An Enhanced Optical Sensor Instrumentation System to Improve the Survivability of Armored Vehicles

The Optical Warhead Lethality Sensor Suite (OWLSS) was designed specifically for tracking dense, fast fragment fields generated in warhead arena testing. OWLSS is an optimized hardware/software solution for measuring correlated properties of detonating warhead fragment distributions. The OWLSS automated track algorithm returns time-dependent 3D position, velocity, size, aerodynamic drag, and mass estimates for each fragment tracked. These data products fill a significant gap in our ability to characterize munitions for weapon effectiveness modeling. Furthermore, the system is modular and can be reconfigured for many tracking applications. In this paper, we present an overview of legacy arena measurement techniques, an overview of the OWLSS optical tracking approach, and we discuss how OWLSS can be employed to collect test data needed to improve the survivability of armored vehicles.

Citation: J. P. Burke, Jr, J. Roe, S. F. Henke, B. P. Walker, W. Koons, “An Enhanced Optical Sensor Instrumentation System to Improve the Survivability of Armored Vehicles”, In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 11-13, 2020.