METHOD AND EQUIPMENT FOR TRAINING PERSONNEL IN THE OPTICAL TRACKING OF A MOVING TARGET

• US 3,798,796 A
• Filed: 07/26/1972
• Issued: 03/26/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Emile Stauff, Hubert Collette
• Original Assignee: Emile Stauff, Hubert Collette
• Inventors: Stauff, Emile, Collette, Hubert
• Primary Examiner(s): Skogquist, Harland S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wolff, J. H.
• Application Number:
  US05/275,307
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 35/25,1 273/101.1,105.1 178/DIG.38
• US Class Current: 434/20
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 3/2611 coacting with a TV-monitor

Abstract

System for rapidly training operators required to accurately aim an optical instrument at a stationary or moving target. It consists in equipping the optical aiming instrument handled by the trainee with a television camera to which is associated a reticle the optical axis of which is sighted with that of the optical instrument. A device for displaying the images analysed by the camera and reticle is available to an instructor so that this latter may give useful advice to the trainee during his aiming operations.

Claims

1. Apparatus for providing rapid training to trainee operators in accurately aiming the reticle of an optical aiming instrument at a target comprising a television camera fixed to the optical aiming instrument and having a reticle mounted with its optical axis in the line of sight and thus sighted identically with the reticle of the optical aiming instrument;

power supply and signal generating means connected to said camera;

means for displaying images of the target sighted and said camera reticle and for evaluating the accuracy of the aiming of the reticle of the optical aiming instrument at a target, at a location remote from said camera and having a screen for viewing the images;

a transparent grid removably mounted in front of said screen of said display means and bearing marks representing the dimensions of the target being aimed at by the trainee;

control means on said display means to make said marks on said grid coincide with said displayed camera reticle by framing the images in said grid;

video recorder means connected to said display means to store for display the images displayed on said display means screen at a later time and at a selected variable rate of frame speeds whereby the accuracy of the trainee'"'"''"'"'s aiming can be viewed at the remote display location.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by additional transparent grids having marks representing dimensions of different size targets for substitution before said screen of said display means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by voice communication link means from said display means to said camera whereby instructions can be transmitted to the trainee operators.

4. A method for providing rapid training to trainee operators in accurately aiming the reticle of an optical aiming instrument at a target comprising the steps of attaching a television camera on the optical aiming instrument with the camera reticle mounted with its optical axis in the line of sight and thus sighted identically with the reticle of the optical aiming instrument, with sAid camera having power supply and signal generating means connected thereto;

displaying images of the target sighted by said camera and the camera reticle together at a remote location, to an instructor;

choosing, out of a set of transparent grids each of which is marked to represent the dimensions of a given target at a given range, the one most appropriate to the particular target being sighted by the trainee operator;

positioning the selected grid in front of the projection screen of the remote display means in order to enable the instructor to evaluate the operator'"'"''"'"'s aiming errors; and

at the same time framing the image on the display means in the grid and causing the grid to coincide optically with the camera reticle so as to estimate the divergence of the point at which the operator aimed from the target, by observing the reticle, grid, and the framing of the images; and

recording the images on the display means in a video recorder for later reproduction.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of redisplaying the images from the video recorder and counting the number of images in which the reticle passed over the frame mark format of the grid.