Bodkin Design wins Navy SBIR to build compact hyperspectral camera

Bodkin Design & Engineering has been selected for a U.S. Navy SBIR contract to develop a battery-operated MWIR hyperspectral video camera for naval reconnaissance. The project aims to shrink spectral sensing hardware while improving real-time target detection in cluttered environments.

Why it matters: - The Navy wants faster spectral imaging that can distinguish targets in real time, even with background noise and clutter. - A smaller, lower-power hyperspectral camera could expand field use on handheld gear and mobile platforms. - The same sensing approach could carry into civilian markets such as manufacturing, environmental monitoring, agriculture, and medical imaging.

What happened: - Bodkin Design & Engineering was selected for a Small Business Innovation Research contract by the U.S. Navy. - The company will use its patented compressive sensing technology to develop a compact, battery-operated Mid-Wave Infrared hyperspectral video camera. - The system is designed to be handheld or mounted on mobile platforms.

The details: - The camera is intended to provide real-time target discrimination and detection. - The proposed system will capture high-definition spectral datacubes at video rates. - BD&E says the system will deliver hundreds of times more detailed spectral data than current commercial options. - The company says the design will dramatically reduce size and power needs compared with traditional hyperspectral systems. - Traditional hyperspectral systems are described as bulky, heavy and slow, and can take minutes to capture a single datacube. - BD&E says the developed system will be the smallest, lowest-power MWIR hyperspectral camera ever built. - The MWIR spectral region is useful for analyzing hydrocarbons, including plastics and products of combustion. - The MWIR range is also useful for monitoring pollutants such as natural gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other gas emissions. - The compressive sensing technology will also be adapted to Visible, Near, Short Wave and Long Wave Infrared wavelength ranges.

Between the lines: - The Navy award signals demand for more portable sensing tools that can work in complex operational environments. - If the system performs as planned, the main advance is not just image quality but speed, size and power efficiency together. - The broad list of civilian use cases suggests BD&E is positioning the platform as a multi-market imaging technology, not only a defense program.

What's next: - BD&E will develop the camera under the Navy SBIR program. - The company expects the improved spatial and spectral resolution to support uses in precision agriculture, mining, petroleum exploration, environmental monitoring, emergency response, forensic analysis, food processing and medical imaging. - Bodkin Design says its broader work in imaging spectroscopy continues from its Newton, Massachusetts base, where it has operated since 1992. - More information is available on the company's website. - Bodkin Design also shared social links for LinkedIn and Facebook.

The bottom line: - The Navy-backed project is aimed at making hyperspectral imaging small, fast and power-efficient enough for field deployment.