JP2006162206A - Infrared guidance device, and guiding method for missile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small, lightweight, and reliable infrared guidance device, and a guiding method for a missile. <P>SOLUTION: The infrared guidance device is provided with a wedge prism 3 with one face slanted at a predetermined angle with respect to another face, a condensing optical system 4, a detector 5 carrying out photoelectric transducing of an infrared ray, a rotating mechanism 6 rotating the wedge prism 3 in a face substantially orthogonal to an optical axis of the detector 5, an arithmetic processing part 7 generating an infrared image on the basis of signals from the detector 5 and an angle detecting part 8 detecting a rotational angle of the wedge prism 3, analyzing the infrared image to find a target, and generating a control signal for guiding the missile to the target on the basis of at least positional information of the target in the infrared image and angle information detected by the angle detecting part, and a rotating mechanism control part 10 supplying electric power to the rotating mechanism for rotating the wedge prism 3. A visual field is enlarged by rotating the wedge prism 3 by the rotating mechanism 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a light wave guiding device and a flying object guiding method, and more particularly, to an infrared guiding device and a flying object guiding method for capturing and tracking a target using infrared rays.

  As an infrared guiding device mounted on a flying object such as a missile, there is a device as shown in FIG. This infrared guiding device 12 includes a biaxial freedom gimbal 13 installed in the dome at the tip of the flying object, and a first drive mechanism 14a and a second drive mechanism 14b that drive the gimbal 13 with each of the two axes. A first angle detector 15a and a second angle detector 15b for detecting the biaxial angle of the gimbal 13; a rate detector 9 for detecting the angular velocity (rate) of the flying object; The condensing optical system 4 and the detector 5, and signals from the detector 5 are processed to generate an infrared image, the infrared image is transmitted to the autopilot 18, and the angle command and the first angle from the autopilot 18 are transmitted. The rate based on the angle control signal based on the angle information from the detection unit 15a and the second angle detection unit 15b, the rate command from the autopilot 18 and the rate information from the rate detection unit 9 The control processing unit 17 generates a control signal composed of the control signal and transmits the control signal to the drive mechanism control unit 16, and the first drive mechanism 14 a and the second drive mechanism based on the control signal from the calculation processing unit 17. 14b is controlled, and the infrared image from the arithmetic processing unit 17 is analyzed to detect a target, the traveling direction of the flying object is controlled, and an angle command and a rate command are sent to the arithmetic processing unit 17. And an autopilot 18 for sending.

  The infrared rays radiated from the target are condensed on the detector 5 by the condensing optical system 4, and the condensed infrared rays are converted into electric signals by the detector 5 and sent to the arithmetic processing unit 17 for arithmetic processing. The unit 17 generates an infrared image in a form suitable for a display device such as a TV monitor from the signal and transmits it to the autopilot 18. The autopilot 18 detects the target by analyzing the infrared image and detects the flying object. While controlling the traveling direction, an angle command that is a target value of an angle and a rate command that is a target value of a rate are sent to the arithmetic processing unit 17. On the other hand, the biaxial angles of the gimbal 13 are detected by the first angle detector 15a and the second angle detector 15b, respectively, and sent to the arithmetic processing unit 17, and the angular velocity of the flying object is detected by the rate detector 9. To the arithmetic processing unit 17.

  The arithmetic processing unit 17 generates an angle control signal based on the angle command from the autopilot 18 and the angle information from the first angle detection unit 15 a and the second angle detection unit 15 b and transmits the angle control signal to the drive mechanism control unit 16. At the same time, a rate control signal is generated based on the rate command from the autopilot 18 and the rate information from the rate detection unit 9 and transmitted to the drive mechanism control unit 16. The drive mechanism control unit 16 that has transmitted these control signals controls the first drive mechanism 14a and the second drive mechanism 14b, and tracks the target with the gimbal 13 facing the target. As an infrared guidance device that performs such control, for example, there is an infrared tracking device described in Patent Document 1 below.

