Threat detection

• US 10,175,030 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2017
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensors Unlimited Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Sensors Unlimited Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Lund, Joshua, Nazemi, Jonathan, Liobe, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdosh, Samir
• Application Number:
  US15/457,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20180259296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 42 101, 42 90, 42111
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/35 for illuminating the target , e.g. flash lights
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/36 with infrared light source
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 3/165 using a TV-monitor
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 1/0219 Electrical interface; User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 1/4228 arrangements with two or more detectors, e.g. for sensitivity compensation
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 2005/0077 Imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 2005/106 Arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/025 Interfacing a pyrometer to an external device or network; User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0896 using a light source, e.g. for illuminating a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/10 using electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging

Abstract

A method of threat detection includes illuminating a scene with short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) illumination and receiving a return of the SWIR illumination reflected back from the scene. The method includes analyzing the return of the SWIR illumination to detect presence of man-made optics in the scene. Illuminating, receiving, and analyzing can be performed by a device, e.g., a rifle-mounted laser device.

Claims

1. A method of threat detection comprising:

illuminating a scene with pulsed short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) illumination;

receiving SWIR illumination reflected back from the scene with a receiving device configured to detect pulsed SWIR illumination;

analyzing the received SWIR illumination; and

attributing the presence of man-made optics in the scene to the received SWIR illumination, wherein illuminating, receiving, and analyzing are performed by a single rifle-mounted laser device, wherein the receiving is performed by a SWIR-sensitive focal plane array (FPA) of a receiving device that is operatively connected to a module for pixel-wise processing of the received SWIR illumination, wherein the FPA is configured for global threshold control, wherein the illuminating the scene includes illuminating the scene in a series of pulsed illumination events, and wherein the receiving includes receiving SWIR illumination reflections for each of the pulsed illumination events at a different respective threshold level of the FPA, further comprising generating a respective pulse event bitmap for each threshold level of the FPA.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the illuminating is performed by a SWIR illumination source configured to emit pulsed SWIR illumination, wherein the receiving device is configured to detect pulsed SWIR illumination.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the illuminating the scene and receiving the return are performed with the SWIR illumination source synchronized with the receiving device for pulse detection in the SWIR illumination reflected from the scene.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the illuminating the scene and receiving are performed with the SWIR illumination source and receiving device asynchronously, wherein the receiving device has a scan rate high enough to continuously detect illumination pulses and perform synchronization in post-process calculation.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising processing each pulse event bitmap with a spatial filter to identify any reflection received that are below a predetermined pixel size threshold to identify returns of significance indicative of man-made optics.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising outputting an alert for each reflection received that is identified as a return of significance.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising displaying indicia for each return of significance overlaid on an image of the scene to identify location in the scene of each return of significance.

8. A system comprising:

a SWIR-sensitive FPA configured to receive SWIR illumination reflected from a scene; and

a module operatively connected to the FPA configured to analyze the received reflections for the presence of man-made optics in the scene, wherein the FPA is operatively connected to the module for pixel-wise processing of received SWIR illumination, wherein the FPA is configured for global threshold control,

further comprising a SWIR illumination source configured to illuminate the scene with SWIR illumination, wherein the SWIR-sensitive FPA, SWIR illumination source, and module are all part of a single portable device, wherein the device is a rifle mounted laser device, wherein the SWIR illumination source is configured to illuminate the scene in a series of pulsed illumination events, and wherein the FPA is configured for receiving SWIR illumination reflections for each of the pulsed illumination events at a different respective threshold level of the FPA, and wherein the module is configured to generate a respective pulse event bitmap for each threshold level of the FPA.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, further comprising an alert module including an audible and/or visual display configured to alert an operator of the system to the presence of man-made optics in the scene.