Active night vision thermal control system using wavelength-temperature characteristic of light source

摘要

A thermal control system (11) for a light source (46) of a vision system (10) includes a heater (63) that is thermally coupled to the light source (46). A thermal sensor (60) is thermally coupled to the light source (46) and generates a temperature signal. A controller (50) is coupled to the heater (63) and to the thermal sensor (60) . The controller (50) operates the heater (63) when the temperature signal is below a maximum temperature limit. The minimum and maximum temperature limits are obtained from the light-source wavelength-temperature characteristic.