JP 2000-147123 A (page 3-6, FIG. 1)

  Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the gimbal 13 used in the conventional infrared guiding device 12 has a housing to which the detector 5 and the condensing optical system 4 are fixed as one axis (in the figure, the inner gimbal axis). ), A second drive mechanism 14b (outer torque motor) for rotating the casing around the other shaft (outer gimbal shaft in the figure), an inner A first angle detector 15a (inner angle detector) for detecting an angle in the gimbal axis direction, and a second angle detector 15b (outer angle detector) for detecting an angle in the outer gimbal axis direction. By independently controlling the first driving mechanism 14a and the second driving mechanism 14b, the optical axis of the detector 5 can be directed in an arbitrary direction, but the infrared guiding device 12 using the gimbal 13 is shown below. There is a problem.

  First, the first problem is that it is difficult to reduce the size of the infrared guiding device 12. That is, in the infrared guidance device 12, circuit elements such as the arithmetic processing unit 17 and the drive mechanism control unit 16 can be highly integrated by using a dedicated chip, a multilayer wiring board, and the like. Although it is possible to reduce the size, the gimbal 13 has a large size housing for fixing the detector 5 and the condensing optical system 4 with a space therebetween, and two for rotating the housing around two axes. Requires drive means (first drive mechanism 14a and second drive mechanism 14b) and two angle detection means (first angle detection unit 15a and second angle detection unit 15b) for detecting the biaxial angle of the housing. In addition, when the casing is rotated around each of the two axes, it is necessary to secure a space so that the casing does not come into contact with other components such as a dome. Have difficulty.

  The second problem is that it is difficult to reduce the weight of the infrared guiding device 12. That is, the gimbal 13 requires a large-sized casing for fixing the detector 5 and the condensing optical system 4 with a space therebetween, and two driving means for rotating the casing in two axial directions. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the weight, and since it is necessary to use a driving means having a large torque to drive a large-sized casing, each driving means inevitably becomes heavy.

  The third problem is that it is difficult to improve the reliability of the infrared guidance device 12. That is, since the gimbal 13 needs to be controlled independently for each of the two axes, the structure is complicated, and the driving mechanism control unit 16 for controlling the two driving means, the angle information and the rate of the two axes, and the like. The circuit configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 17 that generates the control signal based on the information is also complicated, and furthermore, the wiring that connects the two driving units and the driving mechanism control unit 16, the two angle detection units, and the arithmetic processing unit 17 Therefore, the wiring structure is complicated and the cause of failure increases.

  Such problems also occur in infrared guidance devices that are used fixed to large equipment (for example, ships, airplanes, helicopters, etc.), but the size and weight of equipment are particularly severe, and during launch This is a serious problem in an infrared guidance device used for a small flying object such as a missile that is required to operate reliably even in a severe environment such as a large force applied to the.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a main object thereof is to provide an infrared guiding device and a flying object guiding method that are small and light in weight and high in reliability.

  In order to achieve the above object, an infrared guiding device of the present invention includes a detection unit including a condensing optical system that condenses incident infrared light and a detector that converts the condensed infrared light into an electrical signal, and at least In the infrared guidance device that guides the flying object to the target with reference to an image generated based on the electrical signal from the detection unit, the detection unit has one surface at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface. Inclining one or a plurality of wedge prisms, and a rotating mechanism for rotating the one or a plurality of wedge prisms in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector, infrared rays emitted from the target are Alternatively, the light is refracted by a plurality of wedge prisms and is incident on the condensing optical system.

  In addition, the infrared guidance device of the present invention is configured such that one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface, and one or more wedge prisms that refract the infrared radiation radiated from the target, A condensing optical system for condensing the collected infrared light, a detector for converting the collected infrared light into an electric signal, and the one or more wedge prisms in a plane substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector A detection unit including a rotation mechanism that is rotated at a time, an arithmetic processing unit that generates an image based on at least an electric signal from the detector, and power for rotating the one or more wedge prisms in the rotation mechanism. When the target is detected by analyzing the image transmitted from the arithmetic processing unit and a processing unit including a rotation mechanism control unit to be supplied, at least in the image And autopilot that controls the traveling direction of the projectile on the basis of the position information of the serial target, in which at least includes.

  In the present invention, the rotation mechanism includes a ring-shaped outer casing fixed to the inner surface of the flying object and the one or more wedge prisms, and is rotated with respect to the outer casing by a bearing mechanism. A ring-shaped inner casing that can be held, a motor stator that is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the outer casing, and an outer peripheral surface that is fixed to the outer casing of the inner casing, and is disposed to face the motor stator. It can be set as the structure which has a motor rotor at least.

