US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Robert R Mitchell

Walter E Miller, Jr

Michael M Jones

Gene H Widenhofer

Donald E Lovelace

Wayne L McCowan

Alfred M Wright

Cheryl S Garrison

The Side-Scatter Beamrider Missile Guidance System projects into the guidance field a pulsed beam that is spatially encoded with azimuth and elevation scans of pre-determined angles. This pulsed beam is indirectly relayed to side-looking missile-borne receivers by way of scattered radiation effected by atmospheric particles. Multiple optical receivers mounted on the exterior of the missile, each receiver having a different field-of-view from its adjacent receivers, receive light from the transmitting laser that is thusly scattered by atmospheric particles. In response to the received scattered radiation, the missile's signal processor calculates the missile's position within the guidance field by determining which of the receivers detects the scattered energy and when the detection shifts from that receiver to an adjacent receiver. Subsequently, steering commands are generated to guide the missile to or near the center of the guidance field, which center is normally coaxial with the target line-of-sight.

Side-scatter beamrider missile guidance system

The interferometric alignment device is a small, compact device that can be attached to any two optical instruments that need to be aligned precisely in both pitch and yaw angles. The device utilizes light reflecting from mirrors that are permanently mounted inside the instruments, one mirror in each of the instruments. The reflected light beams exit their respective instruments via a window built into the frame of the instrument and re-enters the attached alignment device wherein they combine to form an interference pattern. The operator of the alignment device observes the fringes of this pattern and adjusts the azimuth and elevation of one instrument relative to the other instrument until the fringes are at an acceptable minimum number or are eliminated altogether.

Interferometric alignment device

The scatterider guidance system is mounted on the flying object that is to e guided toward a more direct impact on the selected target. The system utilizes a designating beam of laser pulses that is emitted from the launch pad toward the target and atmospheric particles that scatter the laser pulses to calculate the guidance commands that lead the flying object to follow the laser beam closely. Upon detection by the scatterider sensors of the laser light that is scattered by the atmospheric particles, the perpendicular radial distance between the laser beam and the longitudinal axis of the object in flight is calculated by the onboard guidance electronics and subsequently used to generate the deflection commands. The deflection commands, in turn, are used to deflect aerodynamic control surfaces of the object such that the object approaches and stays close to the laser beam. This guidance system is activated as soon after launch as possible and continues until the object impacts on the target.

Scatterider guidance system for a flying object based on maintenance of

The purpose of a system for measuring the location and orientation of an ect is to align one object with another by simultaneously measuring the six degrees of freedom of the objects. The system accomplishes the purpose by employing a linear optical detector array sensor on the first object and a pre-selected target pattern on a second object to measure the six degrees of freedom and converting them to six position measurement via a microprocessor which has suitable algorithms residing in it. The six position measurements (azimuth, elevation, range, pitch, yaw and roll) are displayed for viewing by the operator who, then, manipulates the objects until pre-determined desired values of the six position measurements are obtained, indicating a complete alignment between the objects.

System for measuring the location and orientation of an object

The retro-encoded guidance system guides a flying object in its flight tod its destination by measuring and correcting the angular displacement of its actual trajectory from the straight line-of-sight to the destination. A beam of infrared light emanating from a beacon on the flying object is received and angularly encoded by retro-encoder located at the launcher prior to being returned to the missile. The incident beam and returned beam travel on optical paths that are parallel to each other but opposite in direction. The angular encoding is achieved by a reticle of the retro-encoder imparting frequency modulation to the incident beam, the degree and phase of the modulation depending on the location on the reticle on which the beam is incident.

Retro-encoded missile guidance system

The present invention is an initial guidance system for a missile that has o other guidance or inadequate terminal homing guidance to lock onto a target at the time of missile launch. A laser beam projected from the missile launch station is aimed toward the target. Light from the beam is reflected in random directions (scattered) from aerosol particles that are ever present in the atmosphere. This scattered light strikes light detectors that are located on the sides of the missile. When the missile flies off the direction of the target, the amplitudes of impacting light on these detectors are different on different sides of the missile. Guidance controls activated by these amplitude differences cause the missile to veer toward the center of the beam and thus fly in a direction that is more toward the target.

Scatter-rider guidance system for terminal homing seekers

An optically transparent cylinder having a hemispherical cavity at one end hereof and containing at least one light source and one light detector inside the hemispherical cavity utilizes the prismatic effect of the cylinder to locate an object in space. The light source and detector are located on a disk whose insertion depth into the cavity and tilt angle inside the cavity can be varied to control the sharpness, width and direction of the conical beam output from the cylinder, the beam searching the space for the location of the desired object.

Device and method for monitoring the presence of an object in space

A linear detector array is positioned a fixed distance behind a narrow slot n an opaque mask. The array is oriented perpendicular to the slot as viewed from the 'front', or direction of laser energy arrival. Light from the laser source, limited by the mask and slot, falls on only a few adjacent elements of the detector array, depending on the direction of arrival of the light. Further, since such crossed linear elements (slots and array) provide this measure of angle of arrival in the single direction perpendicular to the slot, two such systems of mask, detector linear array, and processing electronics may be employed (one rotated 90 degrees with respect to the other) to provide `vertical` and `horizontal` measurements of direction to the laser source.

Coordinate position detector

In accordance with this invention, a missile referenced beamrider guidance ink is provided in which a continuous wave or pulsed laser output is formed into a gaussian cross section or similarly shaped beam and projected to one offset sensor, or to two sensors located on opposite sides and as far from the missile's roll axis as possible. The rolling missile motion amplitude modulates the received signal and the amplitude of the modulation is a measure of the missile's distance from beam axis. The phase of the modulation provides the direction to beam center.

Missile referenced beamrider

The method achieves a top soft armor attack with the favorable attack ang In addition it eliminates the wiping motion. This is accomplished by a small upward exhausting thruster over the warhead. This thruster, activated on command from the launch station, institutes a rapid pitch down rotation of the missile imparting an angular momentum. This angular momentum produces a jet wiping effect in the opposite direction of that produced by the missile forward flight.

Rotating warhead

Dual field-of-view detection allows reflected energy from a target to be eived in one detector and extraneous reflected energy adjacent to the target area to be simultaneously detected in a separate detector. Comparison of the desired signal with a threshold level and with the detected extraneous energy level allows superior false alarm rejection while improving sensitivity by allowing reduced threshold levels for the true target. This dual detection in a single receiver allows the receiver to have two separate but immediately adjacent fields-of-view which interact with a transmitted beam to form a pair of adjacent sensing zones. A vehicle such as a missile equipped with this detection system can pass in close proximity to a target and distinguish a true target passing through the established sensing zone from extraneous background signals.

Dual field-of-view optical target detector

Apparatus for a beamrider missile guidance system in which a rotating rete wheel with a predetermined pattern of opaque and transparent segments is used to spatially encode a projected beam of electromagnetic radiation with the projected spatial information being used as a tone burst code with the frequency of the tone being proportional to missile position and the projected information being projected in two axes with appropriate timing of the burst for axis recognition.

Tone burst reticle beamrider missile guidance

An optical detector, being operated in a non-linear portion of its response urve, is used as an electronic heterodyning element for two applied frequencies. They may be applied with two modulated light sources, or one source and an alternating current bias component to provide a preselected sum or difference output signal for selectable input frequencies allowing optical tracking of a target.

Growing community of inventors

Huntsville, AL, United States of America

Robert R Mitchell