Dual-Band Dual Field-Of-View TVWS Prototype

摘要

A dual band thermal/visible weapon sight (TVWS) prototype was developed by INO in collaboration with DRDC Valcartier. The TVWS operates in the 8-12 μm infrared (IR) and 300-900 nm visible wavebands for enhanced vision capabilities in day and night operations. It is equipped with lightweight athermalized coaxial catadioptric objectives, a bolometric IR imager operating in a microscan mode providing an effective resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and a visible image intensifier of 768 x 493 pixels. The TVWS is equipped with a miniature shutter for automatic offset calibration. Real-time imaging at 30 fps is available. Both the visible and IR images can be toggled with a single touch button and displayed on an integrated color micro liquid crystal display (LCD). The TVWS also has a standard video output via a coaxial connector. An integrated wireless analog RF link can be used to send images to a remote command control. The sight has an adjustable electronic crosshair and two manual focuses from 25 m to infinity. On-board processing capabilities were added to introduce specific functionalities such as image polarity inversion (black hot/white hot) and image enhancement. This TVWS model is also very lightweight (～ 1900 grams) and compact (volume of 142 cubic inches). It offers human size target detection at 800 m and recognition at 200 m (Johnson criteria) with the IR waveband while offering the human recognition at up to 800 m with the visible waveband. The TVWS is adapted for weaver or Picatinny rail mounting.