  The flying object guiding method of the present invention uses a predetermined rotation mechanism to rotate one or more wedge prisms configured such that one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface. , Refracting infrared rays radiated from the target at each rotation angle so as to enter the condensing optical system, and detecting the infrared rays condensed by the condensing optical system with a detector; And a step of controlling the traveling direction of the flying object with reference to an image generated based on the electrical signal.

  The flying object guiding method of the present invention uses a predetermined rotation mechanism to rotate one or more wedge prisms configured such that one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface. , Refracting infrared rays radiated from the target at each rotation angle so as to enter the condensing optical system, and detecting the infrared rays condensed by the condensing optical system with a detector; Generating an image on the basis of the electrical signal, and searching for the target by analyzing the image and, when the target is detected, flying based on at least position information of the target in the image And at least a step of controlling a traveling direction of the body.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to expand the search range of the target by rotating the one or more wedge prisms.

  As described above, since the present invention uses a simple structure in which only the wedge prism is rotated, it is possible to reduce the size of the driving portion itself, and it is not necessary to secure a space for driving. Miniaturization of the guidance device can be realized. Further, since it is only necessary to rotate about one axis, the configuration of the driving means can be simplified, and since only the wedge prism needs to be rotated, a driving means having a small torque can be used. It is possible to reduce the weight of the infrared guiding device. Furthermore, since the number of components can be reduced, the circuit configuration of the rotation mechanism control unit and the arithmetic processing unit can be simplified, and the number of connection wirings can be reduced, the reliability of the infrared induction device can also be improved.

  According to the infrared guiding device and the flying object guiding method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  The first effect of the present invention is that the infrared induction device can be miniaturized. The reason is that a wedge prism is arranged in front of the condensing optical system, and this wedge prism is rotated in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector by a rotation mechanism, so that the field of view is enlarged. This is because the size of the drive part itself can be reduced and it is not necessary to provide a space for avoiding interference between the drive part and other components.

  The second effect of the present invention is that the infrared guiding device can be reduced in weight. The reason is that the rotation mechanism only needs to be rotated about one axis, so that the structure can be simplified, and since the rotation mechanism rotates only the wedge prism, the detector and the condensing optical system are This is because it is possible to use a driving means having a smaller torque than that of the gimbal system that drives the entire mounted casing.

  The third effect of the present invention is that the reliability of the infrared guiding device can be improved. The reason is that the structure of the drive part itself can be simplified by adopting the structure for rotating the wedge prism, and the circuit configuration of the rotation mechanism control unit and the arithmetic processing unit for controlling the drive part is also simplified. This is because the number of connection wirings to the driving means and the angle detecting means can be reduced, and the occurrence of a failure can be prevented in advance.

  As shown in the prior art, some infrared guidance devices that capture and track a target include a gimbal mechanism in a dome as shown in Patent Document 1. However, when the infrared guidance device is installed inside an ultra-small flying object such as a micro missile, it is necessary to reduce the size and weight of the infrared guidance device due to restrictions on the size and weight of the flying object itself. It is difficult to meet this requirement in a gimbal system that requires two drive means and two angle detection means for independently controlling the directions of the two. In addition, since small flying objects such as missiles are required to operate reliably even in harsh environments where a large force is applied during launch, it is necessary to devise measures to increase the reliability of the device. It is difficult to meet this requirement with a gimbal system that requires a complicated mechanism to control the direction independently.

  Here, in order to reduce the size of the infrared induction device, it is important to reduce the size of the drive portion itself and to reduce the space for avoiding interference between the drive portion and the surrounding components. In order to reduce the weight, it is important to simplify the driving mechanism and reduce the torque required for driving to reduce the weight of the driving means itself. Further, in order to improve the reliability, It is important to simplify the circuit configuration and reduce the number of parts and connection wiring.

  Therefore, the inventor of the present application comprehensively considers the above viewpoints, and in order to be able to use it for special applications that require small size, light weight, and high reliability, a housing for fixing the condensing optical system and the detector. Instead of changing the angle of the body itself, a simple structure is adopted in which a wedge prism is arranged in front of the condensing optical system and only this wedge prism is rotated in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector. This solves the above problem.

