<title>Rotating Spin Mount/Data Acquisition System</title>

Abstract

The Rotating Spin Mount/Data Acquisition System provides visible and IR imaging coverage of wide area terrain as seen from a helicopter or high tower. Data from both sensors is TV compatible and can be stored on video tape together with position and timing information. The visible and IR cameras are mounted on a rotating mount which spins at precisely controllable rates up to 15 r.p.s. The look angle is adjustable from straight down to horizontal. A single vertical array of detectors is used in each camera, with horizontal scanning provided for by the spin mount motion. The visible camera uses a 256 element CCD array while the IR camera, operating in the 3 - 5 micron region, makes use of a 64 element T.E. cooled Lead Selenide detector array. One application of the system is a test bed for the evaluation of various air to ground armament sensors. The cameras are used as confirming sensors for both daytime and night-time tests. The target detect signal from the sensor under evaluation is recorded on the imaging data as a cross hair. Design techniques and criteria are presented for both cameras and the spin mount along with a discussion of the particular problems and special requirements encountered for this application. Auxiliary equipment which will greatly extend the usefulness of the device is also presented along with future uses which include wide area target and background data collection, surveillance and target search and location.