HONORS: Advanced miniature processing hardware for ATR applications

The hybrid optoelectronic neural object recognition system (HONORS), underw ay at the jet propulsion laboratory (JPL), consists of two major building b locks: (1) an advanced grayscale optical correlator (OC) and (2) a massivel y parallel, neural 3-D processor (N3DP). The OC, with its inherent advantag es in parallel processing and shift invariance, will be used for target of interest (TOI) detection and segmentation. The N3DP,with its robust neural learning capability, will be used for target classification and identificat ion. HONORS, with its powerful combination of optical processing and neural networks, will enable real-time, large frame, automatic target recognition (ATR). This paper presents the system architecture and processing algorith ms. We provide the results from simulations and experiments, including the detection, classification, and tracking of tanks and aircraft. We will also discuss the potential application of using HONORS for real-time digital pa lomar observatory survey system (DPOSS). (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.