  Note that the wedge prism itself is a member used in optical equipment, and laser processing machines that use this wedge prism to focus laser light at a predetermined position are known, but are used for special purposes such as missiles. None of the infrared guiding devices uses a wedge prism, and none of them rotate the wedge prism to expand the field of view, and the above structure is a novel structure obtained by the knowledge of the present inventor.

  In order to describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention in more detail, an infrared guiding device and a flying object guiding method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of an infrared guiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a specific example of the structure of a detection unit. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing variations of the wedge prism, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are diagrams schematically showing how the field of view is expanded using the wedge prism. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a target tracking procedure using the infrared guiding device of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the infrared guiding device 1 of this embodiment includes a wedge-shaped refractive optical member (hereinafter referred to as a wedge prism 3) and the wedge prism 3 substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector 5. A rotation mechanism 6 for rotating in the plane, an angle detection unit 8 for detecting the rotation angle of the wedge prism 3, a rate detection unit 9 for detecting the angular velocity (rate) of the flying object, and red refracted by the wedge prism 3 A condensing optical system 4 for condensing external light on the detector 5, a detector 5 in which infrared detecting elements for converting incident light into an electric signal are arranged in an array, and a signal from the detector 5 is amplified and the TV is amplified. An infrared image in a form suitable for a display means such as a monitor is generated and transmitted to the autopilot 18 and, if necessary, transmitted from the angle command and angle detector 8 transmitted from the autopilot 18. Corner An arithmetic control unit 7 that generates an angle control signal based on the information, generates a rate control signal based on the rate command transmitted from the autopilot 18 and the rate information transmitted from the rate detection unit 9, and a rotation mechanism The rotating mechanism control unit 10 that supplies power for driving 6 and the infrared image transmitted from the arithmetic processing unit 7 are analyzed to detect the target, control the traveling direction of the flying object, and in the infrared image At least an autopilot 18 that generates an angle command and a rate command based on the position information of the target and transmits the command to the arithmetic processing unit 7 is provided.

  Here, the arithmetic processing unit 17 is configured to perform all of the process of generating an infrared image, the process of generating an angle control signal, and the process of generating a rate control signal. However, each process is performed independently (for example, The image signal processing unit, the search processing unit, the tracking processing unit, and the like may be individually performed. Further, in the infrared guiding device 1 of the present embodiment, the rotation mechanism control unit 10 only needs to rotate the wedge prism 3 in a certain direction, and therefore it is not always necessary to generate an angle control signal or a rate control signal.

  The wedge prism 3 only needs to have a function of shifting the field of view of the detector 5 in a predetermined direction, and its cross-sectional shape is such that one surface has a predetermined beam deflection angle as shown in FIG. It is good also as the shape which inclined in (4), and as shown in FIG.3 (b), both surfaces incline by the predetermined beam deflection angle (The beam deflection angle of each surface may be the same or different.). A trapezoidal shape may be used. The shape of the wedge prism 3 viewed from the front is not particularly limited, and may be circular as shown in FIG. 3A, or may be elliptical or polygonal. Further, the material constituting the wedge prism 3 is not particularly limited as long as it is formed of a material suitable for the wavelength band to be used. When detecting infrared rays emitted from a target, Ge, ZnSe, ZnS, or the like is used. Can be used.

  In addition, although only one wedge prism 3 may be provided, two wedge prisms 3 may be arranged to face each other or a combination of three or more wedge prisms 3 in order to enlarge the field of view. Good. Even in this case, each wedge prism 3 may have a shape in which only one surface is inclined as shown in FIG. 4A, or both surfaces have predetermined beams as shown in FIG. 4B. The trapezoidal shape may be inclined with a declination (the beam declination of each surface may be the same or different), or a combination of them may be employed. When a plurality of wedge prisms 3 are combined, the opposing wedge prisms 3 may be in contact with each other without a gap, or may be arranged with an interval.

  Further, the condensing optical system 4 only needs to have a function of condensing the light transmitted through the wedge prism 3 onto the detector 5, and may be composed of one concave lens as shown in FIG. You may comprise with the lens of. Moreover, the detector 5 should just be provided with the function to convert incident light into an electrical signal, and when detecting infrared rays, a thermal detector, a quantum detector, etc. can be used. The detector 5 may have a structure in which a plurality of pixels are arranged, and the shape and the number of pixels of each pixel can be arbitrarily set.

