Innovations in infrared scene simulator design

Richard Lane; Jeffery L. Heath

doi:10.1117/12.316358

13 July 1998 Innovations in infrared scene simulator design

Richard Lane, Jeffery L. Heath

Proceedings Volume 3368, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing III; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.316358
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The MIRAGE (Multispectral Infrared Animation Generation Equipment) Dynamic Infrared Scene Projector, is a joint project developed by Santa Barbara Infrared, Inc. and Indigo Systems Corporation. MIRAGE is a complete infrared scene projector, accepting 3-D rendered analog or digital scene data at its input, and providing all other electronics, collimated optics, calibration and thermal support subsystems needed to simulated a unit under test with high-fidelity, dynamic infrared scenes. At the heart of MIRAGE is a 512 X 512 emitter array, with key innovations that solve several problems of existing designs. The read-in integrated circuit (RIIC) features 'snapshot' updating of the entire 512 X 512 resistive array, thus solving synchronization and latency problems inherent in 'rolling- update' type designs, where data is always changing somewhere on the emitter array at any given time. This custom mixed- signal RIIC also accepts digital scene information at its input, and uses on-board D/A converters and individual unit- cell buffer amplifiers to create analog scene levels, eliminating the complexity, noise, and limitations of speed and dynamic range associated with external generation of analog scene levels. The proprietary process used to create the advanced technology micro-membrane emitter elements allows a wide choice of resistor and structure materials while preserving the dissipation and providing a thermal time constant of the order of 5 ms. These innovations, along with a compact electronics subsystem based on a standard desktop PC, greatly reduce the complexity of the required external support electronics, resulting in a smaller, higher performance dynamic scene simulator system.

Citation Download Citation

Richard Lane and Jeffery L. Heath "Innovations in infrared scene simulator design", Proc. SPIE 3368, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing III, (13 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.316358

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