Efficient Embedded Hardware Architecture for Stabilised Tracking Sighting System of Armoured Fighting Vehicles

  • Kamlesh Verma DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008
  • Debashis Ghosh Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee - 247 667
  • Rajeev Marathe DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008
  • Avnish Kumar DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008
Keywords: Hardware architecture, Target detection, Target tracking, Video stabilisation, Visual surveillance

Abstract

A line-of-sight stabilised sighting system, capable of target tracking and video stabilisation is a prime requirement of any armoured fighting tank vehicle for military surveillance and weapon firing. Typically, such sighting systems have three prime electro-optical sensors i.e. day camera for viewing in day conditions, thermal camera for night viewing and eye-safe laser range finder for obtaining the target range. For laser guided missile firing, additional laser target designator may be a part of sighting system. This sighting system provides necessary parameters for the fire control computer to compute ballistic offsets to fire conventional ammunition or fire missile. System demands simultaneous interactions with electro-optical sensors, servo sensors, actuators, multi-function display for man-machine interface, fire control computer, logic controller and other sub-systems of tank. Therefore, a complex embedded electronics hardware is needed to respond in real time for such system. An efficient electronics embedded hardware architecture is presented here for the development of this type of sighting system. This hardware has been developed around SHARC 21369 processor and FPGA. A performance evaluation scheme is also presented for this sighting system based on the developed hardware.

Author Biographies

Kamlesh Verma, DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

Mr Kamlesh Verma received BE (ECE) from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, in 2001 and MTech from IIT Kanpur in 2010. Currently he is pursuing PhD from IIT Roorkee. He is serving as a senior Scientist in DRDO- Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun. His research area of interest is design and development of embedded hardware for line-of-sight stabilisation technology, computer vision, image and video processing.

Debashis Ghosh, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee - 247 667

Prof. D. Ghosh received BE (Electronics & Communication Engg.) from Malaviya National Inst. of Tech. (erstwhile Malaviya Regional Engg College), Jaipur, in 1993, and MS and PhD in Communication Engg. from IISc Bangalore, in 1996 and 2000, respectively. He is currently Professor & Head in the Dept. of Electronics & Communication Engg., IIT Roorkee. His teaching and research interests include communication systems, signal processing, image/video processing, computer vision, and pattern recognition.

Rajeev Marathe, DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

Mr Rajeev Marathe obtained his BE (ECE) from Madhav Institute of Technology & Science (Jiwaji University), Gwalior, in 1988 and MTech (Electrical Engineering) from IIT Kanpur, in 1997. Presently, he is chief designer of Payload Stabilisation Division in DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun. He has been working in the area of line-of-sight stabilisation and electro-optical fire control systems for land, naval and airborne applications. He bagged the ‘DRDO Young Scientist of the Year award’- 2000 for developing new technologies and devices for defense applications.

Avnish Kumar, DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

Mr Avnish Kumar received his BTech (ECE) and MTech (Electronics Engineering) from IIT Roorkee. Currently, he is working Scientist in DRDO-Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun and is guiding a team of scientists for the design and development of LOS stabilisation, electro-optical surveillance, and fire-control systems for various platforms.

Published
2019-04-30
How to Cite
Verma, K., Ghosh, D., Marathe, R., & Kumar, A. (2019). Efficient Embedded Hardware Architecture for Stabilised Tracking Sighting System of Armoured Fighting Vehicles. Defence Science Journal, 69(3), 208-216. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.69.14414
Section
Special Issue Papers

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