Patent ID: 8520896

Claim:
A method to determine an infrared signature of a moving target traveling along a path, the path having a start position and an end position, the method comprising: providing a movable pan-and-tilt tracker platform; operably associating a tracker assembly with the pan-and-tilt tracker platform for tracking the moving target; tracking the path of the moving target with the tracker assembly by moving the pan-and-tilt tracker platform; recording, in a log file, movement data representative of the movements of the pan-and-tilt platform between the start position and the end position of the path as a function of time; operably associating at least one infrared sensor with the tracker assembly for obtaining infrared radiation data; generating trigger signals for triggering at least one infrared sensor to measure infrared radiation data from the moving target at a plurality of desired trigger points along the path while the moving target moves and defines the path; recording, in the log file, trigger status data representative of the trigger status as a function of time; repositioning the pan-and-tilt tracker platform to the start position; retracing the movements of the pan-and-tilt platform between the recorded start position and the end position of the path according to the movement data recorded in the log file; regenerating the trigger signals based on the trigger status data recorded in the log file causing triggering of at least one infrared sensor to measure infrared radiation data from the background at the plurality of trigger points defined in the target-tracking step while the pan-and-tilt platform moves along the path of the moving target; and comparing the infrared radiation data from the moving target taken from the plurality of trigger points along the path with the infrared radiation data from the background taken at the plurality of trigger points along the path to determine the infrared signature of the moving target.