials just don’t exist yet.”

He is seeking federal funding to continue collaborations with Hammer, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to develop those materials.

Since 2001 the team has received $250,000 in federal funding for isolator research. Some funding for Evans’ research also has been awarded to Photodigm Inc., a company he co-founded. Photodigm specializes in photonics technology for communications, digital imaging, defense and medical device applications. The Richardson-based company has contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, among others.

Evans joined SMU in 1992, the year he also received one of electrical engineering’s top honors: election as a Fellow of IEEE, the technology industry’s professional association. The association cited Evans for contributions he has made to the industry’s development, fabrication and understanding of semiconductor lasers.

Over the years, Evans’ research has been conducted in conjunction with others, including the larger SMU photonics team: Jerome Butler, University Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering; Jay Kirk, SMU electrical engineering laboratory manager and a co-founder of Photodigm; and Marc Christensen, chair and associate professor of the Electrical Engineering Department and a member of Photodigm’s technical advisory board. — Margaret Allen

Related links:
Gary Evans
Jerome Butler
Jay Kirk
Marc Christensen
SMU Photonics Group
The Daily Campus: Shade Tree Engineering
SMU’s Electrical Engineering research
Department of Electrical Engineering
Photodigm
Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

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Researcher news Technology

The 33 news: SMU developing micro camera for front-line soldiers

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. Walt Maciborski of The 33 news broadcast in Dallas reported July 8 on research in the lab of Electrical Engineering Associate Professor Marc Christensen.

Watch the video

Excerpt:

By Walt Maciborski
KDAF: The 33
DALLAS — Cutting edge micro cameras are being developed in a basement lab at Southern Methodist University. The project is code-named Panoptes, more on its name later.

Associate Professor Marc Christensen says his undergraduate and graduate researchers at SMU’s Photonic Architectures Lab are about to take a giant leap into the future of photography.

“What we’re working on here is trying to develop the next generation of cameras,” Christensen says.

Christensen’s team is creating video and still cameras that are as thin as about two credit cards, covered with tiny mirrored lenses.

“The original program was driven by the department of defense, (because) they have a need to have tactical imagery, and they don’t want to only have it on platforms that are as large as a Predator UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), ” Christensen says. “They would like to fit this camera on something the size of a model airplane or something that could fit in the palm of your hand.”

Read the full story.

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
Defense News: Sharper image for military surveillance
Hi-tech lens sharpens military surveillance
Marc Christensen
Conference paper on Panoptes
Department of Electrical Engineering
Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

Categories
Researcher news Technology

Wired: DARPA’s smart, flat camera packed with beady eyes

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. David Hambling of Wired magazine reported July 1 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 David Hambling
Wired.com
Troops and unmanned aircraft could be the first to benefit from a new smart, ultra-slim camera technology which combines the images from many low-resolution sensors to create a high-resolution picture. Known as Panoptes, it promises lightweight, flat cameras with the power of a big lens in a device just five millimeters thick. It’s being developed by Professor Marc Christensen at Southern Methodist University, with funding from Darpa. Planned applications include sensors for miniature drones and helmet-cams for soldiers.

A key feature of the system is that it’s made up of a large number of tiny imagers. These are small, simple cameras, each directed independently by a MEMS-controlled micro-mirror. Because there is no large lens, Pantoptes can be made flat, unlike other cameras.

A central processor combines the images into a single picture, producing a higher resolution than the individual imagers. The intelligence is in the way that the system identifies areas of interest and concentrates the sub-imagers on the relevant part of the scene. Christensen gives the example of the Panoptes system looking at a building in a field.

“After a first frame or two was collected, the system could identify that certain areas, like the open field, had nothing of interest, whereas other areas, like the license plate of a car parked outside or peering in the windows, had details that were not sufficiently resolved,” he tells Danger Room. “In the next frame, subimagers that had been interrogating the field would be steered to aid in the imaging of the license plate and windows, thereby extracting the additional information.”

Read the full story.

Related links:
SMU Profile: Marc Christensen
Defense News: Sharper Image
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

Categories
Researcher news Technology

Defense News: Sharper image for military surveillance

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.

Read the full story.

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