Lumetrics, a manufacturer of precision noncontact thickness measurement and noncontact optical inspection systems, was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Army Research Lab. Under the contract, Lumetrics will ensure the quality development of transparent armor (TA) products, such as ballistic and blast-resistant glass.

The goal of the SBIR project is to assess the manufacturing quality of new TA windows, predict the failure of existing TA, and extend the service life of TA. Lumetrics will advance its multispectral low-coherence measurement interferometer (MS-LCI) by combining it with machine vision and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor that will detect and predict material degradation and delamination.

TA products protect active-duty personnel. As a result, manufacturing quality, consistent material composition, and material longevity are critical.

Advanced integrated solid-state multiwavelength sources will increase the sensitivity and robustness of the MS-LCI technology. Real-time simulations of TA materials will also shed light on root causes and possible remediation methods.

The highly tuned sensing technology will provide new approaches to predict TA failure, test TA manufacturing processes, and ultimately create new manufacturing methods that increase TA’s longevity.

“It makes good sense that the DOD has selected Lumetrics as their metrology partner for transparent armor,” said Tom Battley, executive director of the New York Photonics and the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster. “I can see plenty of other opportunities for using Lumetrics’ innovative technology for measuring other transparent/translucent components such as conformal and freeform windows.”

Lumetrics’ contract is expected to end in July 2023.