Andrew M Downing

US Patent:

20200249323, Aug 6, 2020

Filed:

Feb 6, 2019

Appl. No.:

16/268730

Inventors:

- Bethesda MD, US
Andrew M. Downing - Altamonte Springs FL, US

International Classification:

G01S 7/481
G01S 7/48
G01S 17/89
G01S 17/08
G01S 7/497

Abstract:

A system comprising non-transitory and tangible memory comprising program instructions for performing an extended laser active ranging (ELAR) procedure having a first mode and a second mode. The system includes a processor configured to execute the program instructions to cause the processor to receive selection of a region-of-interest (ROI) having a pixel cluster; and cause laser ranging using a laser ranging system in the first mode. The process is configured to determine whether a laser ranging reflection (LRR) signal is received by a laser photodetector of a gimbal during the first mode. If the LRR signal is not received, the processor performs the second mode of the ELAR procedure initialized to a center of the selected ROI to search for a reflective surface in the ROI of an imaged real-world view of an ambient scene and registered to the pixel cluster to find a small target.