THE FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS FOR AN ARRAYED DISCREET ELEMENT COMPUTER-CONTROLLED INFRARED BAR TARGET

AN INVESTIGATION WILL BE CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO ENABLE THE DESIGN AND FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS OF A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED REMOTELY OPERATED THERMAL BAR TARGET. THIN FILM HEATERS AND TRANSONIC AIR FLOW CHAMBERS WILL BE AMONG THE TECHNOLOGIES CONSIDERED FOR PROVIDING HEATING AND COOLING CAPACITIES REQUIRED TO ENABLE THE PROPOSED DEVICE TO FUNCTION AT A LEVEL SUITBLE FOR SUPPORTING FIELD AND FLIGHT CAPTIVE THERMAL SENSOR TESTING. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROSPECTIVE DEVICE ARE AS FOLLOWS: (1) FRONTAL DIMENSIONS 3MX3M (NOT INCLUDING A 1M BORDER), (2) THE CAPABILITY OF PRESENTING A VARIABLE NUMBER OF TARGET BARS, (3) THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE RELATIVE ORIENTATION OF THE BARS FROM HORIZONTAL TO VERTICAL, (4) THE CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN TARGET OPERATING TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM 1.5 TO 10.0 DEG. C ABOVE THE AMIENT BACKGROUND TEMPERATURE, (5) A TOTAL PHYSICAL AND THERMAL CONFIGURATION RESPONSE TIME OF TWO MINUTES OR LESS, (6) A STABLE 0.2 DEG. C THERMAL CONTROL PRECISION OVER THE ENTIRE OPERATING RANGE OF THE TARGET, AND (7) REMOTELY LOCATED COMPUTERIZED MONITORING AND CONTROL OF THE TARGET.