JPH11295422A - Light wave sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a light wave sensor which is excellent in concealment, which can compute a distance and which can track a target by a method wherein distance information is acquired from an image of the same target obtained through a slit plate installed on a screen and target information for target detecting and tracking is acquired through an image other than a slit. SOLUTION: An imaging device 13 detects only infrared rays 7 radiated from a distant target 1, it amplifies the infrared rays 7 up to a required level so as to be signal-processed, and it outputs image information 9 for target detecting and tracking to a tracking computing device 4. The image information 9 which is used to compute distance information 10 and a target factor 11 is acquired by one infrared imaging device 13. The imaging device 13 which is installed so as to be separated by a prescribed distance from a shaft on a rotating base 19 in order to acquire the information 9 used to compute a first target distance detects the infrared rays 7 of the distance target 1. A drive controller 21 measures an angle of rotation 25 by an angle detector when the information 9 on the target 1 obtained through the first slit is matched with the information 9 on the target 1 obtained through a second slit, an it sends the angle of rotation 25 to a computing unit 22. The computing unit 22 computes the distance of the target 1 on the basis of the angle of rotation 25 and on the basis of the information 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lightwave sensor device used as an anti-aircraft defense device for detecting information on a target to be fired with high confidentiality.
The present invention relates to a light wave sensor device capable of performing tracking and calculation of a distance to a target by an image pickup device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional light wave sensor device for detecting and tracking a target. The conventional light wave sensor device is composed of an infrared imaging device 2 for acquiring image information 9 of a target 1.
A laser distance measuring device 3 for acquiring the distance information 10 of the target 1, a tracking calculator 4 for calculating the position, azimuth and speed of the target 1, a calculation of the target future predicted position and the target are within the range. A shooting calculator 5 for determining whether or not it is within the range (in-range determination); an infrared imaging device 2; a laser range finder 3;
And a display 6 for displaying the target prediction information 12 obtained from the above.

Next, the operation will be described in detail. The infrared imager 2 is configured to detect infrared rays 7 radiated from the distant target 1 itself.
Is detected, amplified to a required level, subjected to signal processing, and output as image information 9 to the tracking calculator 4. The laser range finder 3 irradiates the target 1 with the laser beam 8, calculates a distance to the target 1 based on a time difference until a reflected wave from the target 1 returns, and uses the calculated distance as distance information. It outputs to the tracking calculator 4 as 10. The tracking calculator 4 receives the image information 9 from the infrared imager 2 and the distance information 10 from the laser range finder 3 as inputs, calculates the position, azimuth and speed of the target 1 as target specifications 11, and calculates a shooting calculator. Output to 5 The shooting calculator 5 receives the target specification 11 as input, and calculates the target future position and the result of the in-range determination as target prediction information 12. The target prediction information 12 is visualized as target information together with the image information 9 and the distance information 10 and is displayed on the display 6.
For example, when the future position of the target 1 is within the range, it is used to give a human being information to give a fire command to the gun.

[0004]

A conventional lightwave sensor device calculates a distance to a target by irradiating a target with a laser using a laser distance measuring device (active distance measuring method). For this reason, for example, in the case of a helicopter equipped with a laser irradiation warning device, such as a recent military helicopter, it is possible to easily detect that the own machine is irradiated with the laser. Therefore, when an active distance measurement method having inferior confidentiality is used for the target detection / tracking light wave sensor device, there is a great problem that the distance is measured to an enemy or the laser irradiation source is detected.

On the other hand, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-78906, a two-dimensional image pickup device having sensitivity to two different wavelength bands is used without using a laser range finder.
There has been a method of measuring a distance to a target with one infrared imager by using a difference between input signal values from two wavelength bands and atmospheric transmittance in the two wavelength bands. Since this method requires only one infrared imager, the cost is lower than, for example, a triangulation method in which distance measurement is performed using two infrared imagers, and the distance and azimuth between a plurality of infrared imagers are reduced. There is no need for calculation, and there is no need for a complicated control system that performs control so as to capture the same target by synchronizing a plurality of infrared imagers. However, in this method, in order to calculate the atmospheric transmittance, it is necessary to measure atmospheric data such as the atmospheric temperature and humidity from the photodetector to the target in advance. If it is stable, there is a problem that errors occur in the acquired atmospheric data, which affects the distance measurement system. Further, there is a disadvantage that it is necessary to know the target temperature information in advance, and it is not possible to deal with a future target. Furthermore, expensive two-dimensional imaging devices having different wavelength bands are used.
There is a problem that the cost is increased due to the use of different types.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described technical problem, and uses a single image pickup device for obtaining image information of a target, and includes a target including a distance of a distant target. An object is to obtain a light wave sensor device for calculating information.

