Maritime Adaptive Optics Beam Control
Abstract
The Navy is interested in developing systems for horizontal, near ocean surface, high-energy laser propagation through the atmosphere. Laser propagation in the maritime environment requires adaptive optics control of aberrations caused by atmospheric distortion. In this research, a multichannel transverse adaptive filter is formulated in Matlab's Simulink environment and compared to a complex lattice filter that has previously been implemented in large system simulations. The adaptive filters are used to augment a classical adaptive optics controller and are also compared to a Kalman filter augmenting a classical controller. Additionally, the Naval Postgraduate School's first laboratory testbed to use adaptive optics for the compensation of atmospheric turbulence is designed and built. The control algorithms are evaluated both in simulation and in the presence of a laboratory-generated disturbance. Finally, effects of horizontal propagation through deep turbulence are created in the lab. Beam control algorithms are tested in this environment to draw initial conclusions about performance in deep turbulence. For the system implemented in this research, the simple transverse filter in combination with a classical proportional-integral controller performs comparably to the complex lattice filter and the Kalman filter in a standard turbulence scenario and demonstrates more robust performance in the deep turbulence scenario. The adaptive optics testbed itself can be transitioned easily between traditional and deep turbulence scenarios and can support a wide range of atmospheric realizations for further beam control research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA531558
Entities
People
- Melissa S. Corley
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School