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Innovations In Electro-Optical Camouflage PROJECT CHAMELEO Richard N. Schowengerdt Lev I. Berger

PROPRIETARY - SENSITIVE -. Project Chameleo. Approved for public released; distribution is unlimited. Innovations In Electro-Optical Camouflage PROJECT CHAMELEO Richard N. Schowengerdt Lev I. Berger Joint Venture - Questant Enterprises, Costa Mesa, California

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Innovations In Electro-Optical Camouflage PROJECT CHAMELEO Richard N. Schowengerdt Lev I. Berger

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  1. PROPRIETARY - SENSITIVE - Project Chameleo Approved for public released; distribution is unlimited Innovations In Electro-Optical Camouflage PROJECT CHAMELEO Richard N. Schowengerdt Lev I. Berger Joint Venture - Questant Enterprises, Costa Mesa, California California Institute of Electronics & Materials Science, Hemet, California Presented At 2005 MSS Parallel Symposium 14-18 Feb 2005

  2. Project Chameleo Why Is The Chameleon Our Mascot? The lizard of the genus Chameleo possesses the remarkable ability of changing color to blend in with the background - this ability is related to the temperature of the background objects and emotional state of the chameleon Chameleon photo courtesy of Barnaby Bigglesworth site at http://members.aol.com/biggies79/Page1.html

  3. Background and State-of-the-art in Visual Camouflage • Recent developments in microchip sensor and display technology • now make it feasible to cloak physical objects at reasonable cost • Concealment of object by providing the illusion of transparency • Law enforcement and military applications • Protection of national resources such as industrial facilities • Reduction of security forces • Variable reflectivity of certain components could help • to heat or cool a facility • Environmental enhancement of office spaces by projecting • artificial scenes on the walls without the need for windows Project Chameleo

  4. Project Chameleo • The dream of invisibility has long been a subject of fiction • and sometimes fact and fiction have been commingled • i.e. in the “The Philadelphia Experiment” 1 • The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, 1897, movie 1933 • The Shadow Radio Program, 1936-54 • Startrek TV Program, 1980 & On • The Predator, 1987 • Memoirs of An Invisible Man, 1992 • Die Another Day, 2002 • The dream may soon become a reality with advancement • of technology - New devices and materials such as active-pixel • sensor/display units and nonspecular composite skins

  5. Project Chameleo Object Being Concealed Behind Shield With Background Projected On Shield 2

  6. Project Chameleo Exploded View Of Basic Concept Legend 10 - Cloaking System 12 - Digital Signal Processor 14 - Background 16 - Sensor or Camera 18 - Background Image Matrix 20 - Data Bus 22 - Synthetic Image Matrix 24 - Shield or Display 26 - Synthetic Image 28 - Direction of Observation 30 - Object Concealed

  7. Project Chameleo Synthetic Digital Image of Object Concealed Behind TV

  8. Project Chameleo Project Yehudi Revisited During WWII the visual concealment of a dive bomber by using a series of lights along its leading edges was conceived: a few seconds deception would be enough to enable the bomber to release its depth charges and destroy a surfaced submarine before the submarine was able to submerge

  9. Project Chameleo • Where are we today? • Need adaptive camouflage as present methods are • generally limited to painting, coloring, and/or contour shaping • Unclassified Public Literature Sources Only • Project Yehudi during WWII • Electrochromatic paints on a Warthog in the 1990s • Project Chameleo at AOC Fiestacrow in 1993 3 & APS Centennial • in 1999 4 • JPL disclosure of active-pixel sensor/display in 2000 5 • Professor Susumu Tachi Tokyo University • in 2003, “The Invisible Man” 6 • Army Natick Soldier Center (NSC) - Future Warrior’s • suit will exhibit a “chameleonic” change to blend in with • the background 7

