A distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system

Abstract

This invention provides a distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system includes: multiple microlens optical modules, distributed at multiple points on the seeker head shroud to ultimately replace the shroud; the microlens optical modules are used for multi-view sensing to acquire and transmit various optical signals of the target to be tracked; a photoelectric conversion module; an analog-to-electronic conversion module; an online computing module that receives digital signals and calculates the position information of the target to be tracked through parameter coupling; and a drive control module that adjusts the flight attitude of the aircraft according to the position information. Each microlens optical module includes a micro-optical window, a microlens group, and a photosensitive element. The micro-optical window is formed on the seeker head shroud, and its thermal load tolerance is close to or higher than that of the aircraft body. This invention reduces the interference of aero-optical effects on the optical signal transmission system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of navigation guidance and control technology, and specifically to an optical homing guidance and seeker system. Background Technology

[0002] A conventional optical guidance system consists of an optical window, a photosensitive module, a signal processing module, a data processing module, and a drive module. The optical window, serving as the transmission path for the target optical signal, is located on the top or side of the guidance head shroud; the photosensitive module acquires the target optical signal; the signal processing module performs algorithmic processing on the target optical signal and performs analog-to-digital conversion; the data module determines the target position by analyzing the target image data; and the drive module controls the flight attitude of the aircraft.

[0003] When launch vehicles and aircraft fly at high speeds in the atmosphere, their optical windows bear significant aerodynamic and thermal loads. Therefore, cooling film jets are needed to reduce the temperature of the optical windows. The cooling film (located near the optical windows on the outside of the seeker head cover to cool the flow field and reduce the temperature difference between the inside and outside) interacts with the high-temperature mainstream (the structure surface will radiate heat after being heated, and the heat radiation energy is positively correlated with the fourth power of temperature). This may form a flow field structure containing shock waves, boundary layers, mixing layers, and their mutual interference, which interferes with the transmission of optical signals, causing signal offset, jitter, blurring, and attenuation of the feedback optical signal energy during target recognition, thus forming aero-optical effects.

[0004] In existing technologies, the main solutions to aerodynamic thermal effects are thermal insulation on the seeker head shroud or the installation of a shock bar on top of the seeker head shroud to reduce aerodynamic drag. However, the shock bar has certain negative impacts: first, its structure can obstruct the light transmission aperture to some extent; second, its cooling effect is relatively limited. Shock bar technology is mostly used in low-speed aircraft, and its thermal protection effect on high-speed aircraft is relatively low.

[0005] For aircraft that use side-plane concave optical windows, by arranging rectifier cones above the cooling jet outlet of the optical window, the flow state of the mainstream boundary layer is changed, and the shear layer between the coolant layer and the mainstream is rapidly transformed into turbulence. This prevents the formation of large-scale, unstable vortex structures above the optical window, thereby suppressing aero-optical effects.

[0006] Another method involves spraying a thin layer of air film through a cooling air film nozzle at the front of the optical window to isolate the high-temperature mainstream from the optical window.

[0007] In summary, existing technologies all reduce or suppress the effects of aerodynamic heating and aerooptics by adding structures, but the effect is quite limited. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system that reduces the interference of aero-optical effects on optical signal transmission.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention includes: multiple microlens optical modules, distributed at multiple points on the seeker head cover to ultimately replace the seeker head cover; the microlens optical modules are used for multi-view perception to acquire and transmit various optical signals of the target to be tracked; a photoelectric conversion module, which receives each optical signal and converts it into an electrical signal after analysis and preprocessing; an analog-to-electronic conversion module, which receives each electrical signal and converts it into a digital signal; an online calculation module, which receives the digital signal and calculates the position information of the target to be tracked through parameter coupling; and a drive control module, which adjusts the flight attitude of the aircraft according to the position information; wherein, the microlens optical module includes a micro-optical window, a microlens group, and a photosensitive element; the micro-optical window is formed on the seeker head cover, and the micro-optical window is capable of having a thermal load tolerance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body.

