AR Tech by Teledyne FLIR to Display Hazmat Threats

Teledyne FLIR has won a development contract worth up to $15.7 million with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA JSTO) to develop battlefield threat-mapping and visualization tools. The technology will allow the capability to digitally map hazardous material threats from sensor data, and to “see” their exact location via mixed reality on mobile phones, tablets, and head-up displays (HUDs).

Potential appearance of the augmented reality display. Teledyne FLIR will receive up to $15.7 million in funding to develop the technology, which will support real-time data and information acquisition. Courtesy of Teledyne FLIR.

Teledyne FLIR will work with partners to develop software that allows chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) hazards to be precisely located, measured, and mapped for viewing within the tactical assault kit (TAK) suite of tools. The threat map will be visualized in a see-through augmented reality display by those running TAK on their electronics, as well as by futuristic HUD devices such as the Integrated Visualization Augmentation System (IVAS).

Funded out of DTRA’s Digital Battlespace Management office, the program’s goal is to provide improved real-time CBRN situational awareness and enable TAK users to see and avoid chemical and biological hazards. The project also will allow individuals equipped with IVAS to visualize chem-bio threats and to receive real-time decision support when performing reconnaissance and decontamination missions. Additionally, the program further lays the artificial intelligence and augmented reality (AR) groundwork for the Army’s autonomous decontamination efforts.

The contract will fund development of a mission-flexible prototype consisting of networked chem-bio sensors and AR visualization tools that DTRA will evaluate over the course of several events, according to Teledyne FLIR. The award comprises a 12-month base period, three 12-month options, and other optional tasks. Work will be performed at Teledyne FLIR’s Pittsburgh site.