  Next, a specific structure of the detection unit 2 in the infrared guidance device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a wedge prism outer casing 2b and an outer bearing receiving portion 2e are fixed inside a dome 2a covering the entire detecting portion 2, and an inner bearing receiving portion 2f is disposed with the bearing 2g interposed therebetween. The wedge prism inner casing 2c is fixed to the inner bearing receiving portion 2f, and the wedge prism 3 is rotatably held by the wedge prism inner casing 2c. A motor stator 6a constituting the rotation mechanism 6 and an angle detector stator 8a constituting the angle detector 8 are fixed to the outer housing 2b for wedge prism, and the motor stator 6a is attached to the inner housing 2c for wedge prism. A motor rotor 6b that constitutes the rotation mechanism 6 is fixed at a position that faces the angle detection section, and an angle detection section rotor 8b that constitutes the angle detection section 8 is fixed at a position that faces the angle detection section stator 8a. Then, when electric power is supplied to the motor stator 6a, a magnetic field is generated and a rotational force is applied to the motor rotor 6b. And the angle detector stator 8a and the angle detector rotor 8b detect the rotation angle of the wedge prism 3.

  2 is an example of the structure of the detection unit 2 of the present invention, and the shapes and arrangements of the wedge prism 3, the condensing optical system 4, the detector 5, the angle detection unit 8, and the respective cases are as shown in the figure. It is not limited to. In FIG. 2, the wedge prism 3 is rotated using the motor stator 6a and the motor rotor 6b. For example, the outer periphery of the wedge prism inner casing 2c is provided with irregularities, while the wedge prism outer casing is provided. A gear structure such as fixing the motor to the body 2b and rotating the wedge prism inner casing 2c by bringing the gear driven by the rotation of the motor into contact with the projections and depressions may be used. The wedge prism 3 may be rotated using power transmission means. In FIG. 2, the bearing structure is used to smoothly rotate the wedge prism 3. However, the wedge prism inner casing 2c may be floated electromagnetically instead of the bearing structure.

  Next, how the field of view is expanded by rotating the wedge prism 3 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 5, when the wedge prism 3 is arranged as shown by a solid line (so that the thick part of the lens is at the bottom of the figure), the optical path starting from the detector 5 is collected. It becomes parallel light in the optical optical system 4 and reaches the wedge prism 3. Here, since at least one surface of the wedge prism 3 is inclined at a certain angle (the beam deflection angle in FIG. 3) with respect to the surface orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector 5, the inclined surface is below the figure. The optical path is refracted to the viewing direction indicated by the solid line. On the other hand, when the wedge prism 3 is rotated 180 ° and arranged as shown by the broken line in the figure (the lens having a thicker wall is on the figure), the optical path is in the opposite direction (in the figure). The viewing direction is refracted upward) as indicated by a broken line. Therefore, the visual field direction can be easily changed by rotating the wedge prism 3 without changing the direction of the optical axis of the detector 5 using a gimbal as in the prior art.

  The following describes how the field of view changes when the wedge prism 3 is rotated 360 °. In order to facilitate understanding, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the arrangement (a) is a state where a specific position (indicated by a cross) of the thick portion of the wedge prism 3 is on the lower side of the figure. The state in which the wedge prism 3 is rotated 90 ° clockwise is arranged (b), the state rotated 180 ° is arranged (c), and the state rotated 270 ° is arranged (d). In that case, since the wedge prism 3 is arranged in the solid line in FIG. 5 in the arrangement (a), the visual field seen from the detector 5 is the visual field in front of the detector (the wedge prism 3 is not present) as shown in the lower side of FIG. Move below the visual field). Next, in the case of the arrangement (b), since the thick portion of the wedge prism 3 is on the near side of FIG. 5, the visual field viewed from the detector 5 is more than the visual field in front of the detector as shown on the left side of FIG. Also move to the left. Similarly, in the case of the arrangement (c), since the wedge prism 3 is arranged in a broken line in FIG. 5, the field of view of the detector 5 moves above the field of view in front of the detector as shown in the upper side of FIG. In the case of the arrangement (d), since the thick portion of the wedge prism 3 is on the back side in FIG. 5, the visual field of the detector 5 moves to the right side of the front surface of the detector as shown on the right side of FIG. To do.

