Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130216151 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMAGE SHARPENING - A method of generating an image comprises accessing a dataset gathered from a sensor system and generating, from the dataset, a first image including a plurality of image elements. The method further includes generating a training image by combining the dataset with known sensor responses and generating a weighting factor by correcting the training image in view of the known sensor responses. The method further includes applying the weighting factor to one of the plurality of image elements to form a weighted image element. | 08-22-2013 |
20140062602 | READ OUT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - According to one embodiment, a circuit comprises a Capacitive Trans-Impedance Amplifier (CTIA) configured to receive a current pulse at an input and convert the current pulse to a voltage step. The voltage step is directed to a first signal path and a second signal path. When the voltage step exceeds a first threshold, the first signal path directs an enable pulse to the second signal path. The second signal path generates an output pulse when the voltage step exceeds a second threshold and the enable pulse is enabled. The second signal path comprises a first, a second, and a third amplifier to increase detection of the voltage step by the second signal path. | 03-06-2014 |
20140132380 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF MAGNETIC DEVICES - An apparatus includes a coil assembly, a core, and at least one cooling channel. The coil assembly includes at least one winding configured to receive a varying electrical current. The core includes multiple segments, and the at least one winding is wound around portions of the segments and is configured to generate a magnetic flux. The at least one cooling channel is configured to transport coolant through the coil assembly or core in order to cool the coil assembly or core. Portions of the segments of the core can be separated from one another to form multiple cooling channels through the core, and the multiple cooling channels can be configured to transport coolant through the core. The coil assembly may include at least one insulative spacer having multiple cooling channels, and the multiple cooling channels may be configured to transport coolant through the coil assembly. | 05-15-2014 |
20140132451 | MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ANGLE ESTIMATION OF WIDEBAND SIGNALS USING PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS - A method for estimating a target direction of a wideband signal received on an electronically steered array includes: applying convolutional or stretch processing to spatial frequency data of the wideband signal; initializing a stabilization direction to a beam pointing direction; stabilizing the spatial frequency data to the stabilization direction; compressing the spatial frequency data to a plurality of frequency range or time bins; selecting range or time bins and forming a covariance matrix; calculating an estimated target direction using the covariance matrix; determining if a stabilization direction accuracy condition is met; recalculating the stabilization direction based on the estimated target direction if the stabilization direction accuracy condition is not met; and iteratively repeating until the stabilization direction accuracy condition is met. | 05-15-2014 |
20140137539 | THRUST-PRODUCING DEVICE WITH DETONATION MOTOR - A detonation thrust-producing device includes an explosive located in a recess in an external surface of a body. Detonation of the explosive expels material out of the recess, providing thrust to the body in an opposite direction. A mass, such as a metal disk, may be placed blocking or covering the external opening. The body may be a part of a vehicle, such as an airborne projectile. The thrust-producing device may include multiple detonation motors arrayed around the body, capable of being individually or multiply detonated. Such thrust-producing devices may be used for attitude adjustment, steering, or other control of the flight of the projectile or other air vehicle. The detonation thrust-producing devices have the advantage of a faster-response time than propellant-based devices, and do not need the nozzles that are used with many propellant-based devices. | 05-22-2014 |
20140138475 | ROCKET PROPELLED PAYLOAD WITH DIVERT CONTROL SYSTEM WITHIN NOSE CONE - A rocket is provided and includes booster stages at a rear of the nose cone, the booster stages being configured for propelling the nose cone in a propulsion direction and a divert control system housed entirely in the nose cone for controlling an orientation of the propulsion direction. | 05-22-2014 |
20140139630 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMAGING WITHOUT RETRO-REFLECTION - A non-retro-reflective imaging system and methods in which a relay optic is configured to segment a source image into a plurality of slices and reimage each of the slices individually onto a rotated image plane such that a substantially in-focus reconstruction of the entire image is obtained, while substantially eliminating retro-reflection from the system. According to one example a non-retro-reflective imaging system includes a segmented relay optic configured to reimage a source image onto an image plane tilted with respect to an optical axis of the system, and further configured to slice the image volume into a plurality of image slices and spatially position the plurality of image slices such that a depth of focus of each image slice overlaps the tilted image plane. The system further includes an image sensor co-aligned with the tilted image plane and configured to produce a reconstructed image from the plurality of image slices. | 05-22-2014 |
