Electro-optical imaging detector array for a moving vehicle which includes two axis image motion compensation and transfers pixels in row directions and column directions

An aerial reconnaissance camera system for installation in an airborne vehicle and for generating an image of a scene which compensates for aircraft motion in a flight direction and compensates for roll, pitch, or yaw disturbances of said airborne vehicle, said airborne vehicle having a means installed in said aircraft for generating aircraft disturbance information, the camera system comprising:

• an array of pixel elements arranged in rows and columns storing pixel information representing said scene, said rows defining a row direction and said columns defining a column direction;
• means responsive to said aircraft disturbance information generating means for generating an image disparity vector for said pixel elements in said row direction and in said column direction and for generating a row pixel information transfer rate and a column pixel information transfer rate;
• a pixel transfer means for moving pixel information from one of said pixel elements to another of said pixels in said row direction and in said column direction, said pixel transfer means transferring said pixel information at said row and column pixel information transfer rates;
• said row and column pixel information transfer rates comprising the sum of an in-line-of flight transfer rate compensating for forward motion of said airborne vehicle and an image disparity transfer rate derived from said image disparity vector compensating for at least one of said roll, pitch and yaw disturbances of said airborne vehicle.

A machine-readable storage medium storing a computer program for an imaging system, said computer program comprising:

• a routine for computing a rotation matrix R and a drift matrix .DELTA. R from inputs comprising aerial reconnaissance vehicle roll, pitch, and yaw information;
• a routine for computing an image disparity vector d.sub.T (.chi.), where d.sub.T (.chi.) comprises an image disparity for point (.chi.) of an imaging array comprised of pixels arranged in rows and columns defining a row direction and a column direction;
• ##EQU7## and F=focal length of a lens for said array P=size of said pixels in said array
• y=object points
• v=forward velocity of said aerial reconnaissance vehicle
• .chi.=image points in said array
• T=exposure time of said array;
• and
• a routine for calculating a pixel information transfer rate for said array from said image disparity vector in said row direction and in said column direction.

A method for electronically compensating for relative motion of an image of a scene with respect to an electro-optical imaging array, said array having a plurality of pixel elements storing pixel information arranged in rows and columns, said rows defining a row direction and said columns defining a column direction, said array installed in a moving vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• determining the image motion rates in the plane of said imaging array in said row direction and in said column direction resulting from forward motion of said vehicle and angular rotations of said vehicle from information as to forward motion and rotation of said moving vehicle received from a navigation system aboard said moving vehicle, said step of determining performed in advance of or during an exposure of said array to said scene;
• exposing said array to said scene;
• and
• transferring pixel information in said array in said row direction and said column direction at row direction rates and column direction rates during said exposure of said array to said scene substantially equal to said image motion rates to thereby compensate for said forward motion and angular rotation of said vehicle and preserve resolution of an image generated from said imaging array.