  10. Technology Shield Processor Sensor Data Bus P LOM OE LCD * DG CCDC DG 1 5 PT FOM DG FO FO 3 15 HG HGP DG FO FO 4 25 Project Chameleo Table I - Suggested Alternative Developmental Technologies Relative Performance and Maturity Levels OE LCD * DG SD DG 2 10 Combinations of above could vary depending upon circumstances * Other current shields (displays) are electroluminescent and plasma Legend OE – Optoelectronic, DG – Digital, PT – Photonic, LCD - Liquid Crystal Display CCDC = Charge-Coupled Device Camera SD = Sensor/Display FO = Fiber-OpticFOM = Fiber Optic Matrix HG = HolographicHGP = Holographic Projection P = Performance 1 = Low 2 = Medium 3 = High 4 = Highest LOM = Level of achievable maturity by year post 2005 - Related to below eras Immediate < 5 yearsNear Term - 2010-2020Far Term - 2020-2040

  11. Project Chameleo Spiral Development Most Economical Way To Achieve Goals Cost $ B Traditional Development High cost early on Staged Increments to allow technology growth and take advantage of commercial developments Efficient learning curve 3 • Police & • Combat • platforms 2 • Rudimentary • moving platforms 1 • Stationary platforms • Immediate low risk applications - Environmental enhancement Years 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 4

  12. Project Chameleo Oil Well Island In Long Beach, California Present Condition Environmentally Camouflaged By Artificial Buildings Some Immediate Applications - 2005 - 2009

  13. Project Chameleo Some Immediate Applications - 2005 – 2009 ROM Estimates – Architect/Engineer/Construction/Material costs – 2005 Dollars Depends upon area to cover, distance, pixel size, etc. Oil well island camouflaged by 8 Chameleo screens - add one or two more and the island disappears Screens could also be used for artificial scenery if desired ROM Est. - $300-450K

  14. Project Chameleo Some Immediate Applications - 2005 - 2009 Actual outdoor scene or artificial scene such as crashing waves projected on the wall - complete with soft sound of waves if desired Environmental Office Enhancement ROM Est. - $30-50K per wall depending on size

  15. Project Chameleo • Some Near-Term (2010--2020) Applications • 5 years from today a working prototype could be made available • ROM Estimates – Nonrecurring Development Costs Only - 2005 Dollars • Portable Shield For Urban Warfare - Medium Risk - $500K-700K • Portable Garage - Medium Risk - $600-800K • Covert Command & Control Center - Medium Risk - $1-1.5B • Covert Security Outposts - Medium Risk - $700K-$1B • Disappearing Car - Single Plane Only Test Bed - $300K-500K • Needed for technology transition to moving platforms • Covert Balloon Transport - Medium To High Risk - $700K-$1B

  16. Portable Shield For Urban Warfare Military Camouflage Application Captain, I don’t see anything except a tall building and a red car over there... Observer line of sight Digital Processor Camera Enemy Observer Portable Shield - Could be either flat or semicircular screen depending upon distance to observer and other tactical considerations Project Chameleo

  17. The Portable GarageCovert BalloonTransport 28 Observers from any direction will see the scene directly opposite them in wide angle mode - Numbers above keyed to chart below Project Chameleo

  18. Project Chameleo 24 - Shield Display 16 - Sensors Shield sections slide open for satellite operations and close when threats appear 30 - Command & Control Center Satellite Comm . Side View Sphere boundary edge and mismatch shown for emphasis – as shield is activated initial mismatch occurs followed by perfect matching with forest background Top View Spherical Dome Covering Covert Command & Control Center In Mountainous Forest Area

  19. Retractable Hook Assembly For airlifting by helicopter Two-man Cylindrical Outpost One Man Rectangular Outpost Covert Security Outposts Project Chameleo

