Helmet-Mounted Night Vision System with Segmented Digital Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current night vision systems coupled with cameras are bulky and immobile, making them unsuitable for hands-free operation in mobile surveillance scenarios, as they exceed two feet in length and cannot support the weight of both the scope and camera, rendering them immobile when mounted on a tripod.
Innovation Solution
A helmet-mounted night vision system with an image intensifier tube, microphone, and solid-state memory that converts low-light images and audio into digital signals, featuring a lightweight design with interchangeable lenses, integrated power sources, and electromagnetic shielding, allowing for hands-free operation with a cable connection to a remote memory device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a night vision scope is coupled to a digital camera to enable low-light imaging, then image quality in low-light conditions is improved, but the device size exceeds two feet in length and becomes immobile
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the night vision functionality into separate modules: a compact image intensifier tube mounted on the helmet and a separate digital storage medium. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, reducing the overall length while maintaining image quality through the intensifier tube's electron multiplication capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary cable connection between the image intensifier tube and the digital storage medium. This intermediary allows the heavy digital storage and processing functions to be separated from the optical path, enabling a compact night vision scope that can be mounted on a helmet without excessive length.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a night vision scope and camera are mounted on a tripod for stability, then imaging stability is improved, but mobility is lost and hands-free operation becomes impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static tripod-mounted configuration to a dynamic helmet-mounted configuration. The image intensifier tube is designed to be worn on the operator's helmet, allowing the device to move with the operator while providing stable imaging through the helmet's structural support and the intensifier tube's compact design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the device from a ground-based tripod mounting to a head-mounted configuration, utilizing the operator's head as the mounting platform. This dimensional change enables hands-free operation while maintaining imaging stability through the helmet's natural stability and the compact image intensifier tube design.
3Volume of moving object
If a sleeve couples a scope to a camera to enable compact mounting, then device compactness is improved, but the sleeve cannot adequately support the weight of the scope or camera
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the optical components (image intensifier tube) from the digital storage and processing components. This segmentation allows the image intensifier tube to be compact and lightweight enough for helmet mounting, while the separate digital storage medium handles the weight and power requirements independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the digital storage and power functions from the optical path, placing them in a separate digital storage medium. This extraction reduces the weight and size of the image intensifier tube itself, making it suitable for compact helmet mounting while the separate medium provides the necessary power and storage capacity.
4Weight of moving object
If both scope and camera must be held in one's hands during operation, then portability is improved, but hands-free operation becomes impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to be worn on the operator's helmet, dynamically adapting to the operator's movements while providing stable imaging. The compact image intensifier tube mounted on the helmet allows hands-free operation, as the device moves with the operator rather than requiring manual holding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from handheld operation to head-mounted operation, utilizing the operator's head as the mounting platform. This dimensional change enables hands-free operation while maintaining portability, as the device is worn rather than carried, freeing the operator's hands for other tasks.
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
Enables lightweight, mobile, and hands-free night vision capabilities with the ability to record both audio and video, supporting continuous operation and easy deployment in field environments, suitable for special operations and law enforcement.
Implementation Method 1
The image intensifier tube converts a low light image into a plurality of digital images
Implementation Method 2
The image intensifier tube includes a photocathode and a micro-channel plate. The photocathode converts the photons into a first plurality of electrons. The micro-channel plate converts the first plurality of electrons into a second, much larger, plurality of electrons
Implementation Method 3
An objective lens having a nominal field of view in a range of between seventy and one hundred millimeters degrees is arranged at a front end of the night vision device
Implementation Method 4
The second plurality of electrons is directed onto a phosphor or fluorescing screen to produce photons which create a visible image
Implementation Method 5
A semiconductor image detector is arranged in close proximity to the phosphor or fluorescing screen to detect the photons and convert them into a digital or analog image signal
Data Source
AI summary
A night vision system includes an image intensifier tube and circuitry coupled to a digital storage medium that periodically samples a signal provided by the image intensifier tube and stores the sampled image to be viewed in near real time or at a later date by a data analyst. The night vision system includes a casing surrounding the image intensifier tube and the associated circuitry along with a port for accepting a power and/or signal cable for providing power to the image intensifier tube and image signal data to the digital storage medium. The system may further include a daytime camera and a switch for toggling the image signal data input to the digital storage medium between the daytime camera and the image intensifier tube.