Increased Field Of Regard Techniques For Staring Infrared Focal Plane Arrays

Infrared missile seekers using staring IR FPA sensors are finally becoming a reality. The inherent field of view of the overall system is often quite small, and a significantly larger total field of regard is imperative. Use of a wide field of regard mechnical gimbal is often used to cover a large search volume. Improved methods are proposed to scan or slew over wide fields of regard. Further, image smear presents a problem during wide field of regard slewing, and improved methods are proposed for stabilizing the image during the frame capture time. This SBIR will address both of these separate yet related issues by developing innovative optical methods for creating a large field of regard as well as developing a means for stabilizing the image motion during the time of image capture. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: The methods developed in this SIBR could have significant benefits in virtually all commercial arenas where wide fields of regard need to be covered with high resolution. Examples include machine vision and automated inspection, security cameras, aerial photography for many remote sensing applicatons, and other examples extend to the many commercial video needs where image stabilization is of value.