AGILE Capability Overview
AGILE is an advanced image-exploitation software plug-in which Areté has demonstrated in real time with archived data and is ready for integration into current ground stations. AGILE open architecture is compatible with existing ISR systems and provides enhanced targeting and surveillance capabilities while delivering intelligence from imagery.
Current tactical ISR platforms’ raw video feeds have demonstrated considerable utility in many operational scenarios. However, the full utility of the real-time data is degraded by image jitter, platform-generated field of view (FOV) motion, changing video perspective, and a lack of precision geolocation. These factors preclude the human observer from fully comprehending all the relevant activity in the scene and prevent the system from exploiting the full operational capabilities of the sensor. Advanced image exploitation software applied to raw imagery can be processed in real time to deliver stabilized, enhanced, and georegistered imagery to the operator. The software allows the viewer to fully comprehend and appropriately respond in highly dynamic situations and allows the system to extract targeting information from the sensor.
FOV stabilization: Whether the ISR system is a Wide Field of View (FOV) camera mounted on a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), a Medium FOV camera mounted on a Micro-Electro Mechanical Sensor (MEMS) stabilized gimbal, or an Ultra Narrow FOV EO camera on a gimbal with a precision Fiber Optic Gyro, the operator’s desire for high-resolution imagery drives tactical electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) system designs to the edges of stability performance. The full motion video ends up with frame-to-frame jitter. This jitter distracts the eye, tires the operator, and interferes with full comprehension of the situational awareness. Areté’s AGILE software uses a mathematically rigorous process to determine the homography matrix between every frame. This approach allows frame-to-frame accuracies to a small fraction of a pixel (typically 1/10 of a pixel).
Figure 1: Georegistration and North-centering
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Georegistration and North-centered projection: Current systems cannot hold the sensor FOV steady so that moving objects in the FOV readily stand out to the operator’s naked eye. AGILE holds the background stationary and orients the imagery such that North is up. By presenting the imagery in this way, we help the operator quickly become oriented with the imagery as if it were presented on a map. By stabilizing the imagery, the operator can more quickly assess the observed scene. Movement within the scene is easily observed against a stationary background. Objects in the background can be identified with more precision. Figure 1 illustrates how the rotating image can be North-Centered for improved situational awareness.
Image enhancement: Current systems do not provide the capability to enhance downlinked images for enhanced analysis. AGILE includes local area contrast correction, color correction, and image sharpening. These capabilities can be valuable depending on the imaging system and the environment in which the imagery is collected. Shadows or haze within the scene can make it difficult for an operator to exploit all the imagery. Local area contrast correction allows the operator to pull valuable information from within the shadow regions while continuing to monitor the rest of the scene.
BEFORE AFTER
After Real-Time Local Contrast Enhancement
Optical Moving Target Indication (OMTI): Some current EO/IR systems provide automated multiple moving-target indication to assist the operator in detecting multiple, small, low-contrast targets in a large FOV. However, these systems use intensity thresholds to detect and maintain track and are prone to loss of "lock." AGILE uses a mathematically rigorous approach that robustly provides automatic identification and tracking of very low contrast moving targets within the full motion video. This feature can be coupled with a Virtual Trip Wire (VTW) which allows an operator to define a perimeter around a point in the FOV. When the perimeter is crossed, the VTW will alert the operator that the event has occurred. Figure 2 provides an example of automatic target tracking in a large FOV. The blue markers are maintaining track on individual cars driving through the Catalina foothills in Tucson, Arizona.
Figure 2 - Automatic, multiple, small-target tracking in a large FOV.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM): Current EO/IR systems cannot provide DEM from imagery. AGILE can automatically generate DEMs as the sensor orbits an area of interest. This information can provide situational awareness that would not otherwise be readily available to the war fighter. Figure 3 provides an example of a DEM which is derived from corresponding imagery and provides the operator with important topographical information for operational planning.
Figure 3. - Digital Elevation Maps (DEM)