Plenoptic Camera Based Single Aperture Passive Rangefinder

Presently the Marines use a wide range of handheld, head mounted, and weapons-mountable optical systems. These devices serve many functions; from visible and night vision imaging to target designation and ranging. Optical rangefinders employed by the Marines mostly utilize active laser sources. However, increasing use of warning receivers and electro-optical devices capable of detecting these laser rangefinders could put friendly forces at risk and/or allow the enemy enough time to egress or otherwise avoid direct fire. A passive range-finding instrument is desired which will provide a means for the Marine to utilize a single integrated optical device to perform multiple optical tasks – imaging, targeting, and range-finding. Nanohmics proposes to develop an electro-optical imaging device capable of determining the range to objects in a scene without the use of active emitters or multiple apertures. Called the Plenoscope™, the device provides range information by measuring the differential parallax of a scene from multiple locations within the optical aperture. The Plenoscope can be adapted to visible imaging devices as well as infrared focal plane arrays, and is compatible with riflescopes, spotting scopes, and weapons fire-control systems. The result is an effective, inexpensive, usable, rugged, and maintainable optical system for the Marine.