20140146180 | INFRARED THERMAL IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD - Systems and methods for configuring an infrared thermal imaging system using a video interface of an electronic device, such as a microcontroller, for example, for sending commands and control information. In one example a an infrared thermal imaging system includes a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, the FPA being configured to generate an output signal in response to infrared radiation impinging thereupon, read out integrated circuitry (ROIC) operatively coupled to the FPA, and a microcontroller having at least one video display interface operatively coupled to the ROIC, the microcontroller being configured to send data to the ROIC via the at least one video display interface, the data including command data. | 05-29-2014 |
20140150992 | THREADED COOLING APPARATUS WITH INTEGRATED COOLING CHANNELS AND HEAT EXCHANGER - A threaded cooling apparatus includes a head having a heat exchanger and a shaft having a threaded section configured to mechanically fasten the head to a structure. The heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat with a coolant flowing through the head. The shaft also includes first and second cooling channels. The first cooling channel is configured to deliver the coolant to the heat exchanger, and the second cooling channel is configured to exhaust the coolant from the heat exchanger. The apparatus may also include a first seal between the head and the structure that is configured to reduce or prevent coolant loss. The apparatus may further include a second seal that is configured to reduce or prevent coolant flow between the first and second cooling channels that bypasses the heat exchanger. | 06-05-2014 |
20140175077 | ELECTRONICALLY INDUCED CERAMIC FUSIBLE METAL SYSTEM - An electrically induced fusing system includes a module having walls and a base to define a module body. The module body includes first and second conductive layers stacked next to one another. An electrically resistive layer is interposed between the first and second conductive layers, and is configured to emit heat in response to receiving electrical current from a power supply. At least one electrically conductive terminal is in electrical communication with the resistive layer and an output of the power supply to form an electrical path that delivers the current to the resistive layer. The system further includes a separable component configured to attach to the first conductive layer. At least one fusing element is interposed between the separable component and the first conductive layer, and is configured to melt in response to the heat emitted by the resistive layer. | 06-26-2014 |
20140176292 | SHIELD FOR TOROIDAL CORE ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE, AND TOROIDAL CORE ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICES UTILIZING SUCH SHIELDS - A shield for a toroidal transformer that includes a toroidal assembly that comprises a toroidal magnetic core and a first winding includes a sheet of flexible non-magnetic conductive material. The sheet of flexible non-magnetic conductive material comprises a trunk portion extending along a longest dimension of the sheet of flexible non-magnetic conductive material and configured to wrap along an outer dimension of the toroidal assembly, and a plurality of fingers extending outwardly from the trunk portion and configured to wrap around portions of the first winding along portions of sides of the toroidal assembly in a direction towards the center of the toroidal magnetic core and folding into an inner dimension of the toroidal assembly. | 06-26-2014 |
20140197270 | AIR VEHICLE WITH CONTROL SURFACES AND VECTORED THRUST - An air vehicle, such as a missile, for example an interceptor, includes control surfaces and a vectored thrust system, both used for steering the missile. A controller is operatively coupled to both steering mechanisms, and is configured to operate in a low dynamic pressure mode, which uses the vectored thrust system for at least part of the steering, only when the dynamic pressure is low, such as when the missile is at high altitude. At higher dynamic pressure, such as at lower altitude, the controller is configured to operate in a high dynamic pressure mode that uses only the control surfaces for steering. This allows the interceptor to operate at higher altitudes than interceptors that use only control surfaces for steering during flight. During flight for a high altitude interception the missile shifts from the high dynamic pressure mode to the low dynamic pressure mode. | 07-17-2014 |
20140213126 | Unmanned Underwater Vehicle - An unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is disclosed. The UUV includes a body and a propulsion system for propelling and orienting the UUV. The propulsion system has an inlet formed in the body that facilitates fluid being drawn into the UUV from outside the body. The propulsion system also has a duct in fluid communication with the inlet. The duct is adapted to direct the fluid along a flow path. The propulsion system further includes a pump operable with the duct to increase the velocity of the fluid. In addition, the propulsion system includes a nozzle in fluid communication with the duct to receive the fluid at the increased velocity. The nozzle is supported about a side of the body and adapted to moveably redirect fluid out of the UUV. The propulsion system provides multi-axis control of the UUV. | 07-31-2014 |
20140218231 | ENHANCED RADAR RANGE RESOLUTION - A synthetic aperture radar imaging method that combines each radar return pulse with a sinusoid to reduce the radar return pulses to a baseband frequency and deskew each radar return pulse. It includes determining a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of residual motion parameters for a dominant scatterer on the ground relative to the airborne radar and correcting for errors in inertial navigation system measurements based on the MLE residual motion parameters. It includes convolving each radar return pulse with its corresponding radar transmission pulse to generate a range compressed image for each radar return pulse and generating a sub-band range profile image for each radar return pulse and its corresponding radar transmission pulse based on the corresponding range compressed image that has been corrected for residual motion. Performing bandwidth extrapolation on each sub-band and subsequently combining the three bands to produce an enhanced resolution image without grating lobes. | 08-07-2014 |
