Nonlinear scanning to optimize sector scan electro-optic reconnaissance system performance
First Claim
1. A system for performing long range, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene, the reconnaissance performed at increased scan velocities for a given ground resolved distance and forward overlap, comprising:
- (1) a focal plane array configured to detect an image of the scene and to convert said image into an electronic charge representation of said image;
(2) a main electronics unit, coupled to said focal plane array, configured to convert said electronic charge representation into a digital image data signal, wherein said digital image data signal is a digital representation of said image;
(3) focusing means, coupled to said focal plane array, for focusing a portion of the scene onto said focal plane array, wherein said portion of the scene is defined by a projection of said focal plane array;
(4) determining means for determining a non-linear scan velocity;
(5) scanning means. coupled to said focusing means for scanning said projection of said focal plane array across the scene at said non-linear scan velocity; and
(6) processing means, coupled to said main electronics unit, for processing said digital image data signal to provide a visual image signal representing a corrected image, said corrected image having a pixel aspect ratio corrected to remove the effects of said non-linear scan velocity.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Long range, non-linear, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene from an airborne craft is performed at increased aircraft velocities with a given detector technology at a desired level of performance. A focal plane array is configured to detect an image of the scene, and to convert the image into electronic charge information representing the image. A main electronics unit that converts the electronic charge representation into an electronic signal which is a digital representation of the image. A lens arrangement is used to focus a narrow slit of the scene onto the focal plane array, and a rotating prism scans the slit across the scene at a non-linear scanning velocity as determined according to the present invention. The electronic signal is transmitted to a ground station where it is processed to provide visual image data and that represents the scene, distortion induced into this data as a result of the non-linear scan velocity is removed to provide a distortion free final image.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A system for performing long range, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene, the reconnaissance performed at increased scan velocities for a given ground resolved distance and forward overlap, comprising:
-
(1) a focal plane array configured to detect an image of the scene and to convert said image into an electronic charge representation of said image; (2) a main electronics unit, coupled to said focal plane array, configured to convert said electronic charge representation into a digital image data signal, wherein said digital image data signal is a digital representation of said image; (3) focusing means, coupled to said focal plane array, for focusing a portion of the scene onto said focal plane array, wherein said portion of the scene is defined by a projection of said focal plane array; (4) determining means for determining a non-linear scan velocity; (5) scanning means. coupled to said focusing means for scanning said projection of said focal plane array across the scene at said non-linear scan velocity; and (6) processing means, coupled to said main electronics unit, for processing said digital image data signal to provide a visual image signal representing a corrected image, said corrected image having a pixel aspect ratio corrected to remove the effects of said non-linear scan velocity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for optimizing long range, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene from an airborne craft comprising the steps of:
-
(1) determining a camera scan rate and a focal plane array read rate for a desired level of operational performance; (2) determining a non-linear scan velocity if said scan rate is above a threshold level; (3) scanning the camera across the scene at said non-linear scan velocity determined in step (2); (4) focusing an image of the scene scanned in said step (3) onto a focal plane array and converting the image into an electronic signal that represents the scene; (5) processing said electronic signal to generate a digital image of the scene, wherein said processing comprises a step of correcting a pixel aspect ratio of said digital image to remove effects of said non-linear scan velocity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A system for performing long range, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene from an airborne craft, the reconnaissance performed at increased scan velocities for a given ground resolved distance, and forward overlap, comprising:
-
first means for detecting an image of a portion of the scene and converting said image into a digital image data signal, wherein said digital image data signal is a digital representation of said image; second means, coupled to said first means, for focusing said portion of the scene onto said first means, and for scanning said portion of the scene across the entire scene at a non-linear scan velocity; and third means, coupled to said first means, for processing said digital image data signal to provide a visual image data signal representing a corrected image, said corrected image having a pixel aspect ratio corrected to remove the effects of said non-linear scan velocity. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A system for performing sector scan reconnaissance of a scene, comprising:
-
focusing means for focusing a portion of the scene onto a detector, wherein said portion of the scene is defined by a projection of said detector; determining means for determining a non-linear scan velocity and; scanning means for scanning said projection across the scene at said determined-non-linear scan velocity. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
Specification