Ultra-Compact, High Resolution InGaAs SWIR Video Camera Successfully Integrated On ScanEagle Unmanned Aircraft Test Flight
Princeton, NJ - Sensors Unlimited, Inc., part of Goodrich Corporation, announced recently that their ultra-compact, high sensitivity SU640KTSX indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) shortwave infrared (SWIR) camera has been successfully flight-tested on the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft at the Fort Leonard Wood test range in Missouri. The InGaAs-SWIR imager requires no cooling; it is lightweight (less than 90g) and uses low power (less than 2.5W at 20 degrees C), making it ideal for unmanned flight imaging requirements.
Ed Hart, General Manager of Goodrich’s Sensors Unlimited Princeton, NJ team, notes, “We are proud to be part of this successful flight test with The Boeing Company (Integrated Defense Systems- St. Louis) and Insitu (Bingen, WA)”. He adds, “The ability to image through many fog, haze or rain conditions during daytime or nighttime makes our uncooled shortwave InGaAs high sensitivity camera especially useful for unmanned aircraft for maritime intelligence and surveillance. With room-temperature operation, our InGaAs-SWIR cameras are lighter weight and consume less power than mid- or long-wave infrared imagers and competing shortwave germanium-based cameras which generally require heavy and expensive cooling systems.”
The 640 x 512 pixel solid-state camera, with on-board non-uniformity corrections, captures full-sized images at 30 frames per second. The camera’s focal plane array features a 25-micron pitch with a wavelength response over the shortwave infrared spectrum from 0.9 to 1.7 microns. This model is also available with Sensors Unlimited’s new NIR/SWIR extended wavelength response from 0.7 to 1.7 microns. The SU640KTSX can be easily integrated into large or small systems, making it suitable for hand-held, helmet mounted, mobile or aerial SWIR imaging applications. Because InGaAs night vision (NV) technology detects reflected light, unlike today’s small thermal NV cameras that detect heat signatures, Goodrich’s compact NIR/SWIR camera provides exceptional identification clarity over a wide range of day and night illumination levels.