Tuesday, 04 January 2005 12:00

West Palm Beach, FL (January 10, 2005) - Coastal Optical Systems has been awarded Patent US 6,831,680 for the invention of interior aircraft monitoring using fisheye lenses and a data system. The patent covers use of single and multiple hemispherical lenses, use of onboard image data recorders and data transmitters. Embodiments of the invention for monitoring of the cockpit, cabin and luggage compartments are described.

"With hemispherical lenses, it is possible to monitor each area of the plane with a single fixed camera," said Jay Kumler, president of Coastal. "Hemispherical images allow minimizing the system complexity needed to put NTSB eyes' on the aircraft and the pilot's eyes in all areas of a plane. Fisheye cameras have superior depth of field, and they do not require refocus, pan or tilt. These particular fisheye cameras are the best devices to compliment the existing Flight Data Recorders and Flight Voice Recorders."

The systems described in the patent provide image data stored on the plane, pilot monitoring of areas remote to the cockpit, and transmission of image data in real time for ground based analysis.

About Coastal Optical Systems, Inc. (www.coastalopt.com):

Coastal Optical Systems specializes in development and manufacture of custom precision optical assemblies for aerospace & defense, machine vision, bio-medical and 3-D digital entertainment markets. The company, founded in 1991, is a wholly owned subsidiary of JENOPTIK Optical Systems GmbH (Jena, Germany).

About JENOPTIK Optical Systems GmbH. (www.jenoptik.com.de)

JENOPTIK Optical Systems GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the JENOPTIK AG technology group of Jena, Germany (ISIN DE0006229107). In the fields of laser technology, optics and sensor systems, the company develops, produces and distributes laser beam sources, optical components, modules and system solutions as well as the technologies used in the precise measurement, imaging, structuring and analysis of a variety of materials.

For more information, contact :

Ray Malcom, Coastal Optical Systems, Inc.

4480 South Tiffany Drive, West Palm Beach, FL 33407

Phone: 561.881.7400 x-116 / Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / Web: www.coastalopt.com.