JANUARY 20--Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC; Ann Arbor, MI; www.michiganaero.com) has received a $600K, two-year contract jointly funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Johnson Spaceflight Center (JSC), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop image-processing algorithms for 3-D sensors. The 3-D image-processing software and hardware will be applicable to space applications, such as autonomous rendezvous and docking of spacecraft, including the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, space situational awareness, and future Moon and Mars initiatives.
The technology also applies to other defense uses, such as face recognition, mapping, target recognition/classification, and obstacle avoidance, as well as commercial applications in the broadcast industry, gaming, and biomedical communities. MAC is an optical products and advanced engineering company that provides innovative optical, optomechanical, and mechanical systems, from conceptual design through production and implementation in the field. Its core business areas include light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems to measure the wind in the atmosphere from the ground and space, enhancing the accuracy of long-term weather forecasts; optical systems to improve the performance of manned and unmanned stealth aircraft and weapon systems; mechanisms for autonomous vehicles operating in space and undersea environments; a line of standard optical products, as well as custom optical services; and software for computer vision applications. MAC develops products for space, airborne, ground and undersea applications.
