Remote Sensing
RADAR - Ultrasound - LIDAR - SONAR - Seismic - Imaging
SharpScan
Submarine navigation systems currently use small-aperture magnetron X-band radars due to their ability to image longer distances while occupying a much smaller footprint. Though magnetrons are powerful and space saving, they inherently transmit incoherent radiation, making high resolution imaging challenging.
FTL’s SharpScan is an improved-angular-resolution magnetron-based radar that is coherent-on-receive through the implementation of very high speed data acquisition and new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based beam-sharpening. SharpScan’s coherent radar processing is an enabling technology that provides higher Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), reduces target uncertainty, and allows for advanced DSP techniques like beam sharpening and Moving Target Indication (MTI) to reduce the influence of static clutter and provide more information on each target compared to incoherent returns. SharpScan achieves more than twice the image sharpening capabilities over what Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) magnetron marine radars on the market today can achieve, while still fitting in the small footprint required on submarines and maintaining the superior output power and range associated with magnetron systems.
SDARIT: Structural Damage And Repair Inferencing Tool
FTL Labs’ SDARIT (Structural Damage and Repair Inferencing Tool) is a software application that ingests 3D point clouds such as those gathered via LIDAR as input and automatically detects damage and generates a repair part inventory for facilities including Navy pier assets. SDARIT will assist FTL’s Navy customer with pier damage assessment, especially in remote sites and with no prior design information. This is especially valuable in cases where sending a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to assess pier damage onsite is difficult, dangerous, and costly due to the wide range of pier locations and possible state of disrepair. With SDARIT, deployment of a LIDAR device by one or two technicians is all that is required to capture the data necessary to make a detailed report on the state of repair of any pier in any location. The software is designed to work with any point cloud data; LIDAR or even pier structures are not specifically required.
The SDARIT program’s primary objectives are to develop technology for the automatic detection of architectural elements for inventory purposes, together with damage detection and estimation based on the ingestion of 3D field survey data such as LIDAR point clouds and 360-degree videos. SDARIT utilizes both custom-trained neural networks and algorithmic solutions to meet these objectives, and the automatic pier element inventory and damage detection results are to be used by the Navy for estimation of required repair kits. The software is designed to detect and quantify certain types of damage such as scouring, breakages, spalling, section loss, and battle damage without requiring user input. The damage is visualized through a “heatmap” display and intuitive 3D fly-through of the data. In addition, 360-degree video captured along with the LIDAR data, if available, is aligned and viewed in the same interface, giving users access to both damage-highlighted 3D point cloud data and photographic verification anywhere on the structure. This data is saved and is rapidly browsable by remote subject matter experts from the safety of their offices and desktop computers.
SHR3DR: Sub-seafloor High Resolution 3D Reconstruction
FTL Labs’ SHR3DR (Sub-Seafloor High Resolution 3D Reconstruction) is a
hardware and software solution for the automatic detection of problems such as voids forming in the subterranean environments beneath Navy waterfront facilities. It is a tool intended to be used by NAVFAC and commercial site maintenance crews in the assessment of these areas, which are hidden and typically require expensive, destructive, and time-consuming dredging and digging to fully inspect. With SHR3DR, technician-level personnel can quickly and easily collect data for an entire wharf in a wide range of waterfront environments. The SHR3DR software acquires and analyzes seismic data using advanced acoustic signal data processing algorithms and a custom trained neural network, and outputs void locations and problem areas to a user.
FTL developed a proof of concept for the combined hardware technologies, automation process, and software pipeline that were developed and demonstrated. The SHR3DR system includes a custom survey rig with both a portable seismic impulse generator and a hydrophone reel that can be extended into the desired water depth. The entire apparatus can be deployed on an ATV or truck for delivery and ease of movement down the length of a wharf or pier. At regular intervals along the surface, the hydrophone array is lowered into the water, the impulse generator excites acoustic waves, and the signals are sensed and saved. The full signal dataset for a wharf is then imported into the SHR3DR software, which processes the data to reduce noise and highlight important features. The neural network then detects possible voids and calculates information such as pile depths. This data can be registered with a 3D LIDAR surface scan and then presented to the user in an intuitive interface.
The SHR3DR Phase I program’s primary objective has been to develop a proof-of-
concept technology for the automatic detection of voids and calculation of pile depths in the subterranean areas below wharfs and piers. SHR3DR utilizes active seismic sensing with specialized algorithmic acoustic signal data processing and a custom trained neural network to meet these objectives, and the resulting survey tool is intended to be used by the Navy for determining whether facility repairs or maintenance are necessary.
The Navy has awarded FTL a Phase II contract to continue R&D on the SHR3DR program, during which the acoustic signal generation and sensing hardware will be built and tested, and a full software application will be developed.
DroneDraft
“DroneDraft” from FTL Labs Corporation is a fully autonomous, man-portable measurement, data collection, analysis, and display system for draft measurements during vessel evaluations, either prior to delivery or as part of in-service availabilities.