[0010] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least a portion of the microlens optical modules are distributed at the top of the guide head cover to ultimately replace the guide head cover.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microlens optical modules are arranged along the circumferential direction of the guide head cover.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microlens optical module has a redundant number.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photosensitive elements of each of the microlens optical modules have different pixel sizes and array sizes.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microlens groups of each of the microlens optical modules have different radii of curvature and effective focal lengths.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the curvature radius and light transmission amount of the micro-optical windows of each of the microlens optical modules are different.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the size of the micro-optical window is determined based on the non-uniform aerodynamic distribution characteristics.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electrical signal is processed by multiple optical means; the optical means include at least one of the following: noise reduction of the image by edge detection algorithm and non-uniformity correction algorithm; and improving the accuracy of imaging by enhancing contrast.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0019] The seeker tracking system provided by this invention mainly replaces the seeker head cover by distributing multiple micro-optical windows on the seeker head cover, and integrates microlens groups and photosensitive elements to form a microlens optical module. It has the characteristics of multi-view perception data acquisition, which improves the overall perception and guidance accuracy of the aircraft. At the same time, due to the reduction of the window size, it can achieve thermal load resistance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body, eliminating the need for air film cooling and thus reducing the influence of aero-optical effects. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art can derive other embodiments based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the microlens optical module of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram showing the optical guidance head cover of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the workflow of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention. In addition, the same symbols are used to label the same structure in the figures. For ease of explanation, structures are appropriately enlarged, reduced, or omitted.

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the microlens optical module 1011 of the present invention.

[0028] Below, through Figure 1 , Figure 2 The structure of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention will be described.

[0029] This invention aims to solve the problem of aero-optical effects caused by cooling gas films and high-temperature mainstreams, as well as the problem of aero-thermal radiation in high-enthalpy, high-speed flow fields. Its main technical challenges lie in:

[0030] First, the thermal load tolerance of large optical windows is much lower than that of the aircraft body, requiring air film cooling, which will generate aero-optical effects. However, if the size of the optical window is directly reduced to improve thermal load tolerance, it will inevitably lead to a decrease in the accuracy of sensing and guidance, failing to meet the requirements.

[0031] Secondly, in conventional optical guidance systems, the shape, curvature, and other characteristic parameters of the optical window are matched with the optical probe, and the optical window cannot be directly reduced in size.

[0032] Furthermore, given the non-uniform aerodynamic distribution characteristics, the distribution and size of the optical windows are also a challenge in achieving high overall sensing and guidance accuracy for the aircraft.

[0033] Given this problem and technical difficulty, it is generally not considered to directly solve the related technical problems by reducing the optical window. However, this invention proposes a distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system, as follows:

[0034] like Figure 1 As shown, this invention provides a distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system. This distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system is generally deployed on the seeker of aircraft, spacecraft, and launch vehicles. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system includes multiple microlens optical modules (microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N), a photoelectric conversion module 102, an analog-to-electronic conversion module 103, an online computing module 104, and a drive control module 105.

[0035] Multiple microlens optical modules are distributed at multiple points on the guidance head cover to eventually replace the guidance head cover. The multiple microlens optical modules are used for multi-view perception to collect and transmit various optical signals of the target to be tracked.

[0036] The photoelectric conversion module 102 is used to receive each type of acquired optical signal, and after analysis and preprocessing, convert it into an electrical signal and transmit it to the subsequent modules.

[0037] The analog-to-electronic conversion module 103 receives each electrical signal processed by the photoelectric conversion module 102, converts it into a digital signal through multiple optical means, and transmits it to subsequent modules. As specific optical means, the optical means of this invention include at least one of the following: denoising the image through edge detection algorithms, non-uniformity correction, etc.; and improving the accuracy of imaging by enhancing contrast.

[0038] The online calculation module 104 is used to receive the digital signals processed by the analog-to-digital conversion module 103, and calculate the position information of the target to be tracked through parameter coupling, so as to accurately track the target.

[0039] The drive control module 105 is used to adjust the flight attitude of the aircraft based on the position information calculated by the online calculation module 104, thereby achieving real-time target tracking. Specifically, the drive control module 105 adjusts the flight attitude of the aircraft by regulating its yaw and pitch motors.

[0040] Since the optical window and optical signal detector in a typical optical guidance system are independent components, their characteristic parameters such as image size and focal length cannot be changed. Furthermore, and more importantly, current technologies for high-speed aircraft and launch vehicles rely on adding structures to reduce or suppress the effects of aerodynamic heating and aerooptics, but the effectiveness of this approach is quite limited.

[0041] To solve the above problems, such as Figure 1 As shown, the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention comprises multiple microlens optical modules 1011, 1012, ..., N. However, since the basic components of the microlens optical modules are the same, only microlens optical module 1011 will be described below as an example.

[0042] like Figure 2 As shown, the microlens optical module 1011 is composed of a micro-optical window 10111, a microlens group 10112, and a photosensitive element 10113. In this invention, the micro-optical window 10111, the microlens group 10112, and the photosensitive element 10113 are integrated to form the microlens optical module 1011.

