SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR REDUCING A THERMAL LOAD ON AN ULTRAVIOLET FLASH LAMP

• US 20130221848A1
• Filed: 02/25/2013
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Miesak, Edward Jozef
• Application Number:
  US13/776,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20130221848A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/112
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/10 Arrangements of light sources specially adapted for spectrometry or colorimetry
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/10 Controlling the light source

Abstract

A system including a power supply configured to supply electrical power to a light source, and a circuit configured to activate the light source at a driving pulse to produce a light from the light source at a desired output spectral range so that a thermal load on the light source is reduced is disclosed. A method and a non-transitory processor readable storage medium, providing an executable computer program product, the executable computer program product comprising a computer software code that, when executed on a processor are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a power supply configured to supply electrical power to a light source; and

a circuit configured. to activate the light source at a driving pulse to produce a light from the light source at a desired output spectral range so that a thermal load on the light source is reduced.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control the circuit.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the controller provides for manual input of at least one variable to determine the driving pulse, power supplied to the light source, or a desired output spectral range.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the controller comprises at least one processor.

5. The system according to claim 1., wherein the circuit is configured to repeat determined driving pulse at a rate at least equal to a frame rate of an imaging system.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the driving pulse is determined based. on the desired output spectral range being in an ultraviolet spectral range.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein determining the driving pulse further comprises determining the driving pulse to extract the desired output spectral range closest to a start of illumination of the light source.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light at a non-desired output spectral range is reduced as the light at the desired output spectral range is increased.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a heat sink configured to reduce the thermal load.

10. A method comprising:

identifying a desired output spectral range of a light to be produced from an illumination source;

determining a driving pulse for the illumination source to extract the light at the desired output spectral range at a duration so that a thermal load on the illumination source is reduced, the duration of the driving pulse is of a width which reduces output from a non-desired output spectral range of the light; and

illuminating the illumination source at the determined driving pulse to produce the light at the desired output spectral range while reducing the non-desired output spectral range of the light.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising repeating the determined driving pulse.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the driving pulse is determined based on the desired output spectral range being in an ultraviolet spectral range.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein determining the driving pulse further comprises determining the driving pulse to extract the desired output spectral range closest to a start of illumination of the illumination source.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the determined drive pulse is a shorter duration than a second drive pulse used to produce the non-desired output spectral range.

15. The method according to claim 10, further comprising applying a heat sink to the illumination source to reduce the thermal load.

16. A non-transitory processor readable storage medium, providing an executable computer program product, the executable computer program product comprising a computer software code that, when executed on a processor, causes the processor to:

determine a driving pulse for the illumination source to extract a light at a desired output spectral range at a duration so that a thermal load on the illumination source is reduced, the duration of the driving pulse is of a width which reduces output from a non-desired output spectral range of the light; and

command the illumination source to illuminate at the driving pulse to produce the desired output spectral range.

17. The processor readable storage medium according to claim 16, further causes the processor to repeat the determined driving pulse.

18. The processor readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the driving pulse is determined based on the desired output spectral range being in an ultraviolet spectral range.

19. The processor readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein causing the process to determine the driving pulse further comprises the processor to determine the driving pulse to extract the desired output spectral range closest to a start of illumination of the illumination source.

20. The processor readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the determined drive pulse is a shorter duration than a second drive pulse used to produce the non-desired output spectral range.