Precision Metric Zoom Lens

LSA will design, build, and test an innovative, non-refractive, zoom lens prototype capable of precision metric monitoring of a missile during its entire flight trajectory at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). The ZoometricT Precision Lens developedduring this Phase II SBIR program will have automated zoom and aperture operation and be compatible with existing 35-mm camera film formats and high-speed digital image cameras. Current testing practices use a variety of fixed focal length telescopes.Switching from one system to another during the flight test to maintain image size complicates mission and test planning and can cause the loss of critical data. The ZoometricT Precision Lens would decrease mission-planning time and produce cost savingsbenefits from reduced setup and calibration labor. Continuous smooth zoom operation will prevent loss of data or dropout of signals frequently encountered during the dynamic scale shifting operations associated with changing range. It will also permitscaling operations during and after the fact, which are directly relatable to the system chronology. The ZoometricT Precision Lens will specifically address the needs for missile testing at WSMR. In addition, this system will have application in otherDoD-oriented markets such as range and surveillance monitoring at other bases and test facilities. These facilities also measure the performance of their air, ground and sea platforms at increasingly long standoff ranges where utilization of the ZoometricTPrecision Lens would provide similar cost and timesavings. The ZoometricT system and its subsystems can be applied to new applications in the government and commercial sectors. Applications for the ZoometricT Precision Lens and its enabling technologiesinclude Free Space Optical (FSO) communications; long range surveillance for Homeland Defense; sea port surveillance; broadcast video photography for tracking in flight objects and sporting events, such as golf balls in flight; smooth, long-range,low-light-level zooming for television and motion picture industries; commercial astronomy; air traffic control, long-range visualization capability; autonomous geological surveying; and high performance multi-spectral imaging.