20140231652 | Semi-Active Laser (SAL) Beacon - A SAL beacon emulates the signature (e.g. spectral band, sire and shape. power level and designation code) of a SAL designator beam reflected off a target. The SAL beacon is field-portable, capable of extended continuous operation and eye-safe. The SAL beacon enables “captive” flight tests of munitions and SAL receivers without the logistical complications of using an operational SAL designator. | 08-21-2014 |
20140233862 | LOCAL AREA PROCESSING USING PACKED DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS - Described herein are devices and techniques for providing adaptable Local Area Processing (LAP) contrast enhancement of imagery by redistributing pixel intensity values in a dynamic range of an imaging device according to a packed statistical distribution function, wherein the redistribution is achieved according to a recursive packing factor. | 08-21-2014 |
20140253387 | HIGH-RESOLUTION LINK-PATH DELAY ESTIMATOR AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING A SIGNAL-PATH DELAY - Embodiments of a high-resolution link-path delay estimator and method are generally described herein. The high-resolution link-path delay estimator may estimate a signal-path delay of a signal path between a master and remote device. The high-resolution link-path delay estimator may phase-shift a transmit signal of alternating symbols by phase-shift values and may sample a loopback signal. A noise-reduced version of the sampled signal output may be correlated with a step function to generate a correlation value for each of the phase-shift values. One of the phase-shift values may be selected to generate a fine-delay estimate which may be added to a coarse delay estimate to determine the signal-path delay. The coarse delay estimate may be an estimate of the signal-path delay to a nearest symbol period of the transmit signal and the fine-delay estimate may be an estimate to within a fraction of the symbol period. | 09-11-2014 |
20140266950 | DIRECTIVE, INSTANTANEOUS WIDE BANDWIDTH ANTENNA - A directive, instantaneous wide bandwidth antenna is disclosed. The antenna can include a ground plane having a recess with a tapered region accessible by an electromagnetic field via a radiating aperture at a forward end of the recess. The antenna can also include an elongate dielectric feed disposed in the recess. The dielectric feed can have a tapered portion proximate the tapered region to guide the electromagnetic field into the recess through the radiating aperture and influence pattern directivity. The antenna can further include a conductive plating disposed at least partially about the dielectric feed in a wedge configuration to influence pattern beam width. The conductive plating can have a taper to facilitate propagation of the electromagnetic field over a range of frequencies. The conductive plating can be disposed toward a rearward end of the recess relative to the radiating aperture. | 09-18-2014 |
20140268383 | REACTION COMPENSATED TILT PLATFORM - A reaction compensated tilt platform assembly comprises a support base, and a reaction mass, pivotally coupled to the support base. A tilt platform which can function as or support a mirror is pivotally coupled to the support base. At least two linear actuator coil assemblies are carried by the reaction mass. At least two linear actuator magnet assemblies are carried by the tilt platform and are disposable within the at least two linear actuator coil assemblies. The linear actuator magnet assemblies taper from a larger diameter toward a center of the magnet assembly to a smaller diameter toward an end of the magnet assemblies. Actuation of the linear actuator magnets results in pivotal movement of the tilt platform relative to the reaction mass. | 09-18-2014 |
20140292553 | ELECTROMAGNETIC ATTENUATING OBJECT AND METHOD OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ATTENUATION - Electromagnetic attenuation of an object is accomplished by attaching a boot to a surface of an operational part of the object. The boot includes a thermoplastic material, such as in a thermoplastic layer, and an electromagnetic attenuation material, such as in an electromagnetic attenuation layer that overlies at least part of the thermoplastic layer. The attaching is accomplished by placing the boot onto the operational part, and then heat shrinking the boot to attach the boot to the operational part. The electromagnetic attenuation layer may have gaps in it prior to the heat shrinking, gaps that are closed during the heat shrinking, to the greater contraction of the thermoplastic layer. The boot and method may be used to advantageously provide electromagnetic attenuation without a need for spraying processes. The method may be used to retrofit and/or repair an object, without needed to remove it from the field. | 10-02-2014 |
20140294399 | LASER RELAY FOR FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS - A laser relay module for free space optical communications including an optical telescope for receiving and transmitting optical beams; an optical diplexer for separating transmitting and received optical beams; an optical amplifier; a modulated beacon laser for line of sight control of a plurality of communicating remote network nodes; a beacon beam detector for detecting an incoming beacon optical beam for line of sight control of the optical telescope and receiving data from other network nodes; and means for inserting an output of the modulated beacon laser into the optical telescope for transmission to another network node, and for transporting the incoming beacon optical beam to the beacon detector. | 10-02-2014 |