  20. Project Chameleo Disappearing Car - Test Bed SIMULATION ONLY

  21. Project Chameleo Cloaking System Is Activated SIMULATION ONLY

  22. Project Chameleo Car Disappears SIMULATION ONLY

  23. Project Chameleo • Some Far-Term (2020-2040) Applications • High Risk Moving Platforms • ROM Estimates – Nonrecurring Development Costs Only – 2005 Dollars • Most economical approach would be through spiral development, • from stationary to moving platforms, with increasing difficulty • DuoUnit Stalker Police Vehicle – $2-2.5B • LQD Liquidator For Military Penetration - $5-10B

  24. Project Chameleo DuoUnit Stalker LQD Liquidator For Military Penetration Police Vehicle Advanced Tactical Vehicles

  25. Project Chameleo • Inherent Physical Problems With Cloaking An Object • Parametrical design considerations • Resolution Factors • Parallax, View angle and range dependency, Tilt angle, and • Perspective • Reflections and Glint • Parameters were treated in depth by Schowengerdt and Schweizer in • 1993 8 - Parallax is most critical and is summarized below and on next page • Angular resolution, A, is basically a function of the wavelength, , • and the diameter, d, of the observer’s aperture (A = /d ) •  = 500 nm for the effective central wavelength of visible light • For human eye, A = 1 minute of arc = 0.0003 radian • For 10 inch (25 cm) diameter telescope, A = 0.000002 radian • Minimum range of an object necessary to escape detection is a • function of the observer’s resolution, distance of the object from the • observer, the distance of the object from the background, and lateral • motion of the observer necessary to detect the target 9 (See next • page)

  26. Project Chameleo B Parallax Problem Using the trigonometric relationships below one may solve for various factors. For example, if an observer with naked eye moves his head laterally by only 1 foot, he will be unable to distinguish a camouflaged object from a background 10 feet behind it, provided that the concealed object is at a range of more than 180 feet from the observer. If the background object is 20 feet behind the object, then the range from the concealed object to the observer must be at least 250 feet. If the observer has a ten-inch telescope, then the minimum ranges become 2,200 and 3,200 feet respectively D Φ\ h T C L R ά O x X X = minimum lateral motion of observer necessary to detect target R = distance or range from observer to target D = distance from target to background plane T = position of target (concealed object) B = location of object in background plane behind target when observer is at Origin (O) O = original position of observer before moving to X

  27. Project Chameleo Fragility, Reflections, and Glint Reflections from sun and ambient light will reveal presence of cloaked object Also, most current displays are very fragile - Need to develop a tough composite nonspecular shield that absorbs rays from the sun and ambient light - could also be combined with radar & sonar absorbent coatings - material should be amorphous and porous, similar in appearance to anechoic chamber material Estimated near term achievement (2010-2020) Example Only - Inactivated state color should be close to background color - When activated surface first glitters, then becomes invisible Sensor/Display modules could be embedded within porous openings and coated with radar & sonar absorbent materials

  28. Project Chameleo Design, development, test & evaluation problems associated with stationary platforms beyond 1,000 feet Design, development, test & evaluation problems associated with moving platforms beyond 1,000 feet Probability of detection R Probability of detection using special sensors using special sensors beyond 1,000 feet for beyond 1,000 feet for stationary cloaked moving cloaked objects Y objects G Probability of Probability of detection with detection with naked eye beyond naked eye beyond 1,000 feet for 1,000 feet for stationary cloaked moving cloaked G Y R objects objects Risk Identification 5 4 3 Likelihood 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 Consequence Low Moderate High

  29. Project Chameleo Risk Mitigation Risks A. Limit near-term designs to scenarios where distance from observer to cloaked object is 1,000 feet or more and distance from cloaked object to background is 100 feet or less – Use nonspecular shield material to reduce glint. This will result in reducing these risks to green B. (1) Choose optimum pixel size, type, and shape; (2) Consider monochromatic, mottled, or dazzled patterns in lieu of actual back- ground; (3) Employ software control to blur or fuzz the edges of the cloaked object to reduce the probability of edge detection (4) Reduce distance from the cloaked object to the background to 50 feet or less Such measures should reduce the risk of being detected by an aided observer to yellow Physical Design Considerations Resolution, view angle, range dependency, parallax, tilt angle, edge effects, and perspective; Glint from surface of Shield A. Unaided Observer (naked eye) B. Aided Observer (Telescope)

