Modular reconfigurable optical systems for supporting multiple modalities
AssigneeGoodrich Corporation
InventorsJohn Anthony Tejada, William Jeff McKinley
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Abstract
An optical system comprising includes an off-axis folded three mirror anastigmat (TMA) telescope including a primary mirror for receiving energy from a scene. A secondary mirror is aligned to receive reflected energy from the primary mirror. A fold mirror is aligned to receive reflected energy from the secondary mirror. A tertiary mirror is aligned to receive reflected energy from the fold mirror and to direct energy between the secondary mirror and the fold mirror. A beam splitter is aligned to receive energy reflected from the tertiary mirror, to reflect a portion of that energy to a first imaging sensor, and to pass a second portion of that energy to a second imaging sensor.
Claims15
An optical system comprising:
- an off-axis folded three mirror anastigmat (TMA) telescope including a primary mirror for receiving scene energy, a secondary mirror aligned to receive reflected energy from the primary mirror, a fold mirror aligned to receive reflected energy from the secondary mirror, and a tertiary mirror aligned to receive reflected energy from the fold mirror and to direct energy between the secondary mirror and the fold mirror;
- and
- a beam splitter aligned to receive energy reflected from the tertiary mirror, to reflect a portion of that energy to a first imaging sensor, and to pass a second portion of that energy to a second imaging sensor.
A method comprising:
- changing one or both of a first sensor and a second sensor out of an optical system including a single telescope that forms an image on each of the first and second sensors, wherein changing one or both of the first sensor and the second sensor includes not changing front end optics including the telescope.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.