Optical design of an hemispherical, long-wave infrared panomorph lens for total situational awareness

Abstract

The proliferation of security and surveillance missions in urban environments dictates the greater use of optical systems in situational awareness for ground vehicle protection. The need for total situation awareness requires unique optical based systems combining visible and thermal imaging, advanced image processing, and analytic functionalities. These sensors must provide a full hemispheric field of view with a high refresh rate in low cost and compact packages. This paper describes the design of a fast panomorph lens for the 8-12 µm IR band with hemispheric capabilities in a single integrated package that can be added to actual platforms to enhanced situation awareness systems. The various tradeoffs that were explored are detailed (material, size, relative cost, tolerances, F/#). The advantages and disadvantages of the panomorph design are compared to reflective, diffractive and other refractive solutions.