SBIR Phase II: Three Dimensional Monocular Thermal Ranging Camera

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是改善配备先进驾驶员辅助系统(ADAS)的车辆和机器人移动机械的安全运行，同时帮助克服阻碍自动驾驶汽车(AV)采用和接受的传感挑战。退化的视觉环境(DVE)，如太阳眩光、黑暗、烟雾和灰尘，会影响车辆乘员的安全，以及车辆外部的安全，特别是行人和骑自行车的人。作为该项目的一部分开发的3D单目热技术的新传感器模式可能会改善道路和越野车辆的安全操作。该系统寻求在所有条件下检测和定位行人、骑自行车的人和物体，改进车辆的自动刹车、避障、定位和导航。除了提高安全性，新的3D单目热传感器设计将通过扩大操作范围以包括最具挑战性的环境条件来提高车辆和机器人机器的实用性和商业价值。这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发一种新的传感器模式，以解决当前汽车和机器人移动应用中使用的相机、雷达和激光雷达传感器的缺点。该项目旨在开发简单但强大的热单目测距创新，其中单个热像仪产生2D视频细节，同时产生比当代传感器更高的时空密度的距离图或点云。该项目从最近在可见光领域发表的单目卷积神经网络(CNN)测距工作中获得灵感，开创了单目3D热成像的新领域。与依赖颜色信息和反射光的基于可见光的CNN系统不同，该项目将从基本原理出发构建新的热网络和地面事实集来训练CNN。汽车市场的极端价格压力只能通过采用新的温度探测器技术来应对。该项目进一步开发了新的薄膜探测器技术和探测器，以读出在热像仪性能、实用性和可负担性方面的潜在突破的互连应用程序。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to improve the safe operation of Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) equipped vehicles and robotic mobility machinery while helping overcome the sensing challenges that have delayed autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption and acceptance. Degraded Visual Environments (DVE) such as solar glare, darkness, smoke, and dust impact the safety of vehicle occupants, as well as those external to the vehicle, especially pedestrians and cyclists. The new sensor modality of the 3D monocular thermal technology developed as part of this project may improve the safe operation of on-road and off-road vehicles alike. The system seeks to detect and locate pedestrians, cyclists and objects in all conditions, improving vehicle automated braking, obstacle avoidance, localization, and navigation. Beyond improving safety, the new 3D monocular thermal modality devise will improve the utility and commercial value of vehicles and robotic machines by extending the operating range to include the most challenging environmental conditions.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a new sensor modality that addresses the shortcomings of camera, radar and LiDAR sensors used in current automotive and robotic mobility applications. This project seeks to develop the simple, yet powerful innovation of thermal monocular ranging where a single thermal camera produces 2D video detail concurrent with a range map or point cloud of much higher spatio-temporal density than contemporary sensors. Drawing inspiration from monocular convolutional neural network (CNN) ranging work recently published in the visible domain, this project creates a new field of monocular 3D thermal imaging. Unlike visible-based CNN systems that rely on color information and reflected light, this project will construct from first principles new thermal networks and ground truth sets to train the CNN. The extreme price pressures of the automotive market can only be met through adoption of a new thermal detector technology. This project further develops new thin-film detector technology and the detector to readout interconnect application process with potential breakthroughs in thermal camera performance, utility, and affordability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.