Detector of suspended cables for avionic applications

An apparatus for detecting thin, elongated objects suspended in the flight path of a flying vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• means for generating a scan signal conforming to a raster scan signal modulated by random noise;
• means for driving a repetitively pulsed laser beam, said driving means being responsive to said scan signal for driving said laser beam pulses in a search path of motion conforming to a randomly modified raster scan pattern within a predetermined scan period;
• means for receiving reflected laser beam pulses, said reflected laser beam pulses being formed as said laser beam pulses are reflected from an object within said search path;
• means for converting each of said reflected laser beam pulses into reflection data conforming to a three dimensional spatial relationship between the point of reflection of said laser beam pulse from said object and said vehicle;
• and
• means for discriminating desired target reflections from background reflections, said discriminating means comprising:
• means for analyzing said reflection data so as to identify specific reflection data falling within a predetermined spatial range;
• and
• means for processing said specific reflection data received during said scan period so as to assemble said specific reflection data into configurations, and so as to identify the conformance of said configurations of said specific reflection data with preselected configurations, such that identification of conformance triggers an indication of the presence of a thin, elongated object in the flight path of said flying vehicle to an operator of said flying vehicle.