Optical system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION With this background of the invention in mind it is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved optical system having a focusing system adapted to gimbal with respect to a plurality of detectors.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved missile seeker having an array of relatively small detectors fixed to the body of the missile and a focusing and scanning system gimballed with respect to the body of the missile.
These and other objects are obtained generally by providing an optical system wherein a focusing system focuses a portion of electromagnetic energy onto a focal plane.
A plurality of detectors is disposed in a detector plane.
When the focal plane and the detector plane are skewed, a processor processes signals produced by detectors aligned along, or adjacent to, the line formed by the intersection of the skewed detector and focal planes.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the optical system comprises: means for focusing a portion of electromagnetic energy from an object onto a focal plane including means for rotating the focusing system about an axis of rotation including means for scanning the focused portion in a circle in the focal plane, the angle between the line of sight to the object and the axis of rotation being related to the deviation of the center of the circle from the point where the axis of rotation passes through the focal plane; an array of detectors disposed in a detector plane, such array of detectors being arranged in a plurality of sets of such detectors, each one of such sets being disposed along a different region extending radially from a central region of the array, such central region being coincident with the point the axis of rotation intersects the focal plane; means for skewing the detector and focal planes; and, means, coupled to the skewing means, for processing signals produced by a selected one of the plurality of sets of detectors, such selected one of the sets being disposed in one of the radially extending regions disposed along a line formed by the intersection of the skewed detector and focal planes to provide a signal representative of the deviation of the center of the circle from the axis of rotation