Fusion Night Vision Parallax Correction Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard night vision systems struggle to provide clear imagery through smoke and heavy sandstorms, and infrared thermal imagers lack sufficient resolution and sensitivity, while fusion systems face misregistration issues due to parallax when viewing targets at varying distances.
Innovation Solution
A fusion night vision system with dual sensors (one for long-wave infrared and another for visible wavelengths) uses a parallax correction circuit and mechanical range finder to align images from both sensors, employing horizontal/vertical feature filters and binary edge detection to produce a unified, high-resolution image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If fusion systems combine image intensification with infrared sensing, then visibility through smoke and sandstorms is improved, but misregistration due to parallax occurs at varying distances
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the infrared image based on the detected distance to the target. The processor modifies the infrared image data according to the measured distance, allowing the fusion system to maintain accurate registration across varying ranges while preserving the ability to see through smoke and sandstorms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical alignment methods with an electronic processing approach. A distance measuring device (such as a laser range finder) electronically measures the target distance, and a processor electronically adjusts the infrared image data accordingly, eliminating the need for complex mechanical alignment mechanisms.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If infrared thermal imagers are used to see through smoke and dust, then visibility is improved, but resolution and sensitivity are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges infrared image data with visible light image data to create a fused image. The infrared component provides penetration through smoke and dust, while the visible light component contributes higher resolution and sensitivity, combining the advantages of both sensing modalities into a single enhanced image.
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
The system effectively reduces misregistration and enhances image clarity by aligning images from both sensors, providing improved visibility through smoke and sandstorms and maintaining boresight accuracy at varying distances.
Implementation Method 1
a first objective optics (104) for receiving scene information in a first range of wavelengths including long-wave infrared
Implementation Method 2
The first sensor (204) may be an uncooled microbolometer focal plane array sensitive to long wave infrared radiation
Implementation Method 3
a second objective optics (106) for receiving scene information from a second range of wavelengths consisting of visible light
Implementation Method 4
The second sensor (208) may be a digital image intensification (DI2) device such as the electron bombarded active pixel sensor (EBAPS) sensitive to shorter wavelength radiation
Implementation Method 5
Fusion systems have been developed that combine image intensification with infrared sensing. The image intensification information and the infrared information are fused together to provide a fused image that provides benefits over just image intensification or just infrared sensing.
Data Source
AI summary
A fusion night vision system corrects for parallax error by comparing an image from a first sensor with an image from a second sensor.