<title>Low-cost real-time IR scene generation for image projection and signal injection</title>

Abstract

As cost becomes an increasingly important factor in the development and testing of IR seekers, the need for accurate hardware-in-the-loop simulations is critical. In the past, expensive and complex dedicated scene generation hardware was needed to attain the fidelity necessary for accurately testing IR seekers. Recent technological advances and innovative applications of established technologies are beginning to allow development of cost effective replacements for dedicated scene generators. These new scene generators are mainly constructed from commercial off-the- shelf (COTS) hardware and software components. At the U.S. Army Missile Command researchers have developed such a dynamic IR scene generator built around COTS hardware and software. The scene generator is being used to provide inputs to an IR scene projector for in-band seeker testing and for direct base band signal injection into the seeker electronics. Using this low cost scene generator, up to 120 frames per second of 12-bit intensity images are being generated at 640 by 640 pixel resolution. The scene generator compensates for system latency using a special purpose hardware component implemented on a single VME card. Multiple dynamic targets, terrain, and effects are configured and controlled by the facility simulation computer via a shared memory interface to the scene generator.