An optical sensor receives radiated optical energy from a scene and converts it to an electrical signal. The electrical signal is provided to a display or further processed for pattern recognition or the like. Optical sensors are available in a variety of types and for wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet, through the visible, and into the infrared. In some applications the optical sensors are fixed in orientation, and in others the optical sensors are movable by pivoting and/or rotational motions to allow sensing over a wide angular field of regard.
The optical sensors generally employ a photosensitive material that faces the scene and produces an electrical output responsive to the incident energy. The photosensitive material and remainder of the sensor structure are rather fragile, and are easily damaged by dirt, erosion, chemicals, or high air velocity. In service, the sensor is placed behind a window through which it views the scene and which protects the sensor from such external effects. The window must be transparent to the radiation of the operating wavelength of the sensor and resist attack from the external forces. The window must also permit the sensor to view the scene over the specified field of regard.
The window would ideally introduce no wavefront aberration at the center of the field of view, other than possibly spherical aberration, particularly if the sensor is an imaging sensor. The thicker and more highly curved is the window, the more likely is the introduction of significant wavefront aberration. A wide variety of sensor windows have been used in various aircraft applications. In many cases such as low-speed commercial helicopters, flat windows are acceptable. Windows that are shaped as segments of spheres are used in aircraft and missile applications, but for these windows the wavefront aberration tends to be high if the gimbal location is not at the spherical window's center of curvature. In all of these window types, if the window must be wide or must project a substantial distance into an airflow to permit a large field of regard, the aerodynamic drag introduced by the window is large.
For applications involving aircraft (including missiles) operating at high speeds, the window should be relatively aerodynamic such that the presence of the window extending into the airstream does not introduce unacceptably high and/or asymmetric aerodynamic drag to the vehicle. A nonspherical or conformal window is therefore beneficial to reducing drag and increasing the speed and range of the aircraft. However, available conformal windows introduce large wavefront aberrations into the sensor beam, particularly for high azimuthal pointing angles of the sensor.
The wavefront aberration may be corrected computationally, but the amount of processing may be great. To reduce the amount of computation or eliminate the need for computation, the wavefront aberration of the image may be minimized optically, either in the optical processing components or by providing a particular shape in the window, although the latter is not preferred because it is desired to select the shape of the window for aerodynamic rather than optical reasons. Corrective optics may also be provided, and a variety of corrector architectures and techniques have been developed.
It is always desired to improve the optics still further. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved approach to providing a corrected image in an optical system viewing a scene through an aspheric window. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.