James A. Buford

Overview of dynamic scene projectors at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

The Aviation and Missile Research, Engineering, and Development Center (AMRDEC) of the US Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) has an extensive history of applying all types of modeling and simulation to weapon system development and has been a particularly strong advocate of hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulation and test for many years. Key to the successful application of HWIL testing at AMCOM has been the use of state-of-the-art IR Scene Projector technologies. This paper describes recent advancements within the AMRDEC Advanced Simulation Center HWIL facilities with a specific emphasis on the sate of the various IRSP technologies employed. Included in these IRSP technologies are the latest Honeywell and Santa Barbara IR emitter arrays, the DMD-based IR projectors, and the laser diode array projector.

Calibration and Non-Uniformity Correction of MICOM's Diode Laser Based Infrared Scene Projector

A dynamic infrared (IR) scene projector which is based upon diode lasers is now operational at the US Army Missile Commands Research, Development, and Engineering Center. The projector is referred to as the Laser Diode Array Projector. It utilizes a 64-element linear array of Pb-salt diode lasers coupled with a high-speed optical scanning system, drive electronics and synchronization electronics to generate in-band IR scenes. The projector is interfaced to a real-time scene generation computer which is capable of 3D scene generation. This paper describes the process for calibration of the projector and the correction of spatial non-uniformities which are inherent in the projector design. Each laser within the system must be calibrated so that its output power is linear with respect to input gray level. The calibration table for each laser is stored in the projector electronics memory and is applied in real-time. In addition, spatial variations in perceived pixel intensity must be corrected such that the output scene is uniform. Gain and offset correction factors for each pixel are used to correct the spatial non-uniformities. The gain and offset terms are applied to each pixel in real-time by the projector drive electronics. The projectors overall performance characteristics, including the non-uniformity correction (NUC) performance level achieved-to-date, are presented in the paper. Issues associated with NUC limitations are also discussed. Sample images generated with the projector and captured by an InSb FPA sensor are included in the text.

Diode laser based infrared scene projector

A high-speed dynamic IR scene projector based upon diode lasers has been designed, fabricated, and delivered to the U.S. Army Missile Commands (USAMICOMs) Research, Development, and Engineering Center (RDEC). The projector was developed under a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research award. The projector is based upon a linear array of Pb- salt diode lasers coupled with a high-speed optical scanning system, drive electronics and synchronization electronics. The projector is capable of generating high dynamic range, 128 X 128 scenes at 8 KHz frame rates. The systems modularity provides upgradability to meet specific performance requirements such as increased spatial resolution, different emission wavelengths, or dual-band scene projection. The projectors performance characteristics are presented in the paper, as well as sample images generated with the projector and captured by an InSb FPA sensor.

Advancements in hardware-in-the-loop simulations at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

A greater awareness of and increased interest in the use of modeling and simulation (M&S) has been demonstrated at many levels within the Department of Defense (DoD) and all the Armed Services agencies in recent years. M&S application is regarded as a viable means of lowering the life cycle costs of missile defense and tactical missile weapon system acquisition beginning with studies of new concepts of war-fighting through user training and post-deployment support. The Aviation and Missile Research, Engineering, and Development Center (AMRDEC) of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) has an extensive history of applying all types of M&S to weapons system development and has been a particularly strong advocate of hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulation and test for many years. Over the past 40 years AMRDEC has developed and maintained the Advanced Simulation Center (ASC) which provides world-class, high fidelity, specific and dedicated HWIL simulation and test capabilities for the Armys missile defense and tactical missile program offices in both the infrared and radio frequency sensor domains. The ASC facility uses M&S to conduct daily HWIL missile simulations and tests to support flight tests, missile/system development, independent verification and validation of weapon system embedded software and simulations, and missile/system performance against current and future threat environments. This paper describes the ASC role, recaps the past year, describes the HWIL components and advancements, and outlines the path-ahead for the ASC in terms of both missile and complete system HWIL simulations and test with a focus on the imaging infrared systems.

PC Scene Generation

AMRDEC has successfully tested hardware and software for Real-Time Scene Generation for IR and SAL Sensors on COTS PC based hardware and video cards. AMRDEC personnel worked with nVidia and Concurrent Computer Corporation to develop a Scene Generation system capable of frame rates of at least 120Hz while frame locked to an external source (such as a missile seeker) with no dropped frames. Latency measurements and image validation were performed using COTS and in-house developed hardware and software. Software for the Scene Generation system was developed using OpenSceneGraph.

BRITE II characterization and application to a new advanced flight motion simulator

Hardware-in-the-loop testing has, for many years, been an integral part of the modeling and simulation efforts at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Commands (AMCOM) Aviation and Missile Research, Engineering, and Development Center (AMRDEC). AMCOMs history includes the development, characterization, and implementation of several unique technologies for the creation of synthetic environments in the visible and infrared regions and AMCOM has continued significant efforts in these areas. Recently, AMCOM has been testing and characterizing a new state-of-the-art resistor array projector and advanced flight motion simulator (FMS). This paper describes recent test and integration activities of the Honeywell BRITE II emitter array and its integration into an infrared scene projector (IRSP) compatible with a new Carco Flight Motion Simulator (FMS).

AMCOM RDEC ladar HWIL simulation system development

Hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing has, for many years, been an integral part of the modeling and simulation efforts at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Commands (AMCOM) Aviation and Missile Research, Engineering, and Development Center (AMRDEC). AMCOMs history includes the development, characterization, and implementation of several unique technologies for the creation of synthetic environments in the visible, infrared, and radio frequency spectral regions and AMCOM has continued significant efforts in these areas. This paper describes recent advancements at AMCOMs Advanced Simulation Center (ASC) and concentrates on Ladar HWIL simulation system development.

Current status of IR scene projection at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

This paper describes the recent addition, characterization, and integration of emerging technologies for dynamic infrared scene projection at the US Army Aviation and Missile Commands Advanced Simulation Center. Infrared scene projection performs a vital role in the daily testing of tactical and theater missile systems within these Hardware- in-the-Loop (HWIL) laboratories. Topics covered within this paper include the addition and characterizations of new Honeywell and Santa Barbara Infrared emitter arrays, the integration and operation of the Honeywell and SBIR emitter array systems into a HWIL test, the development of high speed reduced-size IRSP drive electronics, the development of a NUC/characterization station, added software support, and the status of DMD-based infrared scene projector. Example imagery and test results from several of the projector systems are included within this paper.

HWIL weapon system simulations in the U.S. army Aviation and Missile Command (USAAMCOM)

This paper describes the Advanced Simulation Center (ASC) role, recaps the past 2000-2001 year, describes the hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) components and advancements, and outlines the path-ahead for the ASC in terms of both missile and complete system HWIL simulations and test.

System description and applications of the Imaging Infrared Simulation System III at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

A new imaging infrared hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulation laboratory has been added to the already rich set of HWIL assets at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) for evaluation of weapons systems with infrared seekers. This paper provides a system description of the new laboratory, the Imaging Infrared Simulation System III (IIRSS3), and discusses the application of the facility to two different weapon systems.