HIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL SKYSCREEN SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED PROJECTILE SENSING

THE ABILITY TO ACCURATELY AND INSTANTANEOUSLY DETECT SUPERSONIC PROJECTILES IS TANTAMOUNT TO AN EFFICIENT WEAPONS TESTING AND/OR TRAINING PROGRAM. CURRENTLY, THERE IS NO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE DETECTION SYSTEM WHICH SATISFIES THE ARMY'S REQUIREMENTS FOR BALLISTICS. A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP A HIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL SKYSCREEN (HIROS) IS PROPOSED. THE HIROSS SYSTEM INCORPORATES LOCAL INTELLIGENCE TO PROCESS INFORMATION FROM AN ARRAY OF PHOTODETECTORS TO ATTAIN HIGH SPEED, HIGH RESOLUTION PERFORMANCE WITH IMPROVED DISCRIMINATION CHARACTERISTICS AND THE ABILITY TO DETERMINE THE PROJECTILE TRAJECTORY. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A HIGH SPEED PHOTODIODE ARRAY, A DECISION MAKING LOGIC INTERFACE MODULE, AND A STREAMLINED DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THE COMBINED SYSTEM WILL ACCURATELY AND AUTOMATICALLY EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF DYNAMIC PROJECTILES WHILE PROVIDING SECURE DOWNRANGE FEEDBACK. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN OPTICAL COMPONENTS AND IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS TO REPLACE PRESENT DAY SYSTEMS. HIROSS WILL REVOLUTIONIZE PROJECTILE SENSING EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN ARMY APPLICATIONS BY PROVIDING ACCURATE, HIGH SPEED ELECTRONIC FEEDBACK WITH MINIMAL USER INTERVENTION.