OPTICALLY AND PROGRAMMATICALLY CONTROLLED NET TRAPS FOR ARMORED VEHICLE PROTECTION AGAINST FPV DRONES

Abstract

The article addresses the problem of improving the accuracy and response speed when determining the activation instant for executive mechanisms of short-range kinetic protection systems (net traps) used to neutralize high-speed small-sized UAVs and FPV drones. The limitations of conventional rangefinding equipment—such as active rangefinders and classic 3D reconstruction stereovision systems, which cause significant computational latency and compromise the stealth of protected assets—are analyzed. The authors propose and present a patented technical solution that implements an event-based control principle based on passive optical analysis. The hardware architecture utilizes a passive monolithic optical element to project four spatially offset representations of the scene onto a single photosensitive sensor. The spatial parallax between channels enables detecting the moment a target enters the engagement zone as an informational event, thereby eliminating the need for direct metric distance calculation. The proposed approach provides minimal digital command generation delay, complete passive stealth, and high operational robustness for armored vehicles and infrastructure defense. The article was published as part of the implementation of the scientific project for grant funding for 2025-2027 IRN АR261059/024 «Justification of the design parameters of a device for protecting armored weapons from strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles and the development on this basis of a tactical and technical specification for its creation» (the research is funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan).