1997 VSAM IFD DEMO
Photo Album

  

On, November 12, the first VSAM integrated feasibility demonstration was successfully held out at the CMU Bushy Run facility , in Murraysville PA. The demo was part of a two day VSAM workshop, held at CMU. The following collection of photos document the demo preparation process and the day of the demo. Click on any photo to get the full-resolution version.

Airborne SPU Development on the NVESD Islander Aircraft

The NVESD Islander.
Alan Lipton in the NVESD Islander. "How do you fly this thing?"
VSAM VFE-100 (upright) in cramped quarters aboard the Islander.
Alan, FSI turret, Lambert and Jayan.
Sarnoff development team. Deepam, FSI turret, Lambert and Jayan.
Deepam, Jayan and Alan in the Islander control compartment. Two's company, three is practically indecent.
Islander development team. From left to right: Tim Acord, Mark Harford, Dean Brettle, Jayan Eledath, Deepam Mishra, Wayne Simmons, Ray Nagel, Elizabeth Jones, Alan Lipton. Photo by Lambert Wixson.
Islander development team, reshuffled. From left to right: Jayan Eledath, Mark Harford, Dean Brettle, Deepam Mishra, Wayne Simmons, Ray Nagel, Lambert Wixson, Alan Lipton, and Tim Acord. Photo by Elizabeth Jones.

NVESD Islander Support at Bushy Run

Wayne Simmons and Mark Harford's butt, with the BMS video downlink antenna. "Do you think this thing can get cable?"
Mark Harford and BMS video downlink antenna's butt.
Mark and Wayne with the NVESD van. "Hey, move that thing, you're blocking traffic."
Final position of NVESD van, with BMS downlink antenna on building roof.

Ground SPU Development

Hiro Fujiyoshi and Bob Collins at SPU A (affectionately known as "spew A").
Bob Collins, Steelers fan, playing Doom on SPU A.
Bob spends more quality time at SPU A.
We finally finish setting up SPU A, with about half an hour of sunlight left.
SPU A monitoring the entrance to Bushy Run. Won't be any white cargo vans sneaking in here anymore!
A peek at SPU B's plumbing.

Operator Control Station Development

Outdoor view of the VSAM control center. Home, sweet home.
The GUI corner of the VSAM control center.
Rich Labarca (left) and Raju Patil at the OCU. "How does this walky-talky work?"
Raju at the OCU. "This wiring is unacceptable."

Demo Day!

Demo Day, 6:00 AM, 25 degrees, first snow of the season falling outside. "What the hell are are we doing here?" Back: Bob Collins, Raju Patil, Alan Lipton. Front: Yanghai Tsin, Hiro Fujiyoshi.
Dawn breaks at Bushy Run. In hindsight, the white demo tent has proven to be a well-camouflaged choice.
SPU B ponders the significance of snow.
Luckily, it has an auto-iris lens.
Everything is ready inside the demo tent. Nothing to do now but wait.
Alan relieves the tension by reading dirty jokes he downloaded off the internet.
Bob listens to Alan's recitation over the headset.
Hiro, waiting. After the past month's frantic preparation, it seems strange to be just sitting around.
Raju at SPU B, about an hour before demo. Note that the snow has mostly burned off by now.
Hiro, at SPU B, still waiting.
At last, the visiting dignitaries have arrived. After seeing Pittsburgh in November, the consensus is that DEMO 98 should be held in Florida
Alan Lipton entertains visiting dignitaries with an improptu stand-up comedy routine. Tom Strat, front row in red turtleneck, has heard this one before.
View from SPU B looking towards SPU A, just before the action begins.
Vehicle 1 is tracked through the site.
Two suspicious characters get out, and are also tracked.
Wayne Simmons tracks the Islander by hand for the whole demo to provide live video feed from the airborne SPU.
The grand finale, a convoy prepares to ram the demo tent. Navlab 2 is in the lead, Navlab 1 is the caboose.
Takeo Kanade, Principle Investigator of the VSAM IFD effort. "Each of you deserves a raise and a two week vacation in the Bahamas ... just kidding."

VSAM cast and crew

Carnegie Mellon University

Takeo Kanade
Bob Collins Alan Lipton
Raju Patil Hironobu Fujiyoshi Yanghai Tsin
Randy Warner Omead Amidi Jim Frazier
John Kozar Mei Han Henry Schneiderman
Carolyn Ludwig Stephanie Riso Tim Doebler
Rich Labarca Costa Nikou Jim Kocher

The Sarnoff Corporation

Peter Burt Lambert Wixson
Deepam Mishra Jayan Eledath
Robbie Mandelbaum P. Anandan, R.I.P.

N.V.E.S.D.

Elizabeth Jones Jim Metheny Jim Miles
Wayne Simmons Tim Acord Tam Bui
Kip Lanam Robert Johnston Ray Nagel
Martin Newton Gary

Booz-Allen Hamilton

Dean Brettle Mark Harford

Special guest appearance by Steve Hennessy as himself