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Description
ARDEC-Benet Laboratories' Laser and Optics Laboratory is equipped with several high-power Nd:YAG lasers, a 4-by-8-foot vibration-isolated optical table, numerous breadboards, positioners, and stages as well as OSLO lens design software for analysis and system design. The Laser and Optics Laboratory is currently being used for laser pulse heating to simulate thermal loading of gun bores during firing. Laser pulse heating can be applied to coated and uncoated metallic specimens as well as to nonmetallic specimens such as ceramics. Laser pulse heating is used both to study fundamental thermal and chemical effects relevant to gun bore erosion and to evaluate new materials and systems for potential use in gun bores. The laboratory now includes a high-pressure cell for studying the interaction of various gas environments with the materials undergoing laser pulse heating.
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Ground Based Hyperspectral ImagingGround Based Hyperspectral Imaging
ARDEC is the only DOD agency developing Hyper Spectral (HS) imaging technology to be implemented as HS scopes and binoculars for the warfighter. Development is ongoing for HS scopes that operate in the visible to near infrared (VISNIR), the midwave infrared (MWIR) and the long wave infrared (LWIR). ARDEC's VISNIR prototype system currently operates with full data processing and visualization at a rate of two data cubes per second. The next generation, nearly completed will operate at a twenty to thirty data cubes per second. Unique sensors are being developed in all three spectral ranges that will operate at up to thirty cubes per second. Data rates of ten or more cubes per second is fast enough to replace current optical and infrared scopes that provide no spectral analysis with HS scopes that provide spectral analysis to discern and separate targets from background, greatly aiding the warfighter in detecting and tracking targets. The next generation sensors are being designed to operate without cooling, to use very little electric power, and to weigh little more than optical scopes. ARDEC's method of extracting meaningful information from the massive data cube and displaying it for instantaneous comprehension by the soldier is unique and key to the success of HS imaging.