Did You Know...
...that after Parker Brothers executives turned down the game of Monopoly because it had "52 fundamental errors" (including taking too long to play), a copy of the game wound up in the home of the company president who stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it? He was so impressed by the game that the next day he wrote to inventor Charles Darrow and offered to buy it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7759621 | Method and system of performing multiple observations using a space-based telescope comprising independently targetable sensor units Multiple observations using a reconfigurable space-based telescope are performed by independently targeting one or more sensor units, within a field of view, relative to a main body of the space-based telescope. The sensor units are capable of simultaneously obtaini... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7714261 | System and method for protection of aircraft based on correlating suspected missile tracks to derive a confirm missile track A system and method for protection of aircraft against surface-to-air missiles deploys sensors to provide coverage around an airport The use of a fixed (or slow moving) set of sensors around the airport allows detection of missile threats to all aircraft using the a... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7411167 | Tracking a moving object from a camera on a moving platform A method to dynamically stabilize a target image formed on an image plane of an imaging device located in a moving vehicle. The method includes setting an origin in the image plane of the imaging device at an intersection of a first axis, a second axis and a third a... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7385759 | Optical system with variable pointing and method implementing such a system An optical system including a telescope and a principal pointing device for selecting a direction of observation is disclosed. The system furthermore includes at least one secondary pointing device arranged ahead of a part of the entrance of the telescope and orient... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7378629 | Detection device comprising a parabolic mirror and use of said device in an overflight machine The invention relates to a detection device, comprising a parabolic mirror (1) and several radiation detectors (2-5). The detectors are placed in the focal plane (O, X′-X, Y′-Y) of the mirror with respective spacings in a common fixed direct... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7368745 | Pattern recognition system A star pattern recognition system (1) comprises an optical filter arrangement (10) in the form of an array (12) of independently tiltable mirrors (M1), (M2). Light from a distant starfield (2) is incident upon the mirror arr... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7339731 | Self-aligning telescope Embodiments of the present disclosure include self-aligning telescope control systems and self-alignment methods. In an embodiment, a telescope control system orients a telescope with respect to the celestial sphere by pointing the telescope in the direction of an a... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7312429 | Method and apparatus of using optical distortion in a directed countermeasure system to provide a variable field of view A single, hard-mounted set of optics is utilized to replace a two field-of-view system for directed countermeasures. It includes within one continuous but distorted field of view the capability to detect, acquire and characterize targets at the edge of the field whi... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7277558 | Method and system for estimating the position of moving objects in images A method and system are disclosed for estimating a position of moving objects in a set of image data. In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a position of an object is identified in a first frame of image data acquired at a first time. Th... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7276681 | On-board light source based gain correction for semi-active laser seekers The invention provides a method and apparatus for correcting for gain changes in detectors in a guided vehicle. In one version of the invention, an on board light source is used to generate a reference set of detector gains, which are stored in computer memory. The ... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7265331 | Optical sensing apparatus and method for determining highest intensity of light in an array A plurality of optical sensing elements in an array where each element has a unique element address identifying the element location. Each element senses light and produces an element address signal in proportion to the intensity of the light sensed by the element. ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7259362 | Imaging arrangement and method for high-speed imaging An electro-optic device is disclosed which has a plurality of independently-gatable portions. One example is an image intensifier having a number of segmented photocathode areas (GP). The corresponding portions of the intensifier can be energized independently via c... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7230221 | Portable air defense ground based launch detection system A ground based launch detection system consisting of a sensor grid of electro-optical sensors for detecting the launch of a threat missile which targets commercial aircraft in proximity to a commercial airport or airfield. The electro-optical sensors are configured ... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7227114 | Method of estimating the attitude of a space device with improved precision A method of determining the attitude of a spacecraft is provided. The method may include sensing the projections of a plurality of stars on a sensor, converting the projections into sensor-star directions, and determining the angular values of the spacecraft relativ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7223954 | Apparatus for accessing an active pixel sensor array A circuit includes a decoder for receiving an address within an address space of a processor and for accessing a pixel in an active pixel sensor array based on the address. The decoder maps the active pixel sensor array to the address space. The circuit can also pro... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7214916 | Optical arrangement for a homing head with movable optical elements An optical arrangement (2) for a homing head (16), for the purpose of imaging an object scene onto a detector unit (4), including a control unit (24), a first optical unit (10) having two at least partially transparent optical elem... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7205520 | Portable air defense ground based launch detection system A ground based launch detection system consisting of a sensor grid of electro-optical sensors for detecting the launch of a threat missile which targets commercial aircraft in proximity to a commercial airport or airfield. The electro-optical sensors are configured ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7193214 | Sensor having differential polarization and a network comprised of several such sensors Parametric processing capability is added to a typical sensor so that a target object can be more clearly distinguished from the background clutter in a given scenery. A polarizer with several segments of different polarization orientations is used to improve the ty... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7177550 | On-axis laser receiver wavelength demultiplexer with integral immersion lensed detectors The present invention is directed to a laser communication receiver for wireless optical communication. A laser communication receiver includes a diffractive optical element to permit detectors at different spatial locations to detect different wavelengths of the op... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7155031 | Moving object detection method From a plurality of pictures 1-1 through 1-3 captured at successive time intervals, pictures 2-1 through 2-3 of regions determined in accordance with the movement of the celestial object are cut out. By derivin... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7154649 | Device for deflecting optical beams A device for deflecting optical beams is provided, the device having an array of mirror elements, and each mirror element being pivotable at any angle independently from another mirror element. This array may be manufactured micromechanically. The pivoting of the mi... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7151245 | Systems and methods for compensating for dim targets in an optical tracking system A system and method are provided for controlling an optical imaging system capable of providing an image of a target. The system includes a reflector, an optical amplifier and a tracking device. The reflector is capable of reflecting light representative of the imag... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7150531 | Autostereoscopic projection viewer An autostereoscopic viewer is employed to produce aberration corrected images to simulate a virtual presence by employing pairs of projector optical components coupled with an image corrector plate and a field lens. Images are designed with magnifications and optica... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7138646 | Light receiving device with controllable sensitivity and spatial information detecting apparatus with charge discarding device using the same A spatial information detecting apparatus using an intensity-modulated light has a photoelectric converter for receiving a light provided from a space, into which a light intensity-modulated by a predetermined modulation signal is being irradiated, and generating am... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7124656 | Gimbal mechanism Provided is a gimbal mechanism comprising a support stand, an outer frame and an inner frame. The support stand includes a spaced pair of L-shaped legs comprising a first member having at least one first slot formed therethrough. The outer frame is nested within the... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7119954 | Optical instrument for observation from a satellite, with two telescopes The invention concerns an optical instrument, designed to be used on a satellite, for simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously observing in two opposite angularly separated directions. It comprises at least two telescopes (TA, TB) having angularly spaced apart observa... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7109468 | Imaging arrangement method for high-speed imaging An electro-optic device is disclosed which has a plurality of independently-gatable portions. One example is an image intensifier having a number of segmented photocathode areas (GP). The corresponding portions of the intensifier can be energized independently via c... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7086163 | Method and remote-controlled reflector device for layout axis lines during construction of a building in the absence of direct line of sight A method and remote-controlled reflector device for layout reference and axis lines is provided for use preferably in high building construction industry. The reflector device includes a mirror capable of rotating about its horizontal and vertical axes as controlled... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7078675 | Variable high speed shutter for spectroradiometry A radiation pulse, such as from a solar simulator, is spectrally analyzed over a selected sampling pulse that is shorter in duration than the radiation pulse and is timed to begin after the start of the radiation pulse. A deformable membrane mirror is controlled to ... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7075048 | Omni-directional radiation source and object locator A method for determining azimuth and elevation angles of a radiation source or other physical objects located anywhere within an cylindrical field of view makes use of an omni-directional imaging system comprising of reflective surfaces, an image sensor and an optio... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7072591 | Processing of multiple wavelength signals transmitted through free space The present invention is directed to a laser communication receiver for wireless optical communication. A laser communication receiver includes a diffractive optical element to permit detectors at different spatial locations to detect different wavelengths of the op... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7058306 | Asymmetrical laser communication transceiver configuration The present invention is directed to a laser communication transmitter and receiver for wireless optical communication. The laser communication transmitter uses a small diameter so correspondingly divergent beam to provide improved bit error rates. A laser communica... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7012271 | Electromagnetic radiation structure control system A control system is provided for controlling the shape of a flexible electromagnetic radiation structure. The control system includes a plurality of actuators and a plurality of computational elements. Each of the plurality of actuators is coupled to a portion of th... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6987256 | Polarized semi-active laser last pulse logic seeker using a staring focal plane array An improvement in a semi-active laser last pulse logic missile seeker is disclosed and claimed. In one embodiment, the improvement includes a first polarizer disposed in the detection field of view of the PIN photodiode detector and a second polarizer disposed in th... | 01/17/2006 |
| 6980152 | Externally cued aircraft warning and defense Methods, computer-readable media, and systems for externally cued aircraft warning and defense are disclosed. A surveillance system may include a sensor field or array and may include a processor system that processes signals including acoustic signals received by t... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6965471 | Astrometry system using two telescopes, one of which is an astrometry telescope An astrometry system comprises an astrometry first telescope having first and second sightlines respectively corresponding to first and second fields of view and a first star detector system in a first focal plane. A first optical system combines first and second li... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6963678 | Electro-optical transducer with multi-reflector beam-expanding and collimating input/output device A system of reflectors is used to form beam-expanding and collimating electro-optic transducer devices, including radiation sources and/or detectors. Preferably, the reflector system is of the Cassegrainian or Ritchey-Chretien type. Radiation such as light signals c... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6924772 | Tri-mode co-boresighted seeker A tri-mode co-boresighted seeker including a primary collecting mirror assembly having a parabolic surface and a forwardly located dielectric secondary mirror assembly including a dielectric mirror coating which reflects infrared (IR) energy to an IR detector assemb... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6919959 | Digital spectral identifier-controller and related methods A high speed, low cost, wide spectrum light scanning and sensor unit (10) for receiving reflected light from an object and diffracting the light into segments of wavelengths and a linear sensor array (32) having elements positioned to receive the segme... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6917855 | Real-time target tracking of an unpredictable target amid unknown obstacles Embodiments provide a strategy for computing the motions of a mobile robot operating in an obstacle-laden environment without requiring prior knowledge of the distribution of obstacles in the environment or knowing the trajectory of a target tracked by the robot. Em... | 07/12/2005 |