  30. Project Chameleo Risks Risk Mitigation Detection of infrared and ultraviolet radiation from cloaked object using IR or UV sensors

  31. Project Chameleo Risks Risk Mitigation • A. Careful selection of pixel size, type, and shape and • use of radar absorbent materials in the structure and • coatings over display apertures wherever possible • will reduce the radar signature. • B. Sonar and audio sensor detection can be reduced • by large amounts of padding between shield and • cloaked object. • C. In case of high threat consider sonar and radar • range gate “walk-off” techniques as well as • augmented robots to divert attention Detection of mass, sound or vibration using radar, sonar, or audio sensors Detection of spectral or polarization characteristics using color filters Radiometers Detection usingvideo strobing techniques Spectral characteristics and polarization of an object can now be simulated by the use of low energy emitters on the shield Use of asynchronous or random activation of pixels on shield will reduce this risk to green

  32. Project Chameleo • Conclusions • The dream of invisibility in the visual light spectrum can finally • become a reality through the usage of advanced sensor/display • modules, active matrix liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, • and development of nonspecular shields to reduce glint • Immediate no risk applications at reasonable costs existfor cloaking • systems for environmental enhancement such as “dressing up” • unattractive industrial facilities, introducing inspirational and • stimulating office scenery on walls, and energy savings through • security force reduction and emission control • Medium to high risk development of electro-optical camouflage is • feasible at moderate costs in the near-term (2010-2020) as a means of • sufficiently cloaking many stationary and some moving platforms • such as the Covert Balloon Transport

  33. Project Chameleo • Conclusions (Continued) • Cloaking systems will have operating limits set by the anticipated • resolution of the observer, distance from observer, distance of • object to background, lighting conditions, and required dynamic • range • The operating limits can be optimized by increased sophistication • in risk management and design. Also, artificial scenes or dazzle • patterns may be used when depiction of the actual background • poses special problems and digital algorithms may be employed to • sense such difficulties and activate appropriate scenes or patterns • In the far-term (2020-2040), high risk, high cost, development of • electro-optical cloaking systems will enable the successful • accomplishment of law enforcement and military missions that require • penetration of vehicles or equipment into dangerous areas

  34. Project Chameleo Conclusions (Continued) • Cost of far-term projects could be dramatically reduced by a time- • phased spiral development plan, progressing slowly from • stationary platforms to moving platforms of increasing size and • complexity • Ultimately, the probable success of many such missions will justify • the investments in advanced electro-optical camouflage

  35. Project Chameleo • Notes • 1. Viewzone.com Internet Magazine October 1998, The Philadelphia Experiment. • 2. Cloaking System Using Optoelectronically Controlled Camouflage, U.S. • Patent No. 5,307,162 dated 26 April 1994 by Richard N. Schowengerdt • 3. “Project Chameleo - Cloaking Using Electro-Optical Camouflage,” by • Richard N. Schowengerdt and Felix Schweizer, Association of Old Crows • Fiestacrow Symposium, San Antonio, April 1993. • 4. “Physical Aspects of Electro-Optical Camouflage,” by Richard N. • Schowengerdt and Lev I. Berger, American Physical Society Centennial, • Atlanta, March 1999. • 5. “Adaptive Camouflage,” by Philip Moynihan of Caltech & Maurice Langevin • of Tracer Round Associates, Ltd., for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. • 6. “Invisible Man, Japanese Scientist Invents Invisibility Coat,” BBC World • News Edition,18 February 2003. • 7. Future Warrior 2025 Info Paper, Mar 2001, page 6. • 8. Schowengerdt & Schweizer, pages 53-57. • 9. Ibid, page 54.

  36. Questions ?

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