In missile applications, countermeasures are one of critical aspects to be handled. New technological improvements affect missile performance because of effectiveness of countermeasures. To eliminate countermeasures’ effects, different mode seeker will be need. Two or more different modes in seeker increase immunity to different kind of countermeasures. Because of these reasons, two different modes are chosen for seeker design of this work. One of them is millimeter wave and other one is four quadrant. By using this two different seeker concept, weakness of individual system will be eliminated by each other. In this work millimeter wave and four quadrant system range performance will be calculated and optomechanical design will be shown with respect to some sample missile criteria. After that seeker performance of system will be compared with other dual mode seekers.
Beam steering optical arrangement needs less volume envelope. However because of the optical path difference
and other aberration factor, image will be disrupted. Performance of optical design will be affected from these
kinds of aberrations. In missile applications, small dimension is important for aerodynamic effects. Using regular
gimbal approach increase dimension, but using beam steering method in missile application instead of regular
gimbal approach has beneficial in aerodynamically. However performance of system will be affected. Because
of that reason two Risley prisms are produced and optical system design is tested at laboratory condition. Change
of MTF is measured and its automatic target acquisition performance is measured with respect to Risley prisms’
position. Finally results are compared with theoretical results.
In missile applications, decision of optical design is critical for system performance. Many kind of optical solution can be chosen with respect to missile criteria. However, some kinds of limitation coming from system criteria eliminate some of optical design alternative. Also validation of optical design is another subject. Design results from simulation should satisfy reality. Some parameters such as modulation transfer function, noise equivalent temperature difference and field of view should be tested for optomechanical module performance. Also, module range performance capability with automatic target acquisition algorithm match with test results. Starting from the design phase to production results, all process should be tested. To achieve that simulation results from the programs are compared in laboratory environment. Finally laboratory results are compared with missile criteria.
In missile application, seeker performance is directly affected by stabilization performance of gimbal. Since missile high velocity, imaging part of seeker is affected from vibration profile. This vibration cause blurring in image part. To understand response of seeker, some theoretical gimbal modeling for a conceptual seeker is done. Also optomechanical design is finished and produced with respect to conceptual seeker. For different stabilization levels under vibration profile, performance of the automatic target acquisition algorithm performance is tested. Finally, laboratory results are compared with model results.
One of the most important aspects of guided systems is detection. The most convenient detection in the sense of precision can be achieved with a laser spot tracker. This study deals with a military grade, high performance and cost-effective laser spot tracker for a guided system. The aim is to develop a high field of view system that will detect a laser spot from a distance of 3 kilometers in which the target is designated from 3 kilometers with a laser. The study basically consists of the system design, modeling, producing and the conducting performance tests of the whole system.
Opto-mechanical structures (objectives) are employed to transfer photons which are collected from their field of view
(FOV) to the detector plane. The sensors used in such systems have high gain which causes them to detect stray light
originated from the mechanical body of the objective. This type of stray light is a major problem in low light nonimaging
optical systems used in laser seekers which employ four quadrant position sensors to determine laser
illumination reflected from a target surface positioned kilometers away. This work, mainly concentrates on reducing
unwanted stray light caused by inner mechanical structure of large FOV objectives with the use of software tools.
Stray light in an optical system can not be totally eliminated. However, it can often be reduced to a level at which it is
tolerable. This works focuses on reducing unwanted stray light originating from mechanical structure of the objective in
a cost efficient way. In order to prevent this unwanted stray light a sample laser seeker objective is designed in ZEMAX
software environment together with its mechanical mount. Black delrin is used as the objective material. Its specular and
diffused reflective properties are measured with spectrophotometer and defined in the software environment. Ten
objectives with different baffle height/pitch ratio (h/p) are designed and used in the same optic design. In order to show
that a software model can be used to find the optimum h/p ratio for eliminating stray light, prototype objectives are
manufactured and tested with readout electronics. After making measurements with different angles on incidence values
best applicable objective with a certain baffle h/p ratio is found. It is verified that the h/p ratio found in software model
is in very good agreement with the measurement results. This helps us not use more baffles than necessary since
increasing baffle h/p astronomically increases production and workmanship costs.
This study shows that, instead of manufacturing expensive prototypes computer simulation can be used to identify and
also take necessary precautions to prevent or decrease stray light before production. This prevents loss of significant
amount of time, work, and cost.
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