The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 05, 2013
Filed:
Nov. 16, 2010
Michael K. Burkland, Tucson, AZ (US);
Casey T. Streuber, Tucson, AZ (US);
Kristofer E. Tvedt, Tucson, AZ (US);
Michael K. Burkland, Tucson, AZ (US);
Casey T. Streuber, Tucson, AZ (US);
Kristofer E. Tvedt, Tucson, AZ (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
A fixed-source array test station provides a cost-effective high-throughput test bed for testing optical sensors that require stimulus at fixed angular positions. A SAL seeker requires stimulus at fixed angular position across its FOV to calibrate its spatial transfer function (STF). An array of fixed collimated sources at different angular positions is aligned so that their beams overlap the entrance pupil of the sensor under test. Each source may comprise an inexpensive light emitting diode (LED) or vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and collimator. To simplify alignment the sources may be positioned on and perpendicular to the surface of a sphere with the seeker's entrance pupil located at the center of the sphere. The sources are activated in accordance with an activation profile in order to calibrate or otherwise test the sensor.