Over the course of hundreds of projects, the engineers at Intellisense have demonstrated the efficacy of lidar and infrared imaging. Lidar has been proven to be an effective means of measuring environmental parameters in an all-in-one weather-sensing solution, and infrared imaging helped the United States military better acquire targets and identify potential threats. When the United States Air Force (USAF) needed help in identifying and tracking enemy unmanned aerial systems (UAS), the innovators at Intellisense found a way to fuse these two technologies together.
The USAF needed this detection technology because UAS and drones present an incredible military advantage. These tools enable armed forces around the world to gather intelligence and acquire targets without putting personnel in harm’s way. Over a dozen countries use unmanned aircraft to complete their operations, but now more non-state actors and enemy combatants are beginning to employ drones in combat. To protect personnel and mission planners in hostile territory, the USAF required a reliable means of detecting enemy UAS.
In order to locate and track UAS targets, Intellisense engineered a system that fused lidar sensing capabilities with electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors. Thanks to its lidar capabilities, this device creates a 3D image of the space in its field-of-view to detect aerial objects. However, in adverse weather conditions like heavy rainfall, lidar may not achieve enough resolution to identify UAS. In that case, the EO/IR subsystem with a near-infrared camera provides ultra-high-resolution images that enable mission planners to identify adversarial drones.
By fusing lidar and infrared imagery and applying machine-learning algorithms, this system enables USAF personnel to track small UAS targets in adverse conditions. It can detect and track small UASs at ≥400 m (extendable to 1,000 m) within a field of view (FOV) of 40° x 40°. After testing, Intellisense concluded that the probability of detection is greater than 95%.
As an integrated part of a comprehensive counter-UAS program, Intellisense intends to have this sensor-fusing innovation to interface with the other collaborative sensors, such as radar and passive radio frequency. It will also be compatible with processing and communication units.