20140300508 | COHERENT AGGREGATION FROM MULTIPLE DIVERSE SOURCES ON A SINGLE DISPLAY - A system for tracking objects. Objects such as aircraft, ground vehicles, or vessels may be sensed with various sensors, including an Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) ( | 10-09-2014 |
20140306851 | INTEGRATED ANTENNA AND ANTENNA COMPONENT - An antenna is disclosed. The antenna can include an aerodynamic surface and an antenna component comprising a structure configured to extend from the aerodynamic surface. The structure and at least a portion of the aerodynamic surface can form an antenna, such as a half double-ridge horn antenna or a half Vivaldi antenna. In one aspect, the structure can be configured to support a pod, thus integrating the antenna with a mechanical mounting structure for the pod. | 10-16-2014 |
20140320843 | TIME-MULTIPLEXED BROADBAND AND MULTI-FILTERED ELECTRO-OPTIC SENSOR - An EO sensor is configured to time multiplex a primary optical channel that provides high detection sensitivity to maintain high SNR and a multi-filtered optical channel that provides detection in different measurement bands (e.g. spectral, polarization, amplitude or phase). The channels may, for example, be time multiplexed based on range to target or within each integration period of the EO sensor. The multi-filtered optical channel uses a field directing array to sample the FOV to form different optical sub-channels that are filtered by different optical filters. These sub-channels may be spatially multiplexed onto different sub-regions of the detector or may be time multiplexed onto the entire detector. The light modulator used to time multiplex the primary and multi-filtered optical channels may be used to time de-multiplex spatially overlapping regions of the FOV onto a pixel of the detector in order to detect high spatial resolution images with low resolution detectors. | 10-30-2014 |
20140324747 | ARTIFICIAL CONTINUOUSLY RECOMBINANT NEURAL FIBER NETWORK - Embodiments of a system and method for an artificial cognitive neural framework are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the artificial cognitive neural framework includes a memory system for storing acquired knowledge and for broadcasting the acquired knowledge, cognitive system, including cognitive perceptrons arranged to develop hypotheses and produce information, and genetic learning algorithms and a mediator, coupled to the cognitive system, the mediator arranged to gather the developed hypotheses and the produced information, to integrate the developed hypotheses and produced information using fuzzy, self-organizing contextual topic maps and to establish proper mappings between inputs, internal states and outputs of a continuously recombinant neural fiber network, wherein the genetic learning algorithms are arranged to continuously evolve candidate solutions by adjusting interconnections in the continuously recombinant neural fiber network by correlating patterns within the candidate solutions to stochasto-chaotic constraints, and to update the memory system. | 10-30-2014 |
20150013563 | OBTURATOR RING WITH INTERLOCKING SEGMENTS - An obturator can be secured to a projectile to be launched from within a launch tube. The obturator cooperates with the projectile to seal a pressurized gas within the launch tube during launch. The obturator has a plurality of segments that combine to form a ring. Each segment has connecting features that cooperate with corresponding connecting features of an adjacent segment to hold the segments together by restricting relative circumferential movement, without restricting radially outward movement of individual segments. Preferably, each segment is identical, making it easier to repair and assemble the obturator. Upon launch, the obturator segments can move radially outwardly to separate into relatively small, uniformly-sized pieces. | 01-15-2015 |
20150015869 | LADAR BACKTRACKING OF WAKE TURBULENCE TRAILING AN AIRBORNE TARGET FOR POINT-OF-ORIGIN ESTIMATION AND TARGET CLASSIFICATION - A weapon-locating ladar system estimates a backward trajectory of an airborne target by using flow field measurements to follow the wake turbulence trailing the airborne target from a position at which the target is detected backwards until the wake is no longer observable. The system may use the backward trajectory to estimate the point-of-origin of the target. The system may also use the flow field measurements along the backward trajectory to classify the target. Target classification may be used to refine the point-of-origin estimate, to influence counter-fire or to adapt the flow field measurements. | 01-15-2015 |
20150025856 | SIMULATOR FOR SIMULATING THE OPERATION OF A FIBER OPTIC GYROSCOPE - A method includes simulating operation of a fiber optic gyroscope during a digital simulation. The simulation includes performing an iterative loop that includes simulating an intensity of light from a fiber coil of the fiber optic gyroscope and simulating operation of one or more control loops within the fiber optic gyroscope using the simulated intensity of the light. The intensity of the light is simulated using a sine/cosine function based on at least one angular rate-related effect injected into the simulation as a Sagnac phase shift. The simulated operation of a first of the one or more control loops attempts to reduce or eliminate the Sagnac phase shift. The method also includes storing, outputting, and/or using results of the simulation. The at least one angular rate-related effect could include rotation of the fiber coil and/or mechanical vibration of the fiber coil. | 01-22-2015 |
20150070813 | Electrical Weapon System - An electrical weapon system includes a power supply; a control electronics connected to the power supply; and an electrode pair, wherein the control electronics are configured to deliver a voltage having a determined voltage level and modulation across the electrode pair based on the electrode pair coming into contact with a target, and wherein the electrode pair is integrated into clothing or equipment of a user. | 03-12-2015 |