Imaging lidar system employing bistatic operation
US5343284A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 22, 1992 |
| Grant date | Aug 30, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 22, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S17/89
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An imaging lidar system is presented which is adapted to decrease the backscattering at the receiver when a target is viewed in reflection and to increase the backscattered reflection when the target is viewed in obscuration by operating the airborne lidar imaging system bistatically in the former case, and monostatically in the latter case. In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a retractible prism and remote reflecting mirror are used to direct the laser transmitter beam downward. The reflecting mirror is offset so that there is a finite angle between the transmitter optical path and the path of the light reflected back into the CCD framing camera. The angle can be varied by moving the reflecting mirror along a track or rail with the appropriate adjustment to the mirror so that the transmitter beam is completely captured and directed downward to illuminate the area viewed by the camera. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the camera is placed on runners and displaced from the transmitter beam. A control is inserted so that the transmitter optics are directed to the area imaged by the camera.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.