BAE Systems continues to advance the technology and performance of microbolometer-based thermal imaging modules and systems. 640x480 digital uncooled infrared focal plane arrays are in full production, illustrated by recent production line test data for two thousand focal plane arrays. This paper presents a snapshot of microbolometer technology at BAE Systems and an overview of two of the most important thermal imaging sensor programs currently in production: a family of thermal weapons sights for the United States Army and a thermal imager for the remote weapons station on the Stryker vehicle.
The low-cost day and night imaging capability of uncooled infrared imagers significantly enhances the situational awareness capability of an unattended ground sensor. BAE Systems has leveraged its Standard Camera Core 500 product to develop an advanced imager, the MIM500TM, for use in unattended ground sensors and other military applications. Key improvements implemented in the MIM500TM include reduced operating power, pixel synchronization to an external clock, variable frame rate, a ruggedized mechanical design, a new reduced power standby mode, and electronic zoom,. This paper presents an overview of the MIM500TM design, it describes MIM500TM features that enhance the capability of unattended ground sensors, it discusses imaging performance data, and it provides an overview of current MIM500TM applications.
This paper describes the inherent advantages of IR uncooled imagers in general, and the SCC500 in particular, for homeland defense. The SCC500 is a small, lightweight, low power, high performance uncooled imager that began production shipments in the spring of 2003. Key technologies described are dynamic range control, contrast enhancement and electronic zoom. Availability of these advanced features in production products are also described.
A new 4th generation MicroIR architecture is introduced as the latest in the highly successful Standard Camera Core (SCC) series by BAE SYSTEMS to offer an infrared imaging engine with greatly reduced size, weight, power, and cost. The advanced SCC500 architecture provides great flexibility in configuration to include multiple resolutions, an industry standard Real Time Operating System (RTOS) for customer specific software application plug-ins, and a highly modular construction for unique physical and interface options. These microbolometer based camera cores offer outstanding and reliable performance over an extended operating temperature range to meet the demanding requirements of real-world environments. A highly integrated lens and shutter is included in the new SCC500 product enabling easy, drop-in camera designs for quick time-to-market product introductions.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.