System for referencing a direction of an output beam
First Claim
1. A system for precisely determining a direction of a beam comprising:
- a beam source positioned to direct an output beam along an optical path in a first direction;
a body position identifier having a generally fixed optical line of sight in a second direction substantially opposite to said first direction, said body position identifier having a detector responsive to optical signals within a field of view of said body position identifier;
a first grating member extending across said optical path of said output beam, said grating member having a geometry to diffract a minor portion of output beam intensity while passing a major portion of said output beam intensity for continued propagation in said first direction, said diffracted minor portion forming a sample beam; and
a second grating member positioned within said field of view of said body position identifier and within a path of said sample beam, said second grating member being generally transparent to incoming optical signals incoming from a side of said second grating member opposite to said body position identifier, said second grating member having a geometry to diffract a portion of sample beam intensity to said detector of said body position identifier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for precisely determining directionality of an output beam includes a beam source and a body position identifier facing opposite directions, with a grating rhomb positioned to provide an attenuated sample beam from the beam source into the oppositely directed body positioned identifier. In the preferred embodiment, the beam source is a pulsed laser source and the body position identifier is a star tracker for forming a stellar map. The grating rhomb includes first and second grating members. The first grating member extends across the optical path of the output beam and has a geometry to diffract a minor portion of the output beam intensity while passing a major portion of the output beam for continued propagation in a first direction. The second grating member is positioned to traverse the field of view of the body position identifier. In the preferred embodiment, the first grating member traverses the optical axis of the output beam and the second grating member is at the intersection of the optical axis of the body position identifier and the optical axis of the diffracted sample beam from the first grating member. The system also includes an auto-collimator that is used to monitor the orientation of the two grating members. When used in a space application, the system also includes a Global Positioning System receiver.
38 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for precisely determining a direction of a beam comprising:
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a beam source positioned to direct an output beam along an optical path in a first direction; a body position identifier having a generally fixed optical line of sight in a second direction substantially opposite to said first direction, said body position identifier having a detector responsive to optical signals within a field of view of said body position identifier; a first grating member extending across said optical path of said output beam, said grating member having a geometry to diffract a minor portion of output beam intensity while passing a major portion of said output beam intensity for continued propagation in said first direction, said diffracted minor portion forming a sample beam; and a second grating member positioned within said field of view of said body position identifier and within a path of said sample beam, said second grating member being generally transparent to incoming optical signals incoming from a side of said second grating member opposite to said body position identifier, said second grating member having a geometry to diffract a portion of sample beam intensity to said detector of said body position identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for precisely determining a direction of a beam comprising:
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a star tracker having a first optical axis and a field of view and having a detector for forming star position data in response to light from celestial bodies within said field of view; beam source means for projecting an output beam having a second optical axis generally parallel to said first optical axis, said beam source means and said star tracker being directed in generally opposite directions; first grating means along said first optical axis for diffracting a minor portion of beam energy while allowing a major portion to propagate therethrough, said minor portion defining a sample beam, said first grating means having a grating geometry to direct said sample beam to intersect said field of view of said star tracker, said sample beam having a third optical axis; second grating means generally at an intersection of said sample beam and said field of view of said star tracker for diffracting a minor portion of beam energy of said sample beam toward said star tracker while allowing at least a major portion of light from said celestial bodies within said field of view to propagate therethrough, said minor portion defining an attenuated sample beam; and processing means for determining an orientation of said second optical axis of said output beam to said star position data. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for precisely determining a direction of a laser beam for an altimeter determination comprising:
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a laser source defining a beam path for an output beam; imaging means for forming a map of a stellar region, said imaging means facing in a direction generally opposite to said beam path; and first and second grating members having generally parallel grating surfaces, said first grating member traversing said beam path and said second grating member traversing a field of view of said imaging means, said grating members being largely transmissive while diverting a portion of laser energy of said laser source, said grating members being oriented with respect to each other and said laser source and imaging means such that a sample portion of said laser energy from said laser source is diffracted and directed to said imaging means with a centroid of said sample portion being representative of a centroid of said output beam. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification