SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS

*This is not a Solicitation*

This Sources Sought Synopsis is published for market research purposes only, to identify potential sources capable of providing; 

The Hypercam iWME Fast system is a high-speed, hyper-spectral, thermal imaging system that operates in the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) band. This camera, and its associated software, are a substantial advancement in technology level compared to AFIT's current thermal imaging capabilities. MWIR spectral imagers are key for many remote sensing applications, including target/camouflage detection, disturbed earth detection to locate IEDs, environmental & effluent monitoring, and ground-truth data collections for other national assets. Previous AFIT experiments in these areas have relied on instruments that are far slower, and incapable of measuring dynamically changing scenes. This new capability would be both advanced enough to enable new research, but also simple enough to use in ENP's OENG 616 lab. The streamlined software interface and intuitive built-in calibration wil enable students to quite fighting against antiquated instruments and focus on learning the physics. This instrument also embodies a tremendous advancement in thermal image fidelity due to proprietary internal calibration methods that enable dynamic gain controls and on-the-fly frame-rate changes without the need to stop the experiment to recalibrate. This instrument does not have a peer competitor with comparable specifications; the fastest VGA thermal camera offers comparable speed with no spectral capability at all, while high spectral-resolution imaging spectrometers generally measure speed in seconds per frame, not frames per second. This combination of moderate spectral resolution along with extremely high speeds represent a new capability, that will immediately enable new defense-centered research and improve the results of on-going projects.