Laser and imaging systems provider Voxtel Inc. has been awarded the first phase of a potential $5.2 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the Reconfigurable Imaging (ReImagine) program. Voxtel’s multi-mode fused image sensor, currenlty being developed in DARPA’s ReImagine program, would enable autonomous navigation from a small-sized LADAR system that requires less laser power and less computer processing. Courtesy of Voxtel. Voxtel is developing a multimode fused image sensor that integrates SWIR passive imaging and laser detection and radar (LADAR) sensing in the same imager. Similar to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) processor, the field-programmable imaging array (FPIA) architecture in development would incorporate dynamically reconfigurable pixel elements for separate regions of the focal plane array to run separately at high resolution, high frame rate or in active time-of-flight mode, enabling on-focal-plane object detection and extraction, along with pixel-registered sensor fusion. DARPA’s ReImagine program seeks to develop a software-reconfigurable, multimode imager that can adapt to different conditions in a scene and autonomously reconfigure itself to collect the most valuable information in the scene. A three-year contract under the auspices of the ReImagine program was awarded to Voxtel in May. By designing multimode passive- and active-imaging algorithms implemented at the pixel level with reconfigurable on-focal-plane processing, the technology would allow autonomous object detection and imager configuration with efficient extraction of relevant information. “Our multimode fused image sensor would greatly benefit applications that require significant laser power, like LADAR-assisted automotive navigation,” said George Williams, CEO of Voxtel. “By using laser pulse energy only where the scene requires it, Voxtel can make systems that are smaller, less expensive, more efficient at scene extraction and require less processing.” In addition to use in autonomous automobile navigation and driver assistance systems, military applications would include multimode imaging in helmet-mounted, weapon-mounted and unmanned vehicle systems. Voxtel is a supplier of laser-ranging and 3D-imaging systems, eyesafe diode-pumped solid-state lasers, avalanche photodiode InGaAs detectors, scanned lidar and laser-ranging photoreceivers and focal plane arrays.