A method, apparatus and program product are provided for simplifying electro-optical imaging data. Spectral/temporal data is received. The spectral/temporal data is formulated into a vector/matrix. Feature extraction analysis is performed. At least two largest principal components are determined from the feature extraction analysis. A cluster diagram is created from the at least two largest principal components. A distance metric is evaluated from the cluster diagram. And, a largest metric is selected based on the distance metric.

Method and apparatus for simultaneous synthetic aperture radar and moving target detection. A plurality of independent radio frequency signals are generated and applied to separate radiating/receiving antenna elements. Signals are generated as basis functions, such that moving target detection and synthetic aperture radar signals are constructed from individual waveform components in space, time, frequency, and coding. Waveform components are sorted and combined at reception. Received data is simultaneously processed to extract synthetic aperture radar images and moving target indication detections.

Methods for producing wide-band planar array antenna designs and antenna corresponding thereto.

Method and apparatus for minimizing antenna backside signal response and ambiguity in low frequency applications, particularly low frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Various time delay elements are selectably switched into the signal path so as to cause a null to be placed in the antenna response pattern in the direction of undesired radar returns. The means for selectably switching may be dithered so as to introduce modulation onto the undesired radar return to aid in the discrimination and removal of the undesired radar return from the SAR image during post processing.

A waste management and resource recovery system that uses the different waste streams from typical waste sources as fuel or feedstock for its subsystems that, in turn, produce fuel, feedstock or energy for other subsystems such that all the different waste streams are effectively managed. The subsystems include a gas burner for solid and fuel wastes that supplies heat to a hydrothermal processor for saccharification of paper and cardboard. The resulting saccharification broth, along with kitchen wastes and blackwater, are supplied to a bioreactor using dark fermentation to produce hydrogen and volatile fatty acids. The hydrogen and volatile fatty acids are supplied to hydrogen and microbial fuel cells to produce electrical energy for operating the system and potable water. A steam accumulator is added to provide sufficient temperatures and pressures to reach the necessary thermodynamic states for the saccharification process. An enzymatic saccharification processor may also improve the saccharification process.

The invention provides methods to manufacture dense, complex c-axis oriented ceramic oxide layers with thickness greater than 2.5 microns ( mu m) on a metallic substrate (composites) without the use of an interfacial barrier, buffer, or surface layer using a metalorganic deposition process and thermomechanical reaction treatments is disclosed. A porous amorphous metal oxide ceramic deposit is formed directly on the substrate by spray pyrolyzing a mixed metalorganic precursor solution onto the metallic substrate. The metallic substrate has been previously heated to temperatures greater than the boiling point of the organic solvent and are high enough to initiate in situ decomposition of the metalorganic precursor salts. The process does not apply the precursor solution to the substrate as a liquid coating that is pyrolyzed in subsequent processing steps. The resultant porous amorphous oxide deposit is processed into a dense amorphous ceramic, or a fully crystallized c-axis oriented ceramic through a series of mechanical compression and short reaction treatments that are used to crystallize the amorphous ceramic layer. The inventive method applies to making complex ceramic oxides including superconducting compositions of bismuth cuprate ceramic, piezoelectric or insulating compositions. The composites so produced are useful in devices that include ceramic sputtering targets, heat shields, electrically conducting wires, magnetic solenoids, electromagnetic shielding, and energy storage devices. The invention also provides the ceramic-metal composites so made.

A method of controlling wing position and velocity for a flapping wing air vehicle provides six-degrees-of-freedom movement for the aircraft through a split-cycle constant-period frequency modulation with wing bias method that generates time-varying upstroke and downstroke wing position commands for wing planforms to produce nonharmonic wing flapping trajectories that generate non-zero, cycle averaged wing drag and alter the location of the cycle-averaged center of pressure of the wings relative to the center of gravity of the aircraft to cause horizontal translation forces, rolling moments and pitching moments of the aircraft.

A method and apparatus are provided for automatically assessing a resolution of an optical sensor. An image is obtained from the sensor. The obtained image is thresholded to generate a binary image of black and white pixels using a first threshold value. A target area is selected from the binary image. The first threshold value is increased to generate a second threshold value. The target is thresholded using the second threshold value. At least one pixel is tagged at a center of the target area. Pixels surrounding a tagged pixel are processed, tagging white pixels. If a tagged pixel is at an edge of the target area, an orientation of an object in the target area is determined based on that edge. And, if no pixel is tagged at the edge of the target area, the second threshold value is decreased and the thresholding, tagging, and processing steps are repeated.

A system and method are provided for assessing a resolution of an optical sensor. An image is obtained from the optical sensor. A target area is selected from the image. The selected area is subjected to a thresholding process to generate a binary image. Pixels at a center of the binary image are tagged. The remaining pixels of the binary image are looped through, where pixels that are not already tagged, are touching a tagged pixel, and are of the same color of previously tagged pixels are tagged. A plurality of distances associated with each corner of the binary image is calculated from the corner to the nearest tagged pixel in a row or column of pixels. At least two shortest distances of the calculated plurality of distances are selected to determine an orientation of an object defined by the tagged pixels in the generated binary image.

A moving platform to moving target relative locating apparatus using long baseline interferometer algorithm measurements and signal time difference of arrival data to operate the algorithm. Signal delays measuring in a few picoseconds are used in plural interferometer algorithms to determine straight-line vector paths between moving platform and moving target. Self-calibration of the picosecond time difference of arrival signal paths is provided. Use of the invention to passively locate a moving target in azimuth elevation and range from a moving aircraft using either aircraft-mounted or aircraft-tethered radio frequency signal antennas and a single pulse of received data is also included.