Coded-Aperture Mask for Compact Terminal-Imaging Seeker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional terminal-imaging seekers are heavy and bulky due to their lens stacks, making them unsuitable for smaller, higher-shock-tolerant precision-guided munitions, where space and weight are critical, and they lack mechanical robustness in high-shock environments.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a spatial light modulator with electrically-controllable pinhole-like apertures to create coded-aperture mask patterns, which reduces the need for a traditional lens stack, allowing for a lighter and more compact terminal-imaging seeker by forming a raw super-imposed image that can be processed into a corrected image using an image processor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a traditional lens stack is used in the terminal-imaging seeker, then the imaging quality can be maintained, but the seeker becomes heavier and bulkier
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the lens from the imaging system and replaces it with a coded aperture mask combined with computational imaging algorithms. The lens function is taken out and redistributed between the mask structure and digital processing, eliminating the heavy glass lens stack while maintaining imaging capability through the relationship: Image = Fourier Transform(Coded Aperture × Scene)
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical-optical lens system with an electro-optical coded aperture mask system. Instead of using refractive optics to focus light, the system uses a spatial light modulator to generate coded aperture patterns and employs computational algorithms to reconstruct images, substituting mechanical lens components with electronically controlled masks and digital processing
2Measurement precision
If a traditional lens stack is used in the terminal-imaging seeker, then the imaging function can be achieved, but the seeker volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the lens assembly from the seeker and replaces it with a thin coded aperture mask. The optical function is extracted from the bulky lens stack and implemented through a planar mask structure combined with computational processing, dramatically reducing the volume occupied by the imaging subsystem
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from three-dimensional lens stacking to a two-dimensional coded aperture mask approach. Instead of stacking multiple lens elements along the optical axis to achieve focusing, the system uses a flat mask with specific aperture patterns and performs focusing computationally, moving the imaging function from the spatial domain to the frequency domain through Fourier transformation
3Measurement precision
If traditional lenses are used in the terminal-imaging seeker, then the imaging capability is maintained, but the mechanical robustness decreases in high shock environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, fragile precision glass lenses with more robust coded aperture masks that can withstand high shock environments. The masks are designed to be mechanically resilient and can survive the launch shocks that would damage traditional lens assemblies, trading the fragility of optical glass for the durability of mask structures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical lens system with an electro-optical coded aperture system that is more resistant to shock. The spatial light modulator and mask structure can better withstand high-g environments compared to traditional lens mounts and optical elements, improving reliability in munition launch conditions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables the creation of a smaller, lighter, and more robust terminal-imaging seeker capable of producing high-quality images, reducing system volume and weight while maintaining image quality suitable for target detection in precision-guided munitions.
Implementation Method 1
The spatial light modulator includes a plurality of electrically-controllable elements, each configured to modulate light transmission therethrough in response to an electrical control signal
Implementation Method 2
The lens is configured to receive light from a scene aligned with an optical axis... transmitting light through the plurality of pinhole-like transparent apertures onto the imaging region of the focal plane array
Implementation Method 3
The focal plane array is aligned with the optical axis and has an imaging region comprising a plurality of light-sensitive pixels
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and associated methods relate to creating corrected images of a scene for a terminal-imaging seeker using an electrically-controllable coded-aperture mask pattern embodied in a programmable spatial light modulator. The coded-aperture mask pattern includes a plurality of pinhole-like apertures, each of which is configured to perform pinhole-like lensing of the scene. The plurality of pinhole-like apertures form a multiplex of overlapping images on a focal plane array aligned with the optical axis. An image processor reconstructs, based on a configuration of the plurality of pinhole-like apertures and the multiplex of overlapping images, a single image of the scene.