Flash Ladar Flight Testing and Pathway to UAV Deployment

Abstract

The Ball Aerospace 5 th Generation Flash Ladar system which produces real-time, 3-dimensional (3D) video in all lighting conditions has been demonstrated to be a significant enabler to enhance the mission capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). These new capabilities include enhanced Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance (ISR), Automated Target Recognition (ATR), improved situational awareness, GPS denied (terrain relative) navigation, 3D surface mapping, surface change detection (detection of buried improvised explosive devices), camouflage penetration, autonomous aerial refueling and autonomous landing. Ball Aerospace 5 th Generation Flash Ladar system has benefited from over 6 years of development, is compact, modular, and has been demonstrated to be easily integrated and flight-tested on both fixed-wing and rotorcraft with different optical configurations. This paper presents the results of airborne test activities and sample imagery of our 5 th Generation system and discusses options for repackaging and integrating the system into UAV platforms.

An Overview of Ball Flash LIDAR and Related Technology Development

“…Two examples are the structured light camera [15] and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems [16,17]. Both systems produce range data to a solid surface that can be used to determine local hazards and slopes.…”