Device for determining distance of area illuminated by pulsed laser
AssigneeSelenia Industrie Elettroniche Associate S.p.A.
InventorLuigi Rocchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to determine the distance of a target, illuminated by a remote pulsed laser, from a nearby observation point, the time interval between the arrivals of a direct laser pulse and of a reflection of the same pulse from the target is measured along with the angle included between the two directions of incidence. From these data the target distance can be calculated with reasonable accuracy, e.g. for the purpose of emitting an alarm signal if the calculated distance lies within a predetermined range. The device implementing this procedure could also be used in a feedback loop of a system for the automatic pointing of a pulsed laser beam.
Claims4
A system disposed at an observation point for determining the distance therefrom of a nearby target area illuminated by a remote pulsed laser, comprising:
- receiving means responsive to pulses of incident laser radiation arriving in rapid succession from two different directions and assumed to be respectively due to direct illumination and to illumination by reflection from a target area;
- timing means coupled to said receiving means for measuring the interval elapsed between the arrivals of said pulses;
- trigonometic means coupled to said receiving means for calculating the angle included between the directions of incidence of said pulses;
- and
- arithmetic means connected to said timing means and to said trigonometric means for computing an estimate of the target distance from said interval and said angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.