Imaging system and method for use in monitoring a field of regard
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring a field of regard, the method comprising:
- imaging at least a part of the field of regard by concurrently collecting a plurality of light components propagating along different optical paths from a plurality of different zones, respectively, located within the field of regard, said plurality of light components being concurrently collected by a corresponding plurality of light collecting units having a first numerical aperture of light collection being the same for each of the plurality of light collecting units;
superimposing a plurality of images of the plurality of said different zones of the field of regard, respectively, by concurrently projecting the plurality of light components collected from said plurality of different zones in an additive manner onto a common light sensitive surface of a same light detector to form a combined image that is made up of the plurality of the superimposed images of different zones, thereby obtaining flux averaging of said plurality of light components;
generating image data indicative of said combined image; and
processing and analyzing the image data indicative of the combined image, and upon identifying existence of a certain condition or event in the image data, generating a corresponding control signal indicative of the existence of said condition or event in at least one of said plurality of different zones, thereby enabling to further scan at least some of the zones based on analysis of the image data of the combined image with said first numerical aperture or a different second numerical aperture.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system are presented for monitoring a field of regard. At least a part of a field of regard is imaged by concurrently collecting a plurality of light components propagating from a plurality of zones, respectively, located within the field of regard, a combined collected light beam is produced, and corresponding data is generated being indicative of a combined image of the at least part of the field of regard formed by the collected light components. This image data indicative of the combined image data is processed and analyzed, and if existence of a certain condition or event is identified in the image data, a corresponding control signal is generated.
39 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring a field of regard, the method comprising:
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imaging at least a part of the field of regard by concurrently collecting a plurality of light components propagating along different optical paths from a plurality of different zones, respectively, located within the field of regard, said plurality of light components being concurrently collected by a corresponding plurality of light collecting units having a first numerical aperture of light collection being the same for each of the plurality of light collecting units; superimposing a plurality of images of the plurality of said different zones of the field of regard, respectively, by concurrently projecting the plurality of light components collected from said plurality of different zones in an additive manner onto a common light sensitive surface of a same light detector to form a combined image that is made up of the plurality of the superimposed images of different zones, thereby obtaining flux averaging of said plurality of light components; generating image data indicative of said combined image; and processing and analyzing the image data indicative of the combined image, and upon identifying existence of a certain condition or event in the image data, generating a corresponding control signal indicative of the existence of said condition or event in at least one of said plurality of different zones, thereby enabling to further scan at least some of the zones based on analysis of the image data of the combined image with said first numerical aperture or a different second numerical aperture.
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2. A monitoring system comprising:
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an optical system comprising; a light collection arrangement comprising a plurality of light collecting units having a first numerical aperture of light collection being the same for all the light collecting units, the light collecting units being configured for collecting a plurality of light components propagating along different optical paths from a plurality of different zones, respectively, of a field of regard; a light combiner arrangement configured to receive the light components collected along the different optical paths from said plurality of light collecting units for combining the collected light components of said plurality of different zones of the field of regard and producing a combined light, and directing said combined light along a combined optical path; a light detection unit comprising a light sensitive surface accommodated in said combined optical path for receiving the combined light and generating image data indicative of the received combined light, said image data being therefore indicative of a plurality of superimposed images of the plurality of said different zones of the field of regard, respectively, concurrently projected onto the light sensitive surface in an additive manner, thereby obtaining flux averaging of said plurality of light components; and a control unit connectable to the optical system, and configured and operable for receiving the image data indicative of the combined image, and processing and analyzing the image data so as to, upon detecting that the image data is indicative of existence of a certain condition or event in the at least part of the field of regard, generating a control signal, thereby enabling to selectively operate the optical system to scan at least some of the zones based on analysis of the image data of the combined image with said first numerical aperture or a different second numerical aperture. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An imaging capsule comprising an optical system-comprising:
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a light collection arrangement comprising a plurality of light collecting units configured and operable for concurrently collecting a plurality of light components propagating along different optical paths from a plurality of different zones, respectively, of a field of regard, said light collection units having a first numerical aperture of light collection, being the same for the light collecting units; a light combiner arrangement configured to receive the light components collected along the different optical paths from said plurality of light collecting units for combining the collected light components of said plurality of different zones of the field of regard and producing a combined light beam, and directing the combined light beam along a combined optical path; a light detection unit comprising a light sensitive surface accommodated in the combined optical path for receiving the combined light beam and generating image data indicative of the combined light, the image data being indicative of a plurality of superimposed images of the plurality of said different zones of the field of regard, respectively, corresponding to the plurality of light components concurrently projected in an additive manner onto the light sensitive surface such that flux averaging of the plurality of light components is obtained, thereby enabling detection of an existence of a certain condition in one or more of the zones from analysis of the combined image. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. An endoscope comprising:
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a flexible member comprising a working channel and an optical system secured to the working channel, the optical system comprising; a front optical arrangement at a distal end of the flexible member for collecting light propagating from a front zone of a field of regard; a peripheral optical arrangement comprising light collection arrangement for concurrently collecting a plurality of light components coming from a plurality of different peripheral zones, respectively, of a field of regard, said peripheral optical arrangement being configured for collecting said plurality of light components from the plurality of different peripheral zones with a plurality of light collecting units, respectively, having a first numerical aperture of light collection, being the same for the plurality of light collecting units; a light detection unit comprising a first imaging detector associated with the front optical arrangement, and a second imaging detector associated with the peripheral optics; and a switching arrangement for selectively allowing light components from a selected one of the zones or a combined light from a predetermined number of the selected zones, to propagate to the detection unit, wherein the plurality of light components that are collected by the peripheral optical arrangement are projected in an additive manner onto a common region of the second detector to form a combined image in which the flux of said light components is substantially averaged, and wherein the combined image is made up of a plurality of superimposed images, and wherein each of the superimposed images corresponds to each one of the plurality of the different peripheral zones, respectively; and the endoscope thereby having a frontal viewing capability using the front end optical arrangement and the first imaging detector, and enabling switched peripheral observation using the peripheral optics and the second imaging detector.
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Specification