SDRD Highlight: Ian McKenna’s UAS Feasibility Study flies high to become SDRD project

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In fiscal year 2022, Principal Investigator Ian McKenna from the Special Technologies Laboratory (STL) completed a Feasibility Study demonstrating passive unmanned aircraft system (UAS) detection with turbulence-enhanced imagery (project # 22-088). With the success of that study, Ian, Tristan Richmond (STL), Mary O’Neill (Keystone International), and other collaborators are now hard at work on a two-year SDRD project, “Low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), High Clutter UAS Detection and Tracking” (project # 23-009). The aim of this project is to combine the algorithms developed in the Feasibility Study with a single, low-cost CMOS [complementary metal oxide semiconductor] camera to track UASs, even with very low SNRs. This work is extremely important to our mission of national security through the detection, tracking, and monitoring of both friendly and counter-UASs in complex environments.

black and white photo on left with palm trees and bushes and red circle showing tiny UAS, and color photo on right with man flying a UAS in grassy field — Still frame from 150Hz video stream (left) and Tristan Richmond piloting a UAS quadcopter for detection testing (right).

Congratulations to Ian and the team on this remarkable project. We look forward to the results!