[0007]

A lens for condensing incident light energy from a target to form an image, a two-dimensional image sensor for converting an image of light formed by the lens into an image signal, and the two-dimensional image sensor In order to obtain images at both ends of the element surface,
An imager having a slit plate provided between the lens and the two-dimensional image sensor, a turntable having the imager mounted at a predetermined position in a radial direction, and a drive controller for reversibly rotating the turntable. A distance calculator that calculates a target distance from the rotation angle of the turntable and the distance from the rotation axis of the turntable to a position on the turntable where the imaging device is mounted, and the viewing angle from the slit plate. A tracking calculator that calculates the target position, azimuth, and speed based on the target distance and the image of the imager; calculates a future position of the target from the target position, azimuth, and speed; And a display for displaying the calculation result and the determination result by the shooting calculator.

The light wave sensor device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, further comprising a drive correction controller for reversibly and repetitively rotating at a rotation angle calculated from a target distance and the viewing angle of the image pickup device. .

The lightwave sensor device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the lightwave sensor device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising: a minimum target range indicator for detecting an image of a specific portion of the same target; And a drive controller for reversibly rotating the image so that the images match.

The light wave sensor device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention provides the light wave sensor device according to the first to third aspects, in which the image signal is inversely corrected at the same cycle as the cycle of the reversible repetitive rotation, so that the image fluctuation due to the reversible repetitive rotation And an image corrector for correcting the

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 1 and 2
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and includes a tracking calculator 4, a shooting calculator 5, a display 6, an imager 13 also having a tracking function, a drive controller 21, and a distance calculator 22. ing. The tracking calculator 4, the shooting calculator 5, and the display 6 are the same as the conventional one. The imaging device 13 includes a lens 14
2 for photoelectrically exchanging an image formed by the lens 14
Two-dimensional image sensor 15, lens 14 and two-dimensional image sensor 15
And a slit plate 16 provided therebetween.
The slit plate 16 is, for example, a first slit 17 and a second slit 18 in which a rectangular hole is provided at the center of a rectangular thin plate and arranged outside the hole so as to be symmetrical with respect to the hole. The two slit plates 16 are provided, and the infrared rays 7 condensed by the lens 14 and passing through the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 of the slit plate 16 are respectively transmitted to the two-dimensional imaging device 15. It is installed so as to form an image on either side. For example, when the two-dimensional image sensor 15 has 500 × 500 pixels, the two-dimensional image sensor 15
The width, length, and position of the slit are determined so that the infrared rays 7 from the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 are imaged on the pixels (1 × 500 pixels) at one end at both ends. The drive controller 21 controls the reversible repetitive rotation of the turntable 19 on which the imaging device 13 is installed. The turntable 19 has a rotating unit that is reversibly rotated repeatedly, and the imaging device 13 is coupled to the rotating unit. At this time, the first slit 1 of the imaging device 13
The longitudinal direction of the 7 and the second slit 18 is
Are arranged so as to be parallel to the rotation axis 20 of the rotation unit. The distance R between the rotation axis 20 of the rotating part of the turntable 19 and the imaging device 13 is sufficiently spaced by a predetermined distance. FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
The imaging device 13 detects only the infrared rays 7 radiated from the distant target 1 itself, amplifies it to a required level, performs signal processing, and then performs image information 9 for target detection and tracking.
Is output to the tracking calculator 4. As shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 3, image information 9 for calculating the distance information 10 and the target specification 11 is acquired by one infrared imaging device. First
In order to obtain image information 9 for calculating the target distance of
The imaging device 13 installed on the turntable 19 at a predetermined distance from the rotation axis 20 detects the infrared rays 7 of the distant target 1 through the first slit 17. In addition, the imaging device 13
Starts rotating based on the rotation drive signal 23 output from the drive controller 21, and then acquires image information 9 of the same target 1 through the second slit 18. Drive controller 21
Is the rotation angle of the turntable 19 when the image information 9 of the same target 1 obtained through the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 provided at a distance from the center of the image coincides with each other. 25 is measured by an angle detector provided on the turntable 19, and the rotation angle 25 is sent to the distance calculator 22. The distance calculator 22 calculates a target distance using “Equation 1” based on the rotation angle 25 and the image information 9.

