Patent ID: 11936991
Assignee: RAYTHEON COMPANY
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A EO/IR optical imaging system comprising:
an afocal telescope configured to collect light from a scene into a collimated space;
image forming optics configured to receive light from the collimated space and focus light to form an image at an image plane;
an imaging detector positioned at the image plane and configured to integrate incident light over an image frame and readout a sequence of pixelated images at a frame rate, said detector exhibiting a saturation threshold;
a light dump;
a pick-off positioned in the collimated space to sample the light;
a secondary detector configured to measure the sampled light multiple times per image frame;
a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) positioned at an intermediate pupil in the collimated space, said MMA comprising a plurality of independently controllable mirrors, each said mirror responsive to command signals to tilt in at least one degree-of freedom (DOF); and
a controller responsive to the sampled light to update the command signals multiple times per image frame to tilt a percentage of the mirrors to re-direct light incident on those mirrors to the light dump and to tilt the remaining mirrors to re-direct light incident on those mirrors to the image forming optics to form the image on the imaging detector whereby together the mirrors adjust a fraction of light reaching the imaging detector such that the integrated incident light for a given image frame is less than the saturation threshold.