Recon/Optical, Inc. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20100011943 | Rounds counter remotely located from gun - A rounds counter for a weapon mount is disclosed. The rounds counter is mounted on the mount in a remote location from the weapon itself, such as to a pedestal supporting a gimbal rotating the weapon mount in azimuth, inside an elevation drive housing, or to other structure. The mounting location is selected to be one where shock loads are relatively high, as compared to other locations on the mount. The rounds counter includes a sensor which senses shock due to the firing of the weapon, such as an accelerometer or strain gauge. The sensor could also be an acoustic transducer. Analog and digital circuitry for processing the sensor signal and to count the firing of the gun is also disclosed. The rounds counter is particularly useful as a common, single rounds counter unit for a weapon mount is adapted to receive and fire a variety of weapons, such as remotely operated weapon mounts mounted to military vehicles and patrol watercraft adapted to receive and fire four different types of guns. | 01-21-2010 |
20100008565 | Method of object location in airborne imagery using recursive quad space image processing - A method and computer workstation are disclosed which determine the location in the ground space of selected point in a digital image of the earth obtained by an airborne camera. The image is rectangular and has four corners and corresponds to an image space. The image is associated with data indicating the geo-location coordinates for the points in the ground space corresponding to the four corners of the image, e.g., an image formatted in accordance with the NITF standard. The method includes the steps of: (a) performing independently and in parallel a recursive partitioning of the image space and the ground space into successively smaller quadrants until a pixel coordinate in the image assigned to the selected point is within a predetermined limit (Δ) of the center of a final recursively partitioned quadrant in the image space. The method further includes a step of (b) calculating a geo-location of the point in the ground space corresponding to the selected point in the image space from the final recursively partitioned quadrant in the ground space corresponding to the final recursively partitioned quadrant in the image space. The methods are particularly useful for geo-location from oblique reconnaissance imagery. | 01-14-2010 |
20090052018 | Compact two-element infrared objective lens and IR or thermal sight for weapon having viewing optics - A compact objective lens is disclosed which is particularly suitable for infrared optical systems. The lens features a simple design with only two lens elements, namely a first lens element receiving incident radiation and having front and rear surfaces, and a second lens element receiving incident radiation from the first element and having front and rear surfaces. The lens forms an image of a scene on a focal plane. At least three of the four surfaces of the elements are aspheric surfaces. The lens has an f-number less than about 2, a field-of-view less than about 30 degrees, and an effective focal length less than about 6 inches. The elements are made from a material selected to pass radiation in the infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum, e.g., germanium. The lens is suitable for use as an objective lens for a long-wave infrared sight for small arms, e.g., rifle or shoulder-launched surface to air missile launching system, i.e., a lens optimized for operating in the electromagnetic spectrum between about 7.5 and about 15 micrometers. | 02-26-2009 |
20080289485 | Rounds counter remotely located from gun - A rounds counter for a weapon mount is disclosed. The rounds counter is mounted on the mount in a remote location from the weapon itself, such as to a pedestal supporting a gimbal rotating the weapon mount in azimuth, inside an elevation drive housing, or to other structure. The mounting location is selected to be one where shock loads are relatively high, as compared to other locations on the mount. The rounds counter includes a sensor which senses shock due to the firing of the weapon, such as an accelerometer or strain gauge. The sensor could also be an acoustic transducer. Analog and digital circuitry for processing the sensor signal and to count the firing of the gun is also disclosed. The rounds counter is particularly useful as a common, single rounds counter unit for a weapon mount is adapted to receive and fire a variety of weapons, such as remotely operated weapon mounts mounted to military vehicles and patrol watercraft adapted to receive and fire four different types of guns. | 11-27-2008 |