[0013]

(Equation 1)

Conventionally, in the passive ranging method, a target position in an image is obtained by using two image pickup devices, and therefore, for example, the target 1 appears to be about 1 pixel in size from the characteristics of the two-dimensional image pickup device 15. At this time, unless the target 1 moves by one pixel, the same target 1 cannot be determined by the two image pickup devices, so that the distance measurement error increases. However, even if the target 1 having the same size of one pixel is detected by using the angle difference information from the target 1, the distance calculation of the target 1 is performed by the rotation angle 25 of the turntable 19 using one imager. Is possible, the error can be reduced. Further, by increasing the rotation accuracy of the turntable 19, highly accurate image information 9 can be obtained. Second, in order to obtain image information 9 over a wide field of view for detecting and tracking the target 1, except for an image obtained from the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 and an image shielded by the slit plate 16. Goal 1 through the image of
And outputs it to the tracking calculator 4. On the other hand, the tracking calculator 4 calculates the image information 9 output from the imager 13 and the distance information 10 output from the distance calculator 22.
, The target position, the azimuth, and the speed are calculated as the target specification 11 and output to the shooting calculator 5. Shooting calculator 5
Receives target specifications 11 and calculates target prediction information 12 based on the results of the target future position and the in-range determination. Symbols visualized based on the target prediction information 12 and target image information 9
Is displayed on the display 6. In the present embodiment, the case where an infrared imaging device is used as the imaging device 13 has been described. However, the imaging device 13 is not limited thereto, and for example, an image of the target 1 can be obtained like a visible imaging device. Anything that can be done is acceptable. The slit plate 16 only needs to have a longitudinal direction parallel to the rotation axis 20. If the rotation axis 20 is upright, there are slits on the left and right. If the rotation axis 20 is horizontal, there are slits on the top and bottom. You may.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a tracking calculator 4, a shooting calculator 5, a display 6, an imager 13, a distance calculator 22, and a drive correction controller 24. .

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.
As in the first embodiment, as shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 3, the distance information 10 and the target
To obtain image information 9 for calculating. First, in order to obtain image information 9 for calculating the target distance, the turntable 1
The imager 13 installed on the camera 9 and away from the rotation axis 20 is
A distant target 1 is passed through a first slit 17 provided at a distance from the center of the image in the image of the conventional infrared imaging device 2.
Is detected. In addition, in order to cope with the target 1 whose position changes, the image pickup device 13 is set apart from the rotation axis 20 of the turntable 19, and the distance of the target 1 and the viewing angle of the image pickup device 13 at each time when the turntable 19 is moved Drive correction controller 24
Rotation drive signal 23 based on rotation angle 25 output from
Is output and the turntable 1 is moved at high speed to the target detectable angle range.
After rotating 9, the same target 1 is set to the second at low speed and precisely.
The image information 9 is obtained through the slit 18 and the first slit 17. The above-described series of operations is reversibly rotated to obtain image information 9 alternately. By performing reversible repetitive rotation, a first image provided at a distance from the center of the image is provided.
Image information 9 of the same target 1 obtained through the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 and the image information 9 obtained through the first slit 17 and the second vertical slit 18 respectively.
The rotation angle 25 obtained at the time of obtaining is sent to the distance calculator 22.
The distance calculator 22 calculates the distance of the target 1 using “Equation 1” based on the data of the rotation angle 25 accumulated by the reversible repetitive rotation and the image information 9. Second, in order to obtain image information 9 over a wide field of view for detection and tracking of target 1,
As in the first embodiment, the target image information 9 is acquired through a part other than the slit plate 16, output to the tracking calculator 4, and then processed by the shooting calculator 5 and the display 6.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention, which includes a tracking calculator 4, a shooting calculator 5, a display 6, an imager 13, a distance calculator 22, a drive controller 21, and a minimum target range display. 26 except that the minimum target range display 26 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described.
In the third embodiment, the pixel of the target 1 on the screen increases as the moving target 1 approaches, and when the target 1 extends over several pixels, image information obtained from the first slit 17 and the second slit 18 9 detects the same one-pixel portion of the target 1 and does not know whether it is displaying an image or not, so that several pixels may appear as a distance measurement error. For this reason, in the present embodiment, in order to improve the reliability by minimizing the error of the image information 9, the minimum target range display 26 uses the edge of the target 1 based on the image information 9 from the imaging device 13. A specific one pixel portion of the target 1 is detected by the detection and the center-of-gravity point detection signal processing, and is output to the image pickup device 13 as the minimum target display data 27.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a tracking calculator 4, a shooting calculator 5, a display 6, an imager 13, a distance calculator 22, a drive controller 21, and a minimum target range display device. 26 and image corrector 2
8, except for the image corrector 28.

Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be described.
Since the imaging device 13 is rotated reversibly in order to deal with the moving target 1, the imaging device 13 outputs the image information 9 of the oscillating target 1. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an image corrector 28 is provided, and the rotation angle 25 of the turntable 19 output from the drive controller 21 is input and the image signal is inversely corrected at the same cycle as the reversible repetitive rotation cycle. The image corrector 28 calculates image shake correction data 29 and outputs the calculated data to the display 6. The display 6 receives the image shake correction data 29 and displays the output of the shooting calculator 5 and the image information 9 in a state where the image is corrected.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, image information and distance information can be obtained only by the image pickup device, so that confidentiality is ensured. Further, the calculation of the target distance and the tracking of the target can be performed by one image pickup device with a slit.

According to the second aspect of the invention, by adding the drive correction controller, the turntable on which the image pickup device is installed can be reversibly rotated repeatedly so that the image obtained through the first and second slits can be rotated. Time delay can be reduced, and image information and distance information of a moving target can be obtained in real time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by adding the minimum target range display, the same portion of one target pixel can be detected through the first and second slits, so that a large image can be detected. It will be easier.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by adding an image corrector, it is possible to transmit target information by a stabilized image without image fluctuation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing Embodiment 1 of a lightwave sensor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram relating to distance information calculation based on Embodiment 1 of the lightwave sensor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing Embodiment 2 of the lightwave sensor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing Embodiment 3 of the lightwave sensor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing Embodiment 4 of the lightwave sensor device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a conventional lightwave sensor device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 target, 2 infrared imager, 3 laser range finder, 4
Tracking calculator, 5 shooting calculator, 6 display, 7 infrared, 8 laser light, 9 image information, 10 distance information, 1
1 target specifications, 12 target prediction information, 13 imager, 1
4 lenses, 152-dimensional image sensor, 16 slit plate,
17 first slit, 18 second slit, 19
Turntable, 20 rotation axis, 21 drive controller, 22 distance calculator, 23 rotation drive signal, 24 drive correction controller,
25 rotation angle, 26 minimum target range display, 27 minimum target display data, 28 image corrector, 29 image shake correction data.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A lens for collecting incident light energy from a target to be shot and forming an image, a two-dimensional image sensor for converting an image of light formed by the lens into an image signal, and the two-dimensional image sensor An imager constituted by a slit plate provided between the lens and the two-dimensional image sensor to obtain images at both ends of the surface, and a turntable mounted with the imager at a predetermined position in the radial direction, A drive controller for reversibly rotating the turntable, a rotation angle of the turntable, a distance from a rotation axis of the turntable to a position on the turntable where the image pickup device is mounted, and a field of view from the slit plate. A distance calculator for calculating a target distance from an angle; a tracking calculator for calculating a target position, an azimuth and a speed based on the target distance and the image of the imager; and a position, an azimuth and a speed of the target Calculation of the future position of the target from A light wave sensor device comprising: a shooting calculator for determining whether or not the target is within its own range; and a display for displaying the calculation result and the determination result by the shooting calculator. 2. The light wave sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive correction controller that rotates reversibly and repetitively at a rotation angle calculated from a target distance and a viewing angle of the imaging device. 3. A miniature target range display for detecting an image of a specific portion of the same target, and a drive controller for reversibly rotating so that the image of the target specific portion coincides from the slit plate. The light wave sensor device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. An image corrector according to claim 3, further comprising an image corrector for correcting an image fluctuation due to the reversible repetitive rotation by performing an inverse correction on the image signal at the same period as the period of the reversible repetitive rotation. Lightwave sensor device.