Raytheon Company

Gregory K Pierce

William Hale Wellman

Mary Morabito O'Neill

An imaging sensor system includes an optics system that images a point feature of a scene at an image plane with a blur-circle image having a blur diameter, and a detector array at the image plane. Special array patterns and signal detector logic are used to improve the accuracy of the determination of the object location. In one form, the detector array is a one-dimensional detector array comprising a plurality of detector subelements each having a width of from about &#xbd; to about 5 blur diameters, and a length of n blur diameters. Each detector subelement overlaps each of two adjacent detector subelements along their lengths. An overlap of each of the two adjacent detector subelements is m blur diameters, and a center-to-center spacing of each of the two adjacent detector subelements is nblur diameters. The value of n is equal to about 3m, and the value of m is equal to about n/2. In another form, the detector is a two-dimensional detector array of detector subelements. The detector subelements are sized and staggered such that an area of the blur-circle image may not simultaneously be split equally among four detector subelements.

Imaging sensor system with staggered arrangement of imaging detector subelements, and method for locating a position of a feature in a scene

A position of a feature in a scene is located by forming an image of the feature using a segmented array having a plurality of array subelements. Each of the array subelements has an output signal. The output signals from at least two spatially adjacent array subelements are cooperatively analyzed to establish a data set reflective of an extent to which output signals responsive to the image of the feature are produced from exactly one or from more than one of the adjacent array subelements. The data set is used to reach a conclusion as to a location of the image of the feature on the segmented array. Increased positional accuracy is attained with no loss of sensitivity.

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Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America

Gregory K Pierce