Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI) has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force to develop high-quality, three-dimensional (3-D) imaging technologies for use in automated surveillance systems.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant leverages SSCI’s leadership in technology enabling intelligent autonomous land-based and aerial unmanned systems to perform their missions in hostile or challenging environments. The SBIR program is seeking new technologies enabling future surveillance systems to capture very high-quality 3-D images of vehicles, buildings, terrain, and other subjects, using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology. SSCI will develop SAR 3-D imaging technology capable of providing uniform wide-area intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance gathering capabilities in all weather, day and night. The technology will enable autonomous unmanned vehicles to navigate and identify targets on the ground. It will also enable highly accurate SAR 3-D aerial reconnaissance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The goal of the Air Force award, for Phase II of the Three-Dimensional (3D) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Image Formation and Exploitation program, is to ”demonstrate the utility of the algorithms on measured radar data in the application of high confidence vehicle identification, building and terrain modeling, or change detection.” SBIR grants are designed to stimulates technological innovation and promote the productivity and economic growth of the nation by engaging private enterprise in productive innovation projects for the U.S. government. SSCI will also present a technical paper and meet customers at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2009 conference in Washington D.C. from Aug. 10-13 (Booth #129).