[0043] A miniature optical window 10111 is formed on the guidance radome. Due to its small size, the miniature optical window 10111 can achieve a thermal load tolerance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body. Furthermore, preferably, the size of the miniature optical window 10111 is determined based on the non-uniform aerodynamic distribution characteristics to achieve an optimal balance between the field of view of the optical window and thermal load tolerance. As a specific example, the diameter of the miniature optical window 10111 is less than or equal to 10 mm. Additionally, as a specific example, the miniature optical window 10111 can be designed, for example, in a circular shape. Since the miniature optical window of this invention can achieve thermal load tolerance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body, film cooling is not required, thus reducing the influence of aero-optical effects.

[0044] Each microlens in the microlens group 10112 serves as an optical signal path. Since the microlens group 10112 serves as an optical signal path and integrates the micro-optical window 10111 and the photosensitive element 10113 into an integrated design, it is beneficial for structural optimization.

[0045] The seeker tracking system provided by this invention utilizes multiple distributed micro-optical windows on the seeker head cover to ultimately replace the seeker head cover itself. It also integrates microlens groups and photosensitive elements to form a microlens optical module. This module features multi-view perception data acquisition capabilities, improving the overall perception and guidance accuracy of the aircraft. Simultaneously, by reducing the window size, it achieves thermal load tolerance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body, eliminating the need for film cooling and thus reducing the impact of aero-optical effects.

[0046] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram showing the optical guidance head cover of the present invention.

[0047] Because this invention integrates a micro-optical window, a microlens group, and a photosensitive element to form a microlens optical module, the size of the optical window is relatively smaller than that of existing optical windows, resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of light entering the window. To improve the optical window's ability to acquire light signals under extreme conditions, in this embodiment, preferably, a multi-point distribution method can be used to enhance the ability to acquire the light signal of the target to be tracked.

[0048] like Figure 3As shown, the various microlens optical modules 1011, 1012, ..., N of the present invention are arranged in a multi-point distribution on the guidance head cover 201 of the aircraft. The distribution positions 202 of the microlens optical modules 1011, 1012, ..., N can be, but are not limited to, the top of the guidance head cover 201. As a preferred embodiment, at least some of the microlens optical modules are distributed at the top of the guidance head cover. The specific placement positions depend on design standards and actual needs.

[0049] In addition, preferably, in order to enable the multiple microlens optical modules to acquire the light signal of the target to be tracked uniformly in all directions, the microlens optical modules 1011, 1012, ..., N can be arranged along the circumferential direction of the guide head cover 201.

[0050] In addition, preferably, in order to enable multiple microlens optical modules to acquire the light signal of the target to be tracked more concentratedly in the specified direction, the microlens optical modules 1011, 1012, ..., N can be arranged in a non-uniform manner along the circumferential direction of the guide head cover 201, so that multiple microlens optical modules are densely designed at the positions of the guide head cover 201 corresponding to the specified direction.

[0051] Furthermore, preferably, to ensure the reliability of multiple microlens optical modules and improve tracking accuracy, the microlens optical modules are designed with a certain number of redundancies. By repeatedly configuring the microlens optical modules, when some microlens optical modules fail, the redundant microlens optical modules take over the function of the failed microlens optical modules, thereby improving the reliability of multiple microlens optical modules. The number of redundancies in the microlens optical modules depends on the specific design standards.

[0052] Furthermore, preferably, depending on the actual design requirements, in this embodiment, the radius of curvature and light transmission of the micro-optical windows 10111 of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N can be designed to be different. Thus, by ensuring subtle differences in the characteristic parameters of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N, and by serializing the image information through the online calculation module 104 and fusing or stitching together the various sampled data, the ability and accuracy of target recognition are further improved. The characteristic parameters such as the curvature and light transmission of the micro-optical windows 10111 depend on the specific actual design requirements.

[0053] Furthermore, preferably, depending on the actual design requirements, in this embodiment, the radius of curvature and effective focal length of the microlens groups 10112 of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N can be designed to be different. Thus, by allowing slight differences in the characteristic parameters of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N, and by serializing the image information through the online calculation module 104 and fusing or stitching together the various sampled data, the ability and accuracy of target recognition are further improved. The characteristic parameters such as the radius of curvature and effective focal length of the microlens groups 10112 depend on the specific actual design requirements.

[0054] Furthermore, preferably, depending on the actual design requirements, in this embodiment, the pixel size and array size of the photosensitive elements 10113 of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N can be designed to be different. Thus, by allowing slight differences in the characteristic parameters of each microlens optical module 1011, microlens optical module 1012, ..., microlens optical module N, and by serializing the image information through the online calculation module 104 and fusing or stitching together the various sampled data, the ability and accuracy of target recognition are further improved. The pixel size, array size, and other characteristic parameters of the photosensitive elements 10113 depend on the specific actual design requirements.

[0055] Below, through Figure 4 The working process of the tracking method of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention will be described.

