Wide-Area Terrain Mapping Using Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI)

Not Available DARPA is soliciting new, real-time methods for wave front WF testing, that will utilize extended scene imagery. In response, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes Hartmann-autofocus sensors (HAS). In the proposed HAS, the exit pupil of an imaging missile seeker will be divided into several patches. The size of these patches will be sufficient to support a distinguishable target image. In contrast to current Shack-Hartmann sensors, which need at least 50 patches, the HAS will require no more than 6 patches for WF retrieval. As in autofocusing cameras, local defocusing will be determined by the relative axial positions of the sharpest images over the patches. The local slope will be found as in the Hartmann test. The combination of local wave front curvature with the local slope in the patches will provide enough information for high quality wave front restoration. Finally, this small number of WF patches will provide an improved energy budget and a rapid response in the hundreds of hertz. During Phase I, POC will undertake a thorough theoretical investigation of the proposed HAS and compare this approach with existing methods. In Phase II, a brass-board laboratory prototype of the HAS adaptive optics system will be produced and tested.