Lightweight infrared camera
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An infrared camera system comprising:
- a lightweight infrared camera having a focusing optical system, a plurality of radiation detector elements, each detector element providing a raw output signal that is related to the level of radiation striking the detector element, and a transmitter coupled to said plurality of radiation detector elements for transmitting the raw detector output signals; and
a remote receiver for receiving the transmitted raw detector output signals.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A lightweight camera or detector that does not require a shutter, chopper or thermoelectric stabilizer. Lightweight materials and lightweight packaging techniques are used, and in some embodiments, some or all of the calibration, compensation and processing hardware are moved from the camera itself to a remote station. Such a shutterless, lightweight, IR camera, which may operated at ambient temperature, can be mounted on a micro air vehicle (MAV) or the like, with the raw IR sensor data received and processed by a ground station.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An infrared camera system comprising:
-
a lightweight infrared camera having a focusing optical system, a plurality of radiation detector elements, each detector element providing a raw output signal that is related to the level of radiation striking the detector element, and a transmitter coupled to said plurality of radiation detector elements for transmitting the raw detector output signals; and
a remote receiver for receiving the transmitted raw detector output signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
a plurality of calibration values for compensating the received raw detector output signals, and a compensator for compensating said received raw detector output signals as a function of said calibration values.
-
-
9. An infrared camera system as in claim 5, wherein the compensation means compensates the received raw detector output signals at least in part as a function of multiple values of the received raw detector output signals.
-
10. An infrared camera system as in claim 5, wherein the compensation means compensates the received raw detector output signals at least in part by adjusting a baseline for the received raw detector output signals.
-
11. An infrared camera system as in claim 5, in which the compensation means receives a transmitted temperature signal, and wherein said compensation means compensates the received raw detector output signals as a function of the transmitted temperature signal.
-
12. A lightweight infrared camera, comprising:
-
a focusing optical system;
a plurality of detector elements having outputs varying as a function of the amount of radiation striking said detector elements;
a selector for selecting a particular detector element and outputting an uncalibrated or partially calibrated detector element output corresponding to the selected detector element; and
a transmitter coupled to said selector for transmitting a signal corresponding to the uncalibrated or partially calibrated detector element output to a remote receiver. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A lightweight camera, comprising:
-
a ceramic motherboard;
a microbolometer array mounted to the ceramic motherboard;
a lens supported by a frame, the frame mounting the lens a set distance from said microbolometer array;
a selector for selecting and outputting an uncalibrated or partially calibrated signal from the microbolometer array;
a transmitter for transmitting the output signal from the selector; and
a remote station for receiving the transmitted output signal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
-
Specification