Apparatus and method for analyzing spectral radiance

Spectroradiometer apparatus comprising:

• a sensor head having a hollowed body portion and at least a portion of said sensor head being movable;
• directing means including rotatable reflective means for channelling radiation from a preselected source into said hollowed body portion of said sensor head;
• first motive means for selectively moving about a first axis said hollowed body portion of said sensor head and said directing means and said reflective means to receive said radiation;
• second motive means for selectively moving said reflective means about a second axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis and positioning said directing means to receive said radiation;
• and means for separating the radiation emanating from said hollowed body portion into its spectral components;
• and
• electronic means having a central processing unit for generating appropriate electrical signals to control the movement of said hollowed body portion of said sensor head and the movement and positioning of said directing means;
• stepper driver circuit cards for receiving the signals from the central processing unit and generating step commands based on the signals;
• power drivers for receiving the step commands from the stepper driver circuit cards, and for energizing said means for moving said portion of said sensor head and for positioning said directing means in accordance with the step commands;
• and an analog to digital converter for converting analog electrical signals representative of at least part of the spectral components into digital electrical signals for processing by the central processing unit.

Spectroradiometer apparatus comprising:

• a sensor head having a hollowed body portion and at least a portion of said sensor head being movable;
• directing means having rotatable reflecting means for directing incoming radiation into said hollowed body portion of said sensor head;
• first motive means for rotating said hollowed body portion and said directing means and said reflective means about a first axis;
• second motive means motor for rotating said rotatable reflecting means about a second axis substantially orthogonal to that of said first axis;
• field stop lens means for focusing the radiation emanating from said rotatable reflecting means;
• prism means for dispersing the radiation emanating from said field stop lens means into its spectral components;
• reflective means for reflecting the radiation emanating from said dispersive prism means;
• order stop lens means for focusing the radiation emanating from said reflective means;
• a diffraction grating for further dispersion of the radiation;
• third motive means for rotating of said diffraction grating;
• color stop lens means for focusing the radiation emanating from said diffraction grating;
• and a photodetector for transforming the radiation that has passed through said color stop lens means into an electrical signal;
• and
• electronic means for processing data representative of at least part of the spectral components and for controlling the movement of said portion of said sensor head and the positioning of said directing means.

A method for analyzing spectral radiance comprising directing incoming radiation into a hollowed body portion of a sensor head and at least a portion of said sensor head being movable;

• selectively moving said hollowed body portion of said sensor head about a first axis;
• selectively moving and positioning rotatable reflecting means in said sensor head about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis, movement of the hollowed body portion also effecting movement of the reflecting means;
• focusing radiation emanating from said rotatable reflecting means;
• dispersing the radiation into its spectral components to form dispersed radiation;
• reflecting said dispersed radiation to form reflected radiation;
• focusing said reflected radiation to form focused reflected radiation;
• diffracting said focused reflected radiation by means of a diffraction grating to form diffracted radiation;
• rotating said diffraction grating;
• focusing said diffracted radiation to form focused diffracted radiation;
• transforming said focused diffracted radiation into electrical signals;
• electronically processing said electrical signals;
• and
• electrically controlling the movement of said portion of said sensor head, the positioning of said rotatable reflecting means, and the rotation of said diffraction grating.