  Therefore, when the wedge prism 3 is continuously rotated, the entire field of view becomes a range in which the field of view of the detector front is expanded in all directions, up, down, left and right as shown in FIG. The field of view can be enlarged. The amount of movement of the field of view can be increased or decreased by changing the beam deflection angle. In the present invention, the beam deflection angle can be arbitrarily set so as to obtain a desired field of view. If the amount of movement is greater than half the short side of the field of view in front of the detector, a blank area will be created in the center of the field of view in any state, and if the target enters the blank area, the target will enter. This is not preferable because an object cannot be detected. Therefore, when setting the beam deflection angle, it is necessary to select within a range where no blank area occurs.

  Next, a procedure for tracking a target using the infrared guiding device 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S101, the rotation mechanism control unit 10 supplies power to the rotation mechanism 6, and a current flows through the motor stator 6a constituting the rotation mechanism 6 to generate a magnetic field. This magnetic field generates a force in the rotation direction on the motor rotor 6b. And the wedge prism 3 fixed to the wedge prism inner casing 2c together with the motor rotor 6b starts to rotate. When the rotation of the wedge prism 3 is stabilized, in step S102, a flying object such as a missile is launched in a direction in which the target is considered to be present.

  Here, as described above, in the infrared guiding apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the wedge prism 3 is rotated only within a plane substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector 5 (that is, the traveling direction of the flying object). Therefore, even when the flying object is launched, force is always applied to the wedge prism 3 only from a certain direction regardless of the rotation angle. On the other hand, in the conventional gimbal mechanism, the detector 5 and the condensing optical system 4 are driven in a plane parallel to the traveling direction of the flying object. 5 and the condensing optical system 4 are subjected to forces from various directions. Therefore, it can be said that the structure of the present invention is excellent from the viewpoint of stably driving the constituent members.

  Next, in step S103, the incident infrared rays are refracted by the wedge prism 3, collected by the condensing optical system 4, and incident on the detector 5. The detector 5 converts the collected infrared rays into an electrical signal. To the arithmetic processing unit 7. The arithmetic processing unit 7 amplifies the electrical signal transmitted from the detector 5 to generate an infrared image of a visual field at a predetermined angle and transmits it to the autopilot 18. On the other hand, the angle detection unit 8 detects the angle of the wedge prism 3 at that time and transmits the angle information to the calculation processing unit 7, and the rate detection unit 9 detects the angular velocity of the flying object and transmits the rate information to the calculation processing unit 7. .

  Next, in step S104, the autopilot 18 analyzes the received infrared image and searches for a predetermined target from the field of view. Specifically, in the case of an infrared image, the intensity of the signal increases as the temperature of the target increases, and therefore the target can be detected by specifying a region having a signal intensity equal to or higher than a threshold value.

  In step S105, if there is no target in the field of view, the process returns to step S103, the field of view at the next angle is imaged, and the same processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the target is detected in step S105, in step S106, the autopilot 18 controls the traveling direction so that the flying object meets the target based on the position and angle information of the target on the infrared image. At the same time, an angle command and a rate command are transmitted to the arithmetic processing unit 7. In step S 107, the arithmetic processing unit 7 generates an angle control signal based on the angle command and the angle information from the angle detection unit 8 as necessary, and the rate command and the rate information from the rate detection unit 9. Then, a rate control signal is generated based on the above and these control signals are transmitted to the rotation control processing unit 10. Note that, as described above, the rotation mechanism 6 only rotates the wedge prism 3 in a certain direction, and therefore step S107 can be omitted when it is not necessary to control the rotation.

  In step S108, it is monitored whether or not the target is moving. If the target is out of the designated position on the infrared image, the process returns to step S106, and the autopilot 18 detects the target on the infrared image. The traveling direction of the flying object is controlled again based on the position and angle information, and the target is tracked by repeating the operations in steps S106 to S108.

  As described above, according to the infrared guiding device 1 of the present embodiment, the wedge prism is arranged in front of the condensing optical system 4, and the wedge prism 3 is rotated in a plane substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector 5. By providing the rotation mechanism 6 for this purpose, the field of view can be enlarged by the amount refracted according to the beam deflection angle of the wedge prism 3. And by adopting such a simple structure, it is possible to achieve a much smaller size and lighter weight than the gimbal mechanism, and to improve the reliability. 1 can be used for missile applications.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the target is tracked using the infrared wavelength band is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for any wavelength band such as visible light. Can be applied similarly.

