“SharpScan” from FTL Labs Corporation is an innovative, compact, improved-angular-resolution radar that is modified to extract the Doppler shift of moving targets to create real-time Range-Doppler Maps (RDMs), employing new FPGA-enabled beam-sharpening algorithms. It is a powerful new enabling technology for small marine magnetron-based radars used in modern submarine navigation systems.

In keeping with FTL’s credo of providing engineering excellence with greater real world impact and lower operating costs, “SharpScan” will be using approaches that enable us to provide, in a substantially smaller package, precision and sensitivity that were until now only available in larger, less flexible systems. Small but powerful, “SharpScan” will meet International Electromagnetic Commission standards (IEC 62388) and regulations, requiring strict RADAR detection and resolution of small, distant, and closely spaced contacts. The resulting system will have immense flexibility for integration owing to its use of open interface standards and can be easily retrofitted onto existing platforms.

FTL brings its vast experience in embedded systems and FPGA digital signaling algorithms to “SharpScan”, stemming from current and programs at the Lab. FTL’s lead Electrical Engineer Keira Duffy has been involved in the design of FPGA based solutions for submarine based platforms for 8 years and is an expert in her field. She will be joined by FTL’s world class engineers, software developers and programmers to modify commercially available off the shelf hardware with the necessary algorithms that will achieve the goals of this project. Rounding out this “dream team” will be RF expert Dr. Hamdi Abdelbagi from the University of Dayton, the team at Raymarine who are leaders in RADAR development and L3Harris, a world leader in submarine systems integration.

All hands, man your stations; here’s to another SBIR success story!