The present disclosure relates to a device and method for accurately measuring an azimuth angle and an elevation angle of mid-infrared laser light. The device includes a laser, an atomic gas cell, a filter, a displacement platform, and a beam mass spectrometer. Pump light generated by the laser enters the atomic gas cell along an optical axis which is a Z-axis for a spontaneous frequency conversion process, and a generated reference beam enters the beam mass spectrometer through the filter; target mid-infrared laser light and the pump light intersect in the atomic gas cell to induce a second frequency conversion process, and a generated beam to be measured enters the beam mass spectrometer through the filter; and the beam mass spectrometer is arranged on the displacement platform and simultaneously detect spot images of the reference beam and the beam to be measured at different positions, respectively.

A method to spread laser photon energy over separate pixels to improve the likelihood that the total sensing time of all the pixels together includes the laser pulse. The optical signal is spread over a number of pixels, N, on a converter array by means of various optical components. The N pixels are read out sequentially in time with each sub-interval short enough that the integration of background photons competing with the laser pulse is reduced. Likewise, the pixel read times may be staggered such that laser pulse energy will be detected by at least one pixel during the required pulse interval. The arrangement of the N pixels may be by converter array column, row, two dimensional array sub-window, or any combination of sub-windows depending on the optical path of the laser signal and the capability of the ROIC control.

A method to spread laser photon energy over separate pixels to improve the likelihood that the total sensing time of all the pixels together includes the laser pulse. The optical signal is spread over a number of pixels, N, on a converter array by means of various optical components. The N pixels are read out sequentially in time with each sub-interval short enough that the integration of background photons competing with the laser pulse is reduced. Likewise, the pixel read times may be staggered such that laser pulse energy will be detected by at least one pixel during the required pulse interval. The arrangement of the N pixels may be by converter array column, row, two dimensional array sub-window, or any combination of sub-windows depending on the optical path of the laser signal and the capability of the ROIC control.

A solid nose cone and related components are disclosed. Embodiments include a front-end system for a laser-guided munition. The front-end system includes a solid nose cone that is optically transparent to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) of a particular wavelength. The solid nose cone is configured to pass EMR incident on the exterior surface to the trailing end. An optical relay adapter (ORA) has an EMR-receiving front face and an EMR-emitting rear face. The EMR-receiving front face is optically coupled to the trailing end, and the ORA is configured to relay the EMR from the EMR-receiving front face to the EMR-emitting rear face.

Provided is a method for estimating a signal generation position based on signal strength, including: measuring a first signal strength which is a strength of a signal propagated from a generation position of the signal at a first measurement point; measuring a second signal strength which is a strength of the signal propagated from the generation position of the signal at a second measurement point distinguished from the first measurement point; calculating an attenuation constant of a medium to which the signal is propagated from the generation position up to the first measurement point and the second measurement point; and estimating the generation position by using the first signal strength, the second signal strength, and the attenuation constant, wherein the first measurement point, the second measurement point, and the generation position are present on one straight line. This method can be extended to estimate a signal generation point in 2D plane or 3D space.

Provided is a method for estimating a signal generation position based on signal strength, including: measuring a first signal strength which is a strength of a signal propagated from a generation position of the signal at a first measurement point; measuring a second signal strength which is a strength of the signal propagated from the generation position of the signal at a second measurement point distinguished from the first measurement point; calculating an attenuation constant of a medium to which the signal is propagated from the generation position up to the first measurement point and the second measurement point; and estimating the generation position by using the first signