KR102530236B1 - Optical system capable of optical axis correction - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical system is disclosed herein. An optical system disclosed in the present specification includes a laser light source for irradiating a beam, and a laser detector for obtaining distance information between a target reflecting a beam irradiated out of the optical system and the optical system based on an electrical signal included in the incident beam. A laser distance measuring unit including a laser distance measuring unit, a SWIR sensor unit including a SWIR detector that generates an image based on the received visible light when visible light is received, and a first light path starting from the laser distance measuring unit and connecting to the SWIR sensor unit is formed. optical components including a wavelength splitter, a cube corner prism, and a stabilizing mirror arranged to be

Description

Optical system capable of optical axis correction {OPTICAL SYSTEM CAPABLE OF OPTICAL AXIS CORRECTION}

The present invention relates to an optical axis alignment device and method for day observation equipment for a gunner's sight.

The target's visible light signal is reflected from the stabilizing mirror and incident to the day observation device, and can be directly observed with the naked eye or confirmed in the form of an image through a display connected to a TV sensor equipped with a CCD or CMOS detector.

However, conventionally, since the laser range finder, the daytime observation device, and the TV sensor are manufactured in separate types, an error in artillery shooting may occur due to a deviation of the optical axis during observation.

Therefore, there is a need for a structure in which a TV sensor is integrated to prevent optical axis distortion, and a device and method capable of checking and correcting optical axis distortion of a laser distance meter, a day observation device, and a TV sensor in real time.

In addition, even in the case of a SWIR sensor applicable to prevent degradation of daytime observation performance in an all-weather environment, there is a need for a device and method capable of checking and correcting optical axis distortion in real time.

The present invention aims to address the aforementioned needs and/or problems.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to implement an optical axis alignment device and method capable of checking and correcting an optical axis misalignment in real time.

An optical system according to an embodiment of the present invention obtains distance information between a target that reflects a beam irradiated out of the optical system and the optical system based on a laser light source for irradiating a beam and an electrical signal included in an incident beam. A laser distance measuring unit including a laser detector, a SWIR sensor unit including a SWIR detector that generates an image based on the received visible light when visible light is received, and a first optical path starting from the laser distance measuring unit and connecting to the SWIR sensor unit. optical components including a wavelength splitter, a cube corner prism, and a stabilizing mirror arranged to form a .

Effects of the optical axis alignment device and method for daytime observation equipment for a gunner's scope according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

The present invention can check and correct optical axis distortion in real time.

The effects obtainable in the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included as part of the detailed description to aid understanding of the present invention, provide examples of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, describe the technical features of the present invention.
1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present specification.
2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical system according to another embodiment of the present specification.
3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical system according to another exemplary embodiment of the present specification.
FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical axis correction device according to an embodiment of the present specification applicable to the optical system of FIG. 3 .
5 is a flowchart illustrating an optical axis correction method according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the same or similar components are assigned the same reference numerals regardless of reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. The suffixes "module" and "unit" for components used in the following description are given or used together in consideration of ease of writing the specification, and do not have meanings or roles that are distinct from each other by themselves. In addition, in describing the embodiments disclosed in the present invention, if it is determined that detailed descriptions of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention, the detailed descriptions will be omitted. In addition, the accompanying drawings are only for easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention, the technical idea disclosed in the present invention is not limited by the accompanying drawings, and all changes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention , it should be understood to include equivalents or substitutes.

Terms including ordinal numbers, such as first and second, may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. It should be. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, it should be understood that no other element exists in the middle.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In this application, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an optical system according to an embodiment of the present specification includes a laser distance measuring unit 110, a SWIR sensor unit 120, first and second stabilizing mirrors 131 and 132, and a wavelength separator 140 ), and a cube corner prism 150.

The laser distance measuring unit 110 may include a laser light source 111, a laser detector 112, a beam splitter 113, and one or more optical lenses.

The laser light source 111 radiates a laser beam toward the beam splitter 113, and the irradiated beam passes through the beam splitter 113 and the wavelength splitter 140 and is reflected by the first stabilizing mirror 131 and is reflected by the optical system. is output to the outside of A beam output to the outside of the optical system may be reflected by the target and incident to the optical system.

In response to the externally outputted laser beam being reflected by the target, the beam incident to the optical system passes through the first stabilizing mirror 131, the wavelength splitter 140, and the beam splitter 113 in order, to the laser detector 112 ) can be entered. The laser detector 112 may obtain distance information between a target that reflects the output laser beam and the optical system based on an electrical signal included in the incident beam.

Meanwhile, in the laser distance measurement unit 110, between the laser light source 111 and the beam splitter 113, between the laser detector 112 and the beam splitter 113, and between the beam splitter 113 and the wavelength splitter 140. At least one optical lens may be disposed on.

The SWIR sensor unit 120 may include a SWIR detector 121 and one or more lenses.

The SWIR sensor unit 120 passes the visible light reflected from the target through the first stabilizing mirror 131, the wavelength separator 140, the second stabilizing mirror 132, and at least one optical lens in order to reach the SWIR detector 121. can be received through The SWIR detector 121 may generate an electrical signal based on the received visible light, and the generated electrical signal becomes a basis for an image of the target.

In one example, a laser beam with a wavelength of 1550 nm may reflect at least 1% or less at the wavelength splitter 140 . At this time, the laser beam with a wavelength of 1550 nm reflected by the wavelength splitter 140 passes through the cube corner prism 150, the wavelength splitter 140, the second stabilization mirror 132, and at least one optical lens to give SWIR received through the detector 121.

In one embodiment, the cube corner prism 150 may be provided as a rotating body that rotates based on a fixed axis. An inclination of the cube corner prism 150 may be changed at a predetermined angle manually or in response to a control signal from a controller according to a user's manipulation, and the inclination change may cause a change in a related optical path.

In such an optical system, the error between the first optical axis of the laser distance measurement unit 110 and the second optical axis of the SWIR sensor unit 120 can be measured using the laser light source 111 and the cube corner prism 150. do. Also, the measured error can be corrected by adjusting the angle of the cube corner prism 150 .

2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical system according to another embodiment of the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an optical system according to another embodiment includes optical components 214, 215, and 216 for measuring an optical axis error, first and second additional wavelength separators 240, 221, and 222, and a day observation unit. 260, and a TV sensor unit 270 may be further included.

The day observation unit 260 may include one or more lenses. The visible light reflected from the target passes through the first stabilizing mirror 231, the wavelength splitter 240, the second stabilizing mirror 232, and the first additional wavelength splitter 221 and is incident to the day observation unit 260. , the incident visible light can be received by the naked eye.

The TV sensor unit 270 may include an image sensor 271 . The visible light reflected from the target passes through the first stabilizing mirror 231, the wavelength splitter 240, the second stabilizing mirror 232, the first additional wavelength splitter 221, and the second additional wavelength splitter 222. It is received by the image sensor 271 (eg, CCD, CMOS, etc.) included in the TV sensor unit 270. In order to provide image information of a target through a display, the image sensor 271 may generate an electrical signal corresponding to the received visible light.

Here, the first additional wavelength splitter 221 and the second additional wavelength splitter 222 are arranged on the SWIR optical path starting from the second stabilizing mirror 232 and ending with the SWIR sensor 221, wherein the SWIR optical path It is arranged to have a predetermined angle with respect to the SWIR optical path so as to provide a light source, light energy, or a laser beam corresponding to the day observation unit 260 and the TV sensor unit 270, respectively.

In one embodiment, optical components 214 , 215 , and 216 for optical error measurement may be further included in the laser distance measuring unit 210 . The optical components 214 , 215 , and 216 for optical error measurement may include a reticle 214 , a meniscus lens 215 , and a third additional wavelength separator 216 . Visible light (e.g., light in the wavelength range of 450 nm to 700 nm) emitted through the reticle is a meniscus lens 215, a third additional wavelength splitter 216, a beam splitter 213, a first It is incident toward the SWIR sensor unit 220 via the wavelength separator 240, the cube corner prism 250, and the second stabilizing mirror 232. The visible light incident toward the SWIR sensor unit 220 is provided to the day observation unit 260 and the TV sensor unit 270 by the first and second additional wavelength separators 221 and 222, respectively.

For reference, the cross reticle 214 refers to a light emitting object having a cross reticle pattern on the observed surface. That is, the observer can check the corresponding crosshair pattern with the naked eye through the daytime observation unit 260 or as an image through the TV sensor unit 270 . The crosshair pattern identified in this way is then used for optical axis correction associated with the daytime observation unit 260 and the TV sensor unit 270.

In one embodiment, the optical axis error associated with the SWIR sensor unit 220 can be detected by analyzing the laser distance measuring unit 210, preferably the laser light source 211 of 1550 nm wavelength of the laser distance measuring unit 210, , can be corrected through fine adjustment of the cube corner prism 250.

In one embodiment, when the correction for the optical axis error associated with the SWIR sensor unit 220 is completed, the optical axis error associated with the TV sensor unit 270 can be individually corrected.

For the optical axis error associated with the TV sensor unit 270, the control unit checks the position of the crosshair included in the image information provided through the display using the optical axis correction software stored in the memory, and the position of the checked crosshair is set in advance. If it does not correspond to the reference position, the position of the reticle may be corrected to correspond to the preset reference position.

In this way, the optical axis error of the SWIR sensor unit 220 is determined through fine adjustment of the cube corner prism 250, and the optical axis error of the TV sensor unit 270 is determined through the optical axis correction software and the control unit provided in the optical system, respectively. By correcting optical axis errors that may occur between the SWIR sensor unit and the TV sensor unit 270, errors in all optical axes can be minimized in an all-weather environment.

3 is a diagram for schematically explaining an optical system according to another embodiment of the present specification, and FIG. 4 is an optical axis correction device 380 according to another embodiment of the present specification applicable to the optical system of FIG. 3 It is a drawing for schematic explanation.

Referring to FIG. 3 , an optical system according to another embodiment may further include an optical axis correction device 380 . The optical axis correction device 380 is on an optical path formed between the first additional wavelength separator 321 and the day observation unit 360, preferably between the first additional wavelength separator 321 and the day observation unit 360. can be placed.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the optical axis correction device 380 may include at least one or at least two wedge prisms 381 and 382 . In one example, the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 are provided in a trapezoidal shape with an angle between two vertices of 90 degrees and one oblique plane. At this time, the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 are arranged so that the vertical plane of one wedge prism 381 (a plane connecting vertices having a 90 degree angle) faces the vertical plane of the other wedge prism 382 .

In one embodiment, the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 are arranged spaced apart from each other. A distance between the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 may be adjusted by a controller. As the distance between the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 increases, the optical path difference between the beam LP1 incident to the optical axis correction device 380 and the refracted beam LP2-1 or LP2-2 increases. , the closer the distance is, the smaller the optical path difference between the beam LP1 incident to the optical axis correction device 380 and the refracted beam LP2-1 or LP2-2.

In one embodiment, when the correction for the optical axis error associated with the SWIR sensor unit 320 is completed, the optical axis error associated with the TV sensor unit 370 and the optical axis error associated with the daytime observation unit 360 are individually corrected. possible.

In this way, by adjusting the distance between the two wedge prisms 381 and 382 included in the optical axis correction device 380, the optical axis correction device 380, more preferably, the beam incident toward the day observation unit 360 By adjusting the optical path of (LP1), the optical axis error can be minimized.

That is, the optical axis error of the SWIR sensor unit 320 is determined through fine adjustment of the cube corner prism 350, and the optical axis error of the TV sensor unit 370 is determined through an optical axis correction application and a control unit provided in the optical system, and daytime The optical axis error of the observation unit 360 is an optical axis error that can occur between each of the SWIR sensor unit 320, the TV sensor unit 370 and the daytime observation unit 360 through fine adjustment of the wedge prisms 381 and 382 By correcting , errors for all optical axes in an all-weather environment can be minimized.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an optical axis correction method according to an embodiment of the present specification.

The control unit may obtain optical axis information of the laser distance measuring unit (S110). The control unit may measure the optical axis error of the SWIR sensor unit by comparing it with the optical axis information (S120). The control unit may adjust the tilt of the corner cube prism by comparing it with the optical axis information (S130).

