VIASPACE Announces Technology Licensed From Caltech for Maritime Security
PASADENA, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC - News), a spin-off of the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory that transforms proven space and defense technologies into hardware and software products that solve today's complex problems, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Arroyo Sciences acquired an exclusive license from Caltech to MUDSS technology. The Mobile Underwater Debris Survey System (MUDSS) was developed to locate and identify underwater unexploded ordnance. MUDSS was developed jointly by NAVY's Coastal Systems Station and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. Originally the technology was optimized for fusion of acoustic, magnetic, electro-optical mine-hunting and trace chemical detection sensors using advanced signal and image processing algorithms and real-time 3-D visualization technologies. The announcement was made by AJ Abdallat, COO of VIASPACE.
The unfortunate Swissair Flight 111 mishap in 1998 offered an operational opportunity to test capabilities of MUDSS in a real-world setting. MUDSS successfully allowed the search team to define the debris field quickly and accurately in Peggy's Cove, located off the coast of Nova Scotia. For this investigation, the MUDSS payload was extended to include advanced Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and electro-optical identification system (EIS) to locate debris from distances in excess of 110ft. MUDSS operated by combining sonar and EIS technologies in a single submersible, torpedo like vehicle that feeds high-speed data to a mothership via a fiber-optic cable. This package enables the sonar to locate objects on the ocean floor and then to use the EIS to zoom in and identify those objects at closer ranges.
According to Mr. Abdallat, "Licensing federally funded RF, nuclear and electromagnetic imaging technology is part of the VIASPACE strategy to deliver information products in transportation and supply chain security, logistics assurance and first responder safety. MUDSS is another key building block in our R&D pipeline." VIASPACE plans to deploy MUDSS to enhance the functionality of its maritime risk assessment and coastal surveillance products being developed under partnership with ATLAS Electronik of Germany.