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Company

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PATHFINDER SYSTEMS INC

Address

12567 W CEDAR DR STE 150
LAKEWOOD, CO, 80228-2009
USA

View website

UEI: JUBLBDL8GBZ1

Number of Employees: 7

HUBZone Owned: No

Woman Owned: Yes

Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No

SBIR/STTR Involvement

Year of first award: 1993

Phase I Awards

Phase II Awards

54.55%

Conversion Rate

$1,060,387

Phase I Dollars

$6,392,521

Phase II Dollars

$7,452,908

Total Awarded

Awards

Up to 10 of the most recent awards are being displayed. To view all of this company's awards, visit the Award Data search page.

SLANT - Stealthy Long-range Acquisition of Non-cooperating Targets

Amount: $1,245,000 Topic: AFX244-DPCSO1

Pathfinder Systems, Inc. is proposing a project for Stealthy Long-range Acquisition of Non-cooperating Targets (SLANT). In this project, we will demonstrate using an onboard, passive Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensor system to solve the real and persistent military requirement to counter increasingly ôradar stealthyö threat aircraft. Our solution increases the effectiveness of current EO/IR sensors while reducing form factor and SWaP. SLANT uses a novel hybrid solution to perform state vector tracking, trajectory prediction, and range estimates of non-cooperating targets from an MWIR cameraĺs output video stream in real-time. Pathfinderĺs algorithms are sensor agnostic and unique in integrating data from numerous sensor feeds. Working with Draken International, LLC, we will install the SLANT sensor in a captive AIM-9 sidewinder missile flown on various aircraft. The images provided by the sensor will be processed by the SLANT hardware/software suite, resulting in real-time target state vector updates, which will be provided to the pilot. We anticipate conducting up to 40 test flights in total. This SBIR addresses the immediate need for threat replication for USAF, DoD, and Contractor Air Services (CAS) aggressors. We will demonstrate that we can increase the range of commercially available MWIR and significantly extend MWIR native detection capability by applying our hybrid software solution that combines AI with algorithmic techniques. We will also demonstrate that we can provide a completely passive real-time range to target using a modified MWIR in an AIM-9 body. Our solution will work on single aerial platforms and in swarms. The single-platform solution uses a virtual software twin of the camera sensor to generate a virtual baseline for distance estimation. In addition to the funding sought from the SBIR program, Draken International will provide two AIM-9 missiles and 40 flight tests on their fleet of aggressor aircraft, while Sierra Olympia is providing the Ventus Hot 300 MWIR to use as our baseline sensor. This represents a significantáinvestment to prototype and test an improved IRST capability. We aim to test SLANT (currently at TRL 6) in a realistic air-to-air environment to verify our solution and determine if we can meet the 30 NM passive detection goal for the proposed effort and reach TRL 7.

SBIR

Phase II

2024

DOD

USAF

Digital Engineering for Edge Systems (DEES)

Amount: $999,978 Topic: AF203-DCSO3

Pathfinder Systems, Inc. (PSI) proposes a Direct-to-Phase II initial project with the acronym DEES - (Digital Engineering for Edge Systems) to explore and demonstrate in a laboratory environment a concept based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learn

SBIR

Phase II

2021

DOD

USAF

NAVY TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATION (2) -On-board Real-time Situational Awareness (ORSA)

Amount: $149,891 Topic: N193-A01

Pathfinder Systems proposes a combination of deep and shallow neural nets to provide autonomous situation recognition and appropriate response by Unmanned Air Systems while in flight.

SBIR

Phase I

2020

DOD

NAVY

Demonstration of Automated Collision Avoidance System (DACAS)

Amount: $139,996 Topic: N192-088

The Navy, along with other military forces, is transitioning to operations which increasingly rely on the integration of unmanned air systems. Pathfinder Systems Inc. proposes an affordable, fully passive collision avoidance system to be installed on-board both manned and unmanned aircraft to improve airspace management, including the reduction of labor-intensive practices. 360° continuous video coverage is coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to identify aircraft and other hazards to navigation. DACAS ( Demonstration of Automated Collision Avoidance System) identifies potential collisions through the implementation of high-resolution miniature cameras, and Deep Neural Networks trained to detect and track objects, then gives real-time data on board the flight. We currently have a flight-tested working prototype that was accepted by the US Air Force in March 2019. The efforts from this $2.7M investment from the USAF along with our own $500K IRAD investment will both aid in furthering this system. Because of the development effort invested in this prototype, we have eliminated a significant amount of the technical risk associated with this technology and have a solid foundation to move forward with a solution that meets the US Navy’s specific needs.

SBIR

Phase I

2020

DOD

NAVY

Affordable, Reconfigurable Aerial Refueling Part-Task Trainer

Amount: $80,000 Topic: N102-124

We propose to research and develop refueling training for aircraft (including fixed wing, helicopter and tilt rotor) using the probe and drogue refueling system. We will train the pilots of the receiver aircraft; the refueling aircraft will be automatically simulated. We will compare three visual technologies: Two-dimensional large field-of-view projection; Three-dimensional large field-of-view projection; and Three-dimensional head-mounted displays. One of these technologies will be selected for development. The training will take place only in the air, that is training sessions will start with initial conditions of both refueling and receiver aircraft already flying at approximately the same altitude. The trainer will accommodate the simulation of challenging environments including night, high turbulence and crowded airspace conditions. Flight controls and displays of the receiver aircraft will be limited to those necessary to perform pre-refuel positioning, approach, contact, refueling and termination of refueling mission. Within the flight envelope determined by these maneuvers, the control response of the receiver in the developed trainer must be correct and precise. The research shall focus on providing an integrated set of visual and kinesthetic cues that affect aerial refueling performance. In Phase I we will show the technical feasibility of this type of trainer.

