L-3 Communications’[LLL] Cincinnati Electronics (L-3CE) unit is launching its new NightConqueror 360-Degree High Definition Infrared (IR) Sensor System (NC 360HD) providing 360-degree IR video from a single high-definition camera here at the Association of the United States Army annual conference.
“It’s important to have the 360-degree panoramic field of view for any users or operators who need panoramic situational awareness–something that a traditional IR or visible spectrum camera cannot accomplish,” said Stephen Schmidt, business development manager, L-3 CE.
For example, panoramic situational awareness offers a force protection application, providing early warning from any direction, he said. The NC 360HD has a patented design, using combat-proven technologies from the AAR-44 Missile Warning System and the NightConqueror HD 1280×1024-pixel mid-wave IR sensor, producing the equivalent of 24 HD IR cameras facing outward from a common focal point.
Traditional cameras typically provide only about a 20-degree field of view which leads to significant gaps in coverage, so it makes it difficult to provide a lot of advance notice of threats, said Don Gill, director of Business Development, Infrared Products at L-3 CE.
Currently a panoramic view is usually produced by at least four high-definition cameras, each responsible for 90-degrees, Schmidt said. “Our system uses one camera instead of four and is low cost relative to alternative traditional systems. “
Gill said, “There’s a four-fold decrease in cost,” simply by using just one camera.
In a land force protection application, NC 360 HD is easily moveable for one person to transport, set up and operate all by himself, Schmidt said. Contained in several cases, the system is easily transportable in one vehicle.
The controls are user friendly with a touch screen, where the operator can choose between looking at the full 360-degree panorama in four quad strips covering the primary sectors or look at a single, high resolution view of a more focused area, with the panorama strips above and below the primary view, Schmidt said. If the operator sees something of interest, he merely touches the screen to have it zoom up.
Gill said the user interface is very simple, very intuitive and straightforward. As both he and Schmidt are both operators–former Navy pilots so they look at the sensor from the operator’s perspective. Seeing something using the clock or compass code, touching the screen means an instantaneous zoom, and if there are other sensors on board, they can be slewed.
The system is designed to have removeable hard drives, and the camera records in real time, similar to wide area surveillance products so forensic analysis can be done. Here, L-3 capitalizes on its experience in the airborne market, Schmidt said. Additionally, the company can easily design the system for a customer so that the raw video output could be compatible with Army networks.
For example, Schmidt said the first edition of the system was designed with a visible camera as a proof-of-concept. “It went so well” the company developed the IR system on its own internal funding. They have the ability to put IR and visible cameras in the same system if the customer wants. They have an upgrade path and roadmap for the future.
L-3 EC also has large-format cameras with an extremely wide field of view that could be put in the system to increase the field of view in the vertical direction in addition to the full 360-degree panorama view.
Additionally, the software processing capability can be tailored to meet the needs of acustomer, for example, setting thresholds for automated detection and alerts can find something the operator might miss.
There is a large potential market, beyond the services, to homeland security and protection applications for military bases, critical infrastructure, oil rigs, civilian merchants, border applications wherever there is a need for the early detection of inbound hostile forces.
The NC 360 HD is on display at the L-3 Booth: 2124.