Santa Barbara Research Center

Christopher B Tacelli

Michael D Jack

David R Nelson

Jose A Santana

Geoffrey A Walter

Robert D Stephens

Lane H Rubin

A light source radiates an infrared beam that passes through a chopper, a calibration cell and the exhaust plume of a motor vehicle passing in front of the source. A photosensor assembly includes a plurality of photodetectors which are spaced closely adjacent to each other and simultaneously sense the beam after it propagates through the plume. An optical beam homogenizer or integrator disposed between the plume and the photosensor unit causes the light incident on the photodetectors to have uniform intensity. The photodetectors are sensitive to different wavelengths corresponding to spectral absorption peaks of constituents of the composition of the plume, including carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2), hydrocarbon (HC), water vapor (H.sub.2 O) and nitric oxide (NO). A computer computes the composition of the plume as the percentages of the constituents based on the sensed transmittances of the respective wavelengths through the plume. A video camera produces a video image of the vehicle license plate, which is displayed on a video monitor and recorded on a video recorder together with the plume composition data.

Growing community of inventors

Goleta, CA, United States of America

Christopher B Tacelli