Electrooptical sensor technology with actively controllable optics, for imaging
US9304305B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 29, 2009 |
| Grant date | Apr 5, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 29, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB64G1/1028
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Plural image planes are illuminated through a single image-collecting objective system. The field of view or magnification (or both), is allocated dynamically among the plural planes. Preferably the planes include two detector planes—one corresponding to a wide field of view (FOV) and the other to a steerable narrow one. Allocation is performed by a beam splitter in combination with a steering mirror, or steering-mirror array, that steers both fields together. The splitter isolates radiation corresponding to the narrow FOV from radiation corresponding to the wide FOV. In method forms of the invention, an electrooptical observation system produces simultaneous plural images for a region of interest. The system displays simultaneous images having respective plural resolutions. In operation a first, relatively wider FOV continuously covers a region of interest; while the second is narrower and has finer resolution than the first.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.