Replicating the Effects of Laser Strikes in Simulation-based Pilot Training to Improve Safety and Ensure Readiness
Aptima receives $1.2 Million Award from Air Force Research Laboratory for Laser Dazzle Effects (LDE) Toolkit to supplement existing flight simulators with the capability to simulate realistic exposure to laser strikes
Aptima, Inc., a trailblazer in leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to enhance mission readiness, announced today that it has received an Air Force Research Laboratory Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award valued at up to $1.2 Million to address the complex challenge of replicating ground-to-air laser strikes in pilot training to better prepare pilots for such disruptive and dangerous events.
Lasers can have disorienting and vision impairing effects when directed at the human eye—when directed at an aircraft, the effects can be mission- and even life-threatening. Immediate symptoms can include disorientation, blurred and double vision, headaches/pain, spasm, blind spots in the eyes, and flash blindness, where the pigments of the retina are oversaturated by a bright light, resulting in temporary blindness, and risks to both health and mission.
To meet the Air Force’s need for a capability to supplement existing flight simulators with the capability to simulate realistic exposure to laser strikes, Aptima is developing the Laser Dazzle Effects (LDE) Toolkit. The LDE Toolkit consists of two components: (1) the LDE modeling framework and (2) a LDE simulation engine. This toolkit, when integrated into flight simulators, will take the specifications for a laser dazzle and laser eye protection in use as input, then will use these specifications to model and output an overlay to the simulator’s display that simulates the visual and physiological effects of the laser dazzle.
The LDE Toolkit will be released on the Unreal Asset store by the end of this Phase II effort, enabling integration with commercial flight simulators.
Aptima welcomes the adoption or merging of your technology with one or more of our SBIR Topics. We are eligible for SBIR Enhancement funding, as well as TACFI and STRATFI awards, all of which are sole source.
For more information, contact aptima_info@aptima.com.
Image: U.S. Air Force/Airman Shawna L. Keyes.
Quote: U.S. Air Force https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3552209/osi-takes-aim-at-laser-pointers-aircraft-safety/
