Laser Tactical Unit Control.
Abstract
A study was made of Electro Optical Ranging Techniques for use on Remote Piloted Vehicles. Applications considered included low altitude terrain following, road and river following and station keeping. The greatest emphasis, however, was placed on its use as a drone mounted scoring device to accurately measure the miss distance and the flight vector of a passing missile and, hence, was called a Firing Error Indicator. The unit uses a pulsed GaAs laser and a silicon detector. The lapsed time between the transmitted pulses and the return pulse measures the range to the missile. The transmitted beam is rapidly pulsed and is swept thru the field of view at a rate of 1200 scans per sec. The position of the beam in the sweep when a return is detected provides the angular position of the target. A brassboard model of the FET was built and tested. The model has a limited field of view (60 deg) and was intended only for concept evaluation. The performance of the unit exceeded its design goals and would operate up to 250 feet range with a 6 inch wide target. It achieved an RMS range accuracy of about 2 feet and an average angular accuracy of about 2 degrees. The range accuracy did not degrade with increasing range. The target used in these tests was a beaded retroreflective sheet material with a gain of several hundred over a white lambertian surface. The material can be tape applied or spray applied to missile surfaces. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 1973
- Accession Number
- AD0916768
Entities
People
- Earl F. Schallenberg
- John L. Snyder
Organizations
- Texas Instruments