DroneDraft performs autonomous vessel draft evaluations that are required to ensure vessel stability and safety, and test performance can critically impact vessel delivery schedules. It replaces the existing test method, which requires a manned small boat to collect draft readings at four locations using a draft tube method that is primitive, subjective, inconsistent, non-standardized, and dangerous.
DroneDraft determines the draft of a vessel while reducing set-up time, minimizing equipment needed, streamlining the process, reducing costs, mitigating schedule risks, and eliminating safety hazards to personnel. It will determine a vessel’s draft to 1/16” in various weather conditions and with various hull forms to support on-time delivery of ships and submarines. The system can operate in several feet of chop and wind, and can determine draft on various hull forms including flared or tumble homed hulls and draft marks. Additionally, DroneDraft provides data analytics to provide a statistical evaluation and digital record, and will integrate easily into standard operating procedures and standards to enable fleet-wide use
DroneDraft is a shippable UAV draft measurement system (a) that enables rapid ship surveying (b), and draft-marking imaging (c). FTL has demonstrated autonomous flight and data acquisition (d) along with a cascaded neural network processing pipeline capable of extracting draft markings from effects due to hull curvature, perspective, weather, and lighting to reach a precision of 1/8” in field testing (e).
SpearFish
FTL’s SpearFish system leverages JPL’s CARACaS autonomy architecture in a new enabling technology for Patrol boat sensing, perception, and Command-and-Control (C2). SpearFish applies advanced high-bandwidth sensor fusion to enable unmanned patrol boats that will reduce risks and enable new operational capabilities within the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force (MESF). SpearFish includes sensor, perception, and Command-and-Control modules to enable MESF-specific autonomous behaviors. It indicates all high-level behaviors being executed and allows dynamic tasking/re-tasking from human operators. Additionally, SpearFish conforms to a Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) appropriate for current 40 PB platforms and leverages available COTS technologies to enable rapid development to on-water testing of system performance.
SpearFish requires little or no additional external sensor hardware beyond what is already in the 40 PB specification, plus one half-rack SpearFish computer/electronics module (1U ½ rack). SpearFish electronics enable very high speed (kHz) tracking and intercept behaviors with no ship modifications, while FTL’s neural-network systems enable situational awareness and threat recognition.
FTL’s TYFUN ocean and vessel simulation system can rapidly implement and test autonomy behaviors to ensure that each behavior has benefited from thousands of trial runs prior to ever being tested on the water.
Spearfish uses the existing sensors with additional fixed cameras to provide sensing to a swarm of patrol boats (A) to create a real-time sensor fusion Local World Model (b). Applying machine learning algorithms, threats are identified (C) and reaction behaviors (D) are enabled in a high-speed Spearfish autonomy framework (E) or existing CARACaS autonomy framework (f).
SoundFit
SoundFit is a patented ultrasonic tool that monitors and records relative motion between a prosthesis socket and the bone within a remaining limb after amputation. Accurate and quantitative measurement of relative bone-to-prosthesis location during prescribed exercises such as walking for lower limb, or lateral arm raises for an upper limb, enables custom, comfortable fitment and high performance mechanical energy transfer, filling the knowledge gap that currently exists when trying to assess the performance of a socket interface.
There is a clear industry need for determining acceptable ranges for socket performance metrics values. These metrics may include sagittal/frontal range of motion and peak velocity during an activity, which correlate with interface stiffness and damping. These performance metrics, derived with FTL’s SoundFit, allow analysis of industry-wide statistical trends for direct application by prosthetics clinicians.
FTL’s SoundFit serves as a guide during the fitment process, allowing comparison of a socket’s performance to trends seen in the community of subjects having similar impairments, physiology and mobility. Driving the socket fitment with data rather than subjectivity will help to enhance a patient’s interaction with the world via a prosthesis, and ultimately will improve the patient’s quality of life.
For more information, please check out FTL’s brochure about the next generation of SoundFit, titled FoCUS! FoCUS is currently deployed in test labs across the country.
Contact us for more information.
Ultrasonic Flaw Detection
For advanced nondestructive testing of critical parts, FTL borrowed their medical ultrasound technology consisting of inexpensive WiFi enabled hardware, custom precision transducers, and proprietary signal processing and visualization to measure and display precisely where internal fractures are, key part dimensions, and statistical analysis. Flaw detection and component imaging can be easily performed with the resulting hardware solution and a standard Android phone or tablet.
Piezoelectric Sensor Fabrication
FTL’s in-house techniques for fabricating precision piezoelectric ultrasound sensors and probes by leveraging recent advances in 3D printing technologies. With specialized materials, the entire housing is printed with precision matching layers in one shot. Once the piezo crystal is adhered to the inside, proprietary backing layers are poured, engineered to quickly damp out unwanted harmonics for faster ring-down without compromising the transmitted or received signals. FTL is capable of applying this technology to a multitude of sensor types, for sensors that cost a fraction of most commercial solutions.