INFRARED TRACKER

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO PERFORM TRADE-OFF STUDIES LEADING TO THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A TE COOLED OR UNCOOLED IR TRACKER. SINCE THE BENEFITS IN LOGISTICS TO BE GAINED BY SUCH A SENSOR MAY REQUIRE A SACRIFICE IN PERFORMANCE, A QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF THE TRADE-OFFS IS PROPOSED BASED ON COOLER AND DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY. AFTER A BRIEF REVIEW OF CURRENT TE AND UNCOOLED SENSOR TECHNOLOGY, DCS WILL CORRELATE SELECTIONS OF SENSOR DESIGN PARAMETERS TO MATHEMATICAL PREDICTIONS OF FIELD PERFORMANCE. A SUB-TASK THAT WILL GROW OUT OF THE TRADE-OFF STUDIES WILL BE A DETERMINATION OF THE LIMITATIONS TO PERFORMANCE. DCS WILL ALSO CONDUCT AN APPLICATIONS ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE WHEN AND WHERE THESE NEW SENSORS MAY BE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS. THE APPLICATIONS ANALYSIS WILL CONSIDER SUCH FACTORS AS RELIABILITY, MAINTAINABILITY, OPERATING LIFETIME, COOLDOWN TIME, SIZE, WEIGHT, INPUT POWER, ETC. IN ADDITION TO STAND OFF RANGE. FINALLY, DCS WILL SUGGET A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR A TE OR UNCOOLED IR FIRE CONTROL TRACKER CONSISTING OF DETECTOR MATERIAL, DETECTOR CONFIGURATION, DETECTOR SIZE, DETECTOR OPERATING TEMPERATURE, SPECTRAL PASSBAND, POWER, ETC., AND ESTIMATES OF LIFETIME, MTBF, SIZE, WEIGHT, AND PER UNIT COST.