JASSM-like MWIR
The Multi-Aperture MWIR seeker shown in the photograph was designed for a distortion free, wide field of view image across multiple apertures. It has hypergon optics to increase the size of the effective pupil beyond that of the camera’s cold shield aperture. With a conventional lens the system would be F/4, but with the hypergon optics the effective F/number is lower. The seeker’s performance characteristics are listed below:
· FOV: 60 deg with FtanΘ mapping function
· Focal Length; F/#: 22.6 mm;F/3.79 Fovea; F/3.5 periphery
· Spectral Band: 2.5 – 5 µm across 1344 x 784 pixels
The optics
were designed for the FLIR SC8202 with a square format of 1024 x 1024
pixels. The images below were captured
using the FLIR SC8300 which has a rectangular format.
The image on the left is a close-up of an arm and hand showing good gray-scale contrast of veins, fingerprint ridges, and callouses. The color fusion image on the right shows two subjects a few meters away, positioned between a water cooler and a pillar. The image shows good continuity between aperture sectors, and it demonstrates good heat contrast between the warm bodies and the cold surroundings.
The image below shows two gray-scale images of the lab to demonstrate good depth of field, image sharpness, and zero distortion. In the left image, the large printer on the left and the chair on the right are in focus, as are the objects in the back of the lab. Notice that the pillar is straight and the window frames are rectilinear in both images. The books on the shelf in the right image are well resolved.