It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the infrared guidance apparatus which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the detection part in the infrared guidance device which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the variation of the wedge prism which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the variation of the structure which combined the several wedge prism which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically a mode that a visual field is expanded by the wedge prism which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the visual field in the predetermined rotation position of the wedge prism which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the visual field expanded by the wedge prism which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the tracking method of the target using the infrared guidance device which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the conventional infrared guidance apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the gimbal in the conventional infrared guidance apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Infrared guidance device 2 Detection part 2a Dome 2b Wedge prism outer casing 2c Wedge prism inner casing 2d Condensing optical system casing 2e Outer bearing receiver 2f Inner bearing receiver 2g Bearing 3 Wedge prism 4 Condensing optics System 5 Detector 6 Rotation mechanism 6a Motor stator 6b Motor rotor 7 Arithmetic processing unit 8 Angle detection unit 8a Angle detection unit stator 8b Angle detection unit rotor 9 Rate detection unit 10 Rotation mechanism control unit 11 Filter 12 Infrared induction device 13 Gimbal 14a First Drive mechanism 14b Second drive mechanism 15a First angle detector 15b Second angle detector 16 Drive mechanism controller 17 Arithmetic processor 18 Autopilot

Claims (7)

A detection unit including a condensing optical system that condenses incident infrared light and a detector that converts the collected infrared light into an electric signal, and at least refers to an image generated based on the electric signal from the detection unit In the infrared guidance device that guides the flying object to the target,
In the detection unit, one or more wedge prisms whose one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface, and the one or more wedge prisms in a plane substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the detector. An infrared guiding device comprising: a rotating mechanism for rotating; and refracting infrared rays radiated from the target by the one or more wedge prisms to enter the condensing optical system. One surface is configured to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface, and one or a plurality of wedge prisms that refract infrared rays radiated from the target, and a condensing light that condenses the refracted infrared rays. A detector that includes an optical system, a detector that converts the collected infrared light into an electrical signal, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the one or more wedge prisms in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector. When,
A processing unit including an arithmetic processing unit that generates an image based on at least an electrical signal from the detector; and a rotation mechanism control unit that supplies power for rotating the one or more wedge prisms to the rotation mechanism; ,
The image transmitted from the arithmetic processing unit is analyzed to search for the target, and when the target is detected, the traveling direction of the flying object based on at least the position information of the target in the image An infrared pilot device comprising at least an autopilot that controls the infrared pilot device.   The rotation mechanism includes a ring-shaped outer casing fixed to the inner surface of the flying object, and a ring shape in which the one or more wedge prisms are fixed and are rotatably supported by the bearing mechanism with respect to the outer casing. An inner casing, a motor stator fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the outer casing, and a motor rotor fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner casing and disposed to face the motor stator. The infrared guidance device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned. A predetermined rotation mechanism is used to rotate one or more wedge prisms configured such that one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface, and is emitted from the target at each rotation angle. Refracting infrared rays to be incident on a condensing optical system, and detecting the infrared rays collected by the condensing optical system with a detector;
And a step of controlling a traveling direction of the flying object with reference to an image generated based on an electric signal from the detector. A predetermined rotation mechanism is used to rotate one or more wedge prisms configured such that one surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the other surface, and is emitted from the target at each rotation angle. Refracting infrared rays to be incident on a condensing optical system, and detecting the infrared rays collected by the condensing optical system with a detector;
Generating an image based on an electrical signal from the detector;
Analyzing the image to search for the target, and at least including the step of controlling the traveling direction of the flying object based on position information of the target in the image at least when the target is detected. A flying object guiding method characterized by the above.   6. The flying object guiding method according to claim 4, wherein the search range of the target is expanded by rotating the one or more wedge prisms.   The rotation mechanism includes a ring-shaped outer casing fixed to the inner surface of the flying object, and a ring shape in which the one or more wedge prisms are fixed and are rotatably supported by the bearing mechanism with respect to the outer casing. An inner casing, a motor stator fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the outer casing, and a motor rotor fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner casing and disposed to face the motor stator. The method for guiding a flying object according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

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