[0056] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the workflow of the distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system of the present invention.

[0057] like Figure 4 As shown, firstly, in step S1, N sets of optical signals of the target to be tracked are acquired through multiple microlens optical modules, and then converted into N sets of optical system parameters represented by digital signals through photoelectric conversion module 102 and analog-to-digital conversion module 103.

[0058] In step S2, the online calculation module 104 determines whether the optical system parameters are greater than a threshold based on a pre-stored judgment formula. When the optical system parameters are greater than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the online calculation module 104 excludes invalid optical system parameters that are greater than the threshold, indicating that there is a significant anomaly in this set of optical system parameters.

[0059] When the optical system parameters are less than the threshold, proceed to step S4. The online calculation module 104 adopts the valid optical system parameters that are less than the threshold, indicating that there is no significant abnormality in this set of data, and then proceeds to step S5.

[0060] In step S5, the online calculation module 104 uses a preset algorithm to multi-view perceive the speed and direction of the target to be tracked based on the results of multiple sets of optical system parameters, and then proceeds to step S6.

[0061] In step S6, the online calculation module 104 calculates the probability distribution of the motion speed and direction of the multi-view perception and then proceeds to step S7.

[0062] In step S7, the online calculation module 104 retrieves the maximum probability of the target's movement speed and direction calculated in step S6, and proceeds to step S8.

[0063] In step S8, the drive control module 105 controls the motion direction of the aircraft based on the data retrieved by the online calculation module 104.

[0064] Any of the embodiments described above can be expressed as follows.

[0065] A distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system includes:

[0066] Multiple microlens optical modules are distributed at multiple points on the guide head cover. The microlens optical modules are used for multi-view perception to collect and transmit multiple optical signals of the target to be tracked.

[0067] A photoelectric conversion module that receives each optical signal and converts it into an electrical signal after analysis and preprocessing.

[0068] An analog-to-digital converter module that receives each of the electrical signals and converts them into digital signals;

[0069] An online calculation module receives the digital signal and calculates the position information of the target to be tracked through parameter coupling; and

[0070] The drive control module adjusts the flight attitude of the aircraft based on the position information;

[0071] The microlens optical module includes a micro-optical window, a microlens group, and a photosensitive element. The micro-optical window is formed on the guidance head cover, and the micro-optical window is capable of making its thermal load tolerance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body.

[0072] According to at least one of the above embodiments, by distributing multiple micro-optical windows on the guidance head cover and integrating microlens groups and photosensitive elements to form a microlens optical module, it has the data acquisition characteristics of multi-view perception, which improves the overall perception and guidance accuracy of the aircraft. At the same time, due to the reduction in window size, it can achieve thermal load resistance close to or higher than that of the aircraft body, eliminating the need for air film cooling and thus reducing the influence of aero-optical effects.

[0073] The above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. The scope of protection of this application is defined by the claims. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications or equivalent substitutions to this application within its substance and scope of protection, and such modifications or equivalent substitutions should also be considered to fall within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system, comprising: The system comprises: a plurality of microlens optical modules distributed at a plurality of points on the seeker dome to eventually replace the seeker dome, the microlens optical modules being used for multi-view perception collection and transmission of a plurality of light signals of a target to be tracked; a photoelectric conversion module receiving each of the light signals and converting each of the light signals into an electric signal after analysis and preprocessing; an analog-digital conversion module receiving each of the electric signals and converting each of the electric signals into a digital signal; an online calculation module receiving the digital signals and calculating position information of the target to be tracked through parameter coupling; a driving control module adjusting a flight attitude of the aircraft according to the position information. The microlens optical module comprises a micro optical window, a microlens group and a photosensitive element, the micro optical window being formed on the seeker dome and being capable of satisfying a thermal load tolerance close to or higher than a thermal load tolerance of the aircraft body.

2. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein at least part of the microlens optical modules are distributed at a top end of the seeker dome to eventually replace the seeker dome.

3. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the microlens optical modules are arranged along a circumferential direction of the seeker dome.

4. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the microlens optical modules have a redundant number.

5. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive elements of the microlens optical modules are different in pixel size and face array size.

6. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the microlens groups of the microlens optical modules are different in curvature radius and effective focal length.

7. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the micro optical windows of the microlens optical modules are different in curvature radius and light throughput.

8. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the size of the micro optical window is determined according to non-uniform aerodynamic distribution characteristics.

9. The distributed high-speed imaging seeker tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the electric signals are processed through multiple optical means; the optical means include at least one of the following: de-noising of images through an edge detection algorithm and a non-uniform correction algorithm; and improving imaging accuracy through contrast enhancement. ​

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