When the optical axis error of the SWIR sensor unit is corrected, the control unit measures the optical axis error of at least one of the TV sensor unit and the daytime observation unit based on the shape of the reticle of visible light emitted from the reticle included in the laser distance measuring beam, respectively. The measured optical axis error of can be corrected (S140).

For example, the control unit may measure the optical axis error of the TV sensor unit by comparing it with the optical axis information, and then the control unit checks the location of the crosshairs included in the image information provided through the display, and determines the position of the checked crosshairs. If it does not correspond to the preset reference position, the position of the reticle may be corrected to correspond to the preset reference position using the optical axis correction software stored in the memory.

As another example, the controller may adjust the distance between the two wedge prisms arranged to be spaced apart from each other so that the measured optical axis error is minimized. As the distance between the two wedge prisms increases, the optical path difference between the beam incident to the optical axis correction device and the refracted beam increases. The optical path difference becomes small. The distance between the two wedge prisms may be corrected by the control unit to correspond to the position of the reticle checked based on the beam whose light path incident through the daytime observation unit is changed and a preset reference position.

The above-described present invention can be implemented as computer readable code on a medium on which a program is recorded. The computer-readable medium includes all types of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable media include Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Disk (SSD), Silicon Disk Drive (SDD), ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc. , and also includes those implemented in the form of a carrier wave (eg, transmission over the Internet). Accordingly, the above detailed description should not be construed as limiting in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the equivalent scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

A laser distance measurement unit including a laser light source for irradiating a beam and a laser detector for obtaining distance information between a target reflecting the irradiated beam to the outside of the optical system and the optical system based on an electrical signal included in the incident beam;
A SWIR sensor unit including a SWIR detector that generates an image based on the visible light when visible light is received;
Optical components including a wavelength separator, a cube corner prism, and a stabilizing mirror arranged to form a first optical path starting from the laser distance measurement unit and connecting to the SWIR sensor unit;
including,
The wavelength splitter reflects at least 1% or less of a beam having a wavelength of at least 1550 nm,
The first optical path is an optical path in which the reflected beam having a wavelength of at least 1550 nm is incident to the SWIR sensor unit through a cube corner prism, a wavelength separator, and a stabilizing mirror in order,
The laser distance measurement unit further includes an additional light source including a reticle for outputting a beam of visible light wavelength,
The SWIR sensor unit further includes first and second additional wavelength separators,
The optical system may include: a day observation unit for receiving some of the beams output from the additional light source reflected by the first additional wavelength splitter, and another part of the beams output from the additional light source reflected by the second additional wavelength splitter. An optical system further comprising a TV sensor unit that receives what has been done.
According to claim 1,
An optical system characterized in that the cube corner prism is rotatable.
delete delete According to claim 1,
An optical system, characterized in that the first and second additional wavelength splitters are arranged on a SWIR optical path starting from a stabilizing mirror and ending with a SWIR sensor.
According to claim 5,
The first and second additional wavelength splitters are arranged to have a predetermined angle in relation to the SWIR optical path to provide beams on the SWIR optical path to the daytime observation unit and the TV sensor unit.
According to claim 5,
The optical system further includes an optical axis correction device between the day observation unit and the first additional wavelength separator,
The optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the optical axis correction device includes at least one wedge prism or at least two wedge prisms.
According to claim 7,
The optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two wedge prisms are provided in a trapezoidal shape having one oblique plane to each other.
According to claim 8,
The optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two wedge prisms are disposed in directions in which the inclined planes are away from each other.
According to claim 8,
The optical system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two wedge prisms are disposed in directions in which the oblique planes are away from each other, and long sides of the at least two wedge prisms are disposed opposite to each other.
According to any one of claims 8 to 10,
The optical system, characterized in that the at least two wedge prisms are disposed spaced apart by a predetermined distance.
According to claim 11,
The optical system, characterized in that the predetermined distance is adjustable by a control unit of the optical system.
According to claim 1,
Software stored in the memory of the optical system so that the beam including the visible light output by the additional light source is received by the TV sensor unit and the position of the crosshair included in the generated image corresponds to the preset reference position of the crosshair An optical system characterized in that for correcting an optical axis corresponding to the image by using.

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