Raytheon Company

Bbn Technologies Corporation

Paul Patrick Audi

Michael A Deaett

Stephen G Johnson

Matthew Patrick Daily

Kenneth J McPhillips

Christopher Burbank Lirakis

Kevin Paul Bongiovanni

Christopher S Fortin

Lynne Maria Dillman

A system for processing one or more detection signals from an acoustic signal detection system to image and track one or more contacts within a medium including a computer configured to receive the detection signal and a computer readable medium operatively coupled to the computer, that is capable of applying an image processing method to one or more images derived from the received one or more detection signals to estimate the kinematic characteristics of the one or more contacts.

System and method for imaging and tracking contacts within a medium

A system and method can detect and track targets in a scene of interest. Interframe differencing can be performed on sequential pairs of images of the scene and a Bayesian model analyzer can obtain an interframe difference density function. The interframe difference density function can be partitioned into static and mobile regimes to provide an objective function. A tracking module can construct a level set and geodesic active contours can be determined for the targets. An adaptive control can apply a spatial transformation and level set perturbation to the geodesic contours to oscillate the contours such that the level set can drop to a lower energy level. The expanded contour can be fed back for use in processing subsequent interframe differences. Target motion analysis data, such as bearing and bearing rate data, can be extracted from the geodesic active contours by applying geometric based transformations on the curve's coordinates.

Automatic target detection and motion analysis from image data

A sonar system is provided for identifying a foreign object includes a technique for providing a two dimensional array of pixels, each one of the pixels representing the intensity of a signal at a predetermined range position and a predetermined cross-range position from a reference position and quantizing the intensity of each one of the pixels into one of a plurality of levels. The technique further includes comparing a distribution of the levels of pixels over a range scan at a cross-range position with the distribution of levels of pixels over a range scan at a different cross-range position to identify the existence of a foreign object. With such an arrangement a sonar system is provided that can automatically detect the existence of a foreign object such as a mine.

Sonar system for identifying foreign objects

A sonar system is provided for mapping the bottom of a body of water to identify a submerged foreign object. A sequence of the sonar pulses is transmitted and directed toward the bottom. The mapping is formed from a sequence of echo returns. Each one of the echo returns is produced as a range scan in a range direction response to a corresponding one of the transmitted sonar pulses. The sonar system stores signals representative of the intensity of the echo returns in a two dimensional array of pixels. Each one of the pixels represents the intensity of the echo return at a predetermined range position from the system in the range direction and a predetermined cross-range position from a reference position of the system in the cross-range direction. The system quantizes the intensity of each one of the pixels into one of a plurality of levels, and compares the distribution of the levels of pixels over a range scan at a cross-range position with the distribution of levels of pixels over a range scan having a different cross-range position to identify the existence of an underwater object.

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Newport, RI, United States of America

Paul Patrick Audi