RGB wavefront sensor for turbulence mitigation

Patent · Tue Jul 06 00:00:00 EDT 2021

OSTI ID:1840236

O'Neill, Mary Dominique; Terry, David

A compact adaptive optics system for long-range horizontal paths imaging that improves degraded images. The system uses a filter that corresponds to the three colors in a typical color detector element, one or more optic elements, a deformable mirror, and a detector. Focus errors, due to turbulence, in the image recorded by the detector element show up as image shifts in the three distinct color images. The shifts and statistics of these shifts between these simultaneous images are used to create control signals for the deformable mirror resulting in a compact adaptive optic system for horizontal paths without need for a point source located at the distance scene being imaged. Analysis of the relative pixel shifts in various regions of the image provides third order statistics revealing tip/tilt and additional Zernikes modes that are used to control a deformable mirror without the need for a guide star/point-source.

• Research Organization: Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (MSTS), North Las Vegas, NV (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003624
• Assignee: Mission Support and Test Services, LLC (North Las Vegas, NV)
• Patent Number(s): 11,054,637
• Application Number: 16/231,023
• OSTI ID: 1840236
• Resource Relation: Patent File Date: 12/21/2018
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English