IMAGE INSIGHT, INC. SBIR Phase II Award, May 2022

Adversaries may use inexpensive Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDD or “Dirty Bombs”) to execute potentially lethal attacks, disrupt military or civilian operations, or cause catastrophic economic harm. Other radiological or nuclear attacks or accidents also have devastating national security and public safety consequences. To counter this threat, Image Insight Inc. developed GammaPix technology that enables unmodified digital cameras to detect radioactive materials. This proven and commercially available (TRL-9) video analysis software technology is sold to military, public safety, and medical research sectors, and has been designated a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology under the DHS-administered SAFETY Act. Many Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams use robots to reduce the risk of death or injury to bomb disposal technicians. Unfortunately, most EOD robots do not carry radiation detection equipment, so EOD teams often do not have a way to determine if they are facing a Dirty Bomb. The aim of this project is to adapt and integrate GammaPix with these robots. This low-risk, high-reward project increases the safety and effectiveness of both military and civilian bomb disposal units by enabling every EOD robot to detect radioactive threats.  Image Insight builds and sells other video analysis software using proprietary algorithms and Machine Learning Cyber-Physical Sensing techniques. In addition to software designed to detect radioactivity, Image Insight maps ionizing radiation for public safety purposes. Another video analysis product that leverages machine learning techniques is our LaUDS™ technology, which enables unmodified security cameras to detect unmanned aerial vehicle (“drone”) threats at night using unmodified security cameras. This technology will be integrated with our GammaPix commercial products to augment force protection and intelligence-gathering capabilities and to secure public spaces to keep civilians safe from aerial threats.  USAF will greatly benefit from this technology by gaining an enhanced radiation detection capability that will keep EOD technicians better informed as they face threats.  Moreover, warfighters can use this technology when forced to fight in a nuclear-contaminated zone. The capability to avoid or fight-through a fallout zone will help improve our collective ability to deter aggression.