Tracking

Tracking a fast moving target is a challenging software problem. Sophisticated algorithms are necessary to discriminate the target and perform some degree of forward prediction. But often the limitation is on the hardware side. A high resolution tracking telescope tends to be bulky, as the mass of the telescope is proportional to the cube of the aperture. This necessitates large gimbals, slower slewing rates and hampers deployment on small platforms.

Leveraging AOA Xinetics experience in advanced optical design, we have developed a lightweight, small footprint telescope ideal for tracking missions, suitable for deployment on airframes. A large portion of the technical difficulty lies in the high disturbance environment of an aircraft. An off-axis beam telescope design can be very compact relative to the aperture size. The down side of this design is the difficulty in aligning and maintaining its alignment. Our solution is an active beam director that continually maintains overall alignment by using active optics. We have developed a design for a compact off-axis telescope system using a lightweight silicon carbide active primary along with a thermally matched active member composite metering structure.

Additional experience in tracking technology

• High bandwidth tracking systems
• Multi-object tracking
• Target Designators
• Target Discrimination Algorithms
• Active illumination, range gated sensors