Raytheon Company

Nicholas D Trail

Jim Hicks

James P Mills

David J Markason

Dylan William Rohyans Martin

Rigel Quinn Woida-O'Brien

Eric C Fest

Daniel W Brunton

John Okerson Crawford

Michael P Schaub

Gregory P Hanauska

David A Faulkner

Patrick L McCarthy

David C Cook

Eero H Ala

Michael J Aden

Clifton J Charlow

Anthony Vinson Damommio

Jim R Hicks

A method for configuring an alignment of a plurality of optical segments in a sparse aperture configuration of an optical device includes providing at least one beam of light from at least one light source located on the sparse aperture optical device, directing the at least one beam of light toward at least one segment of the plurality of optical segments, detecting a reflection or transmission of the at least one beam of light off of the at least one segment of the plurality of optical segments, determining a characteristic of the reflected or transmitted light, and based on the characteristic of the reflected or transmitted light, determining an alignment of the at least one segment of the plurality of optical segments.

Sparse aperture optical alignment methods

A dual-mode active and passive gimbaled optical system including a mechanism for coupling an optical signal from an off-gimbal active-mode source into the on-gimbal passive-mode optical path. One example of the system includes a passive off-gimbal detector assembly configured to image emissive electromagnetic radiation from a viewed scene, and a receiver-path optical assembly, including on-gimbal objective optics, that directs the electromagnetic radiation to the off-gimbal detector assembly. The system further includes an off-gimbal active source that generates an optical signal, a gimbal bearing assembly that supports rotation of the gimbal and includes a centrally-located output ferrule mated to an optical fiber that transports the optical signal from the active source to the output ferrule, and an on-gimbal optical coupling element that receives the optical signal from the output ferrule and couples the optical signal into the receiver optical path to direct the optical signal toward the on-gimbal objective optics.

Optical waveguide coude path for gimbaled systems having an optical coupling element

A system includes one or more lasers, a collimator, and a controller. The one or more lasers are configured to generate laser illumination. The collimator is configured to adjust at least one of a degree of collimation, a divergence, and an intensity of the laser illumination and to direct the laser illumination towards one or more targets. The controller is configured to control the one or more lasers and the collimator in order to adjust the laser illumination directed at the one or more targets, and the controller is configured to control the one or more lasers and the collimator differently in different operating modes. Example operating modes could include a spotlight mode, a single-color dazzler or pulsating mode, a multi-color dazzler or pulsating mode, a communication mode, and an infrared-based operation mode.

Adaptive multi-wavelength laser illuminator

According to one aspect, a sparse optical system is provided. The sparse optical system includes optical segments, an optical source module to generate beams of light, a collimating module to direct the beams of light towards two adjacent optical segments, a detector to receive a reflection of the beams of light from the optical segments, and a processor. The processor instructs the optical source module to generate a first beam of light, determines a first measurement of an alignment of the two adjacent segments based on the reflection of the first beam, adjusts a position of an optical segment based on the first measurement, instructs the optical source module to generate a second beam of light, and determines a second measurement of the alignment of the two segments based on the reflection of the second beam.

Systems for sparse aperture optical alignment and related methods

A multimode radiation source is disclosed. One embodiment includes a waveguide radiator and an orthomode transducer coupled to the waveguide radiator to provide a first signal to the waveguide radiator. The waveguide radiator is configured to receive the first signal and to radiate the first signal at a first location as a first spherical wave signal with a first phase center. The multimode source also includes transmission medium coupled to the waveguide radiator and configured to radiate a second signal and a third signal from the first location as a second spherical wave and a third spherical wave with substantially the first phase center.

Multi-mode signal source

Sparse aperture optical alignment and related methods

An optical transceiver is provided with a light pipe that intercepts, offsets and redirects a portion of the collimated transmit beam to create a virtual object in the receiver field-of-view to perform the BIT. The light pipe comprises an input face and first reflective surface in the transmitter FOV to intercept a portion of the beam along a first axis and re-direct the beam, a second reflective surface and output face in the receiver FOV that re-directs the portion of the beam along a second axis towards the receiver to create the virtual object in the receiver FOV and an optical channel that guides the redirected portion of the beam from the first reflective surface to the second reflective surface to offset the second axis from the first axis. The same detector used during normal operation of the transceiver is used to perform the BIT, which may include a simple 'on/off' test or a radiometry test. The light pipe may be designed with an acceptance FOV that preserves collimation, which facilitates a measurement of alignment error between the transmit beam and receiver.

Optical transceiver built-in test (BIT)

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Nicholas D Trail