Instrument Fabrication

MX-20SW Flight Spectrometer

Brandywine Photonics builds both Offner and Dyson spectrometers, known for their low-distortion, high throughput, and excellent image quality. Prior projects include the Hyperspectral Imaging Coastal Observer optics on the International Space Station, the MX-20SW flight spectrometer, and the NRL UAV Hyperspectral Instruments.

We design and fabricate all of the lenses for our hyperspectral instruments, both airborne (CHAI instrument) and spaceborne. We use Zemax for our lens design program, and FRED for stray light modeling and illumination engineering. The glass from each lens is carefully selected and ordered with its melt data, ground and polished to exacting specifications. The lens barrels are designed, fabricated, and assembled, with close attention from Brandywine Photonics engineering staff to exacting specifications. For analysis, we have proprietary Matlab and ENVI routines for system engineering and performance analysis. For lab and demo instrument control we use LabView for operating scanners, filter wheels, and sources. For flight operations we have our own proprietary CHAI software, which incorporates image acquisition, GPS/INS integration, shutters, calibration, and environmental monitoring. We work with Pacific Spectral Inc. for a seamless integration of on-board real-time hyperspectral processing. Processing solutions being developed by Brandywine and our partners include orthorectification and target detection, all < 50 Watts power using multi-core processors and FPGAs.