SBIR

Phase I

2010

DOD

NAVY

Cognitive Net Accurate Cultural Trainer (CONTACT)

Amount: $99,981 Topic: OSD06-CR2

Current simulation-based training systems typically support training for conventional combat operations against organized military threat and require large numbers of support personnel to operate. These systems model very limited types of Non Player Characters (NPCs) used to simulate threat forces and non-combatants. The cost and time required to expand the capability of these systems by adding new NPC types, to meet additional training needs, is prohibitive. The expense of these systems makes them largely unavailable to our military personnel at the frequency they require, where they need it. Finally, the time required to develop training scenarios is unacceptable, running into months, when even a few hours may be too long for out military personnel to wait. In this effort we will design and prototype an efficient, low-cost capability to quickly model large numbers of NPC types with the abilities to quickly input cultural aspects and traits. The resulting system will allow users to quickly create and assess NPCs that can be directly inserted into training environments that support warfighters in all echelons and across all simulation domains. The system will significantly reduce the number of personnel required to support simulation-based training events. The effort will also reduce simulation development time and cost by streamlining the NPC modeling process.

SBIR

Phase I

2007

DOD

ARMY

Marine Common Aircrew Trainer Prototype

Amount: $1,499,990 Topic: N03-190

The Marine Corps Aircrew / Crew Chief Trainer Prototype will demonstrate a common gunnery trainer for the CH-53D, CH-53E, CH-46E, UH-1N and MV-22B aircraft. The cabin configuration, armament configuration and flight dynamics model will be changeable from one aircraft to another. The trainer will use displays of a virtual environment from the USMC Common Visual database, projected onto a fixed, near-spherical projection dome. The prototype will be compatible with the USMC Common Tactical Environment Network. The prototype will be built for later addition of a motion base system that is designed for the large center-of-gravity changes typical of aircrew trainers. The gunnery trainer will also be convertible to an external load handling trainer. The prototype will be able to fly either in a stand-alone mode, or driven by a Marine Corps flight simulator / cockpit trainer.

SBIR

Phase II

2007

DOD

NAVY

Innovative Near Space (High Altitude Air) Platform Technologies

Amount: $99,998 Topic: AF06-241

An innovative integration of aerodynamic, structural, propulsion and automated flight management technologies is proposed to start development of a long-persistence aerial vehicle that can serve the Air Force's intelligenc,reconnaissance, surveillance (ISR) and other missions that require a seven-day-a-week, twentyfour-hours-per-day coverage capability at 65,000 ft. and higher altitudes. The key to this concept, ATLAS, or Advanced Technology Long-endurance Aerial Surveillance is as much in the four component technologies, as in their innovative integration into a practical system. It is envisioned that an individual surveillance are of several hundred thousand square kilometers could be covered by a single pair of ATLAS vehicles, or five such areas could be covered by an ATLAS squadron of 12 vehicles, including spares.

SBIR

Phase I

2006

DOD

USAF

Prototype Aviation Combat Crew Trainer (PACCT)

Amount: $1,747,460 Topic: N03-190

Pathfinder Systems, Inc. will research, develop and demonstrate a Prototype Aviation Combat Crew Trainer (PACCT). The design of PACCT will focus on providing an aircrew trainer for the H-60 class of aircraft, especially the Army's UH-60 helicopters. The design will be applicable to the Navy's MH-60S helicopters as well. This prototype will demonstrate selected aircrew training tasks specified for the Army’s Combat Crew Trainer System Requirements Document. Its design will be deployable, compatible with transportation in 20-ft ISO containers, and the training device will fit into an expandable shelter. The PACCT design will include technology that is transferable to other aircraft, especially to the CH-47 helicopter, but also including aircraft used by Marine Corps medium and heavy lift squadrons, that is the MV-22, CH-46E and CH-53E.

SBIR

Phase II

2005

DOD

NAVY

Personal Computer (PC)-Based Aircraft Training System and Visualization Tool

Amount: $100,000

A PC-based training system will provide a low-cost alternative to the use of full-capability flight simulators and actual aircraft in aiding student pilots in Undergraduate Pilot Training to acquire critical pattern and radio procedure skills. The systemwill simulate the characteristics of the JPATS T-6A aircraft. This low-cost training system will be compatible with desktop or laptop personal computers, either with single or multiple displays. It will operate in multiple modes. It can be used as adesktop flight simulator and procedures trainer. It can also operate in a tutorial mode. In the flight simulator mode it will be able to use not only multiple displays by a single computer, but also side-by-side networked laptop computers, each providing aportion of a panoramic view. It will be implemented as an add-on to an existing desktop flight simulator. It will provide speech understanding by an emulated control tower to aid the student in practicing radio skills. Improves efficiency of UPT trainingwhile simultaneously reducing training costs.

SBIR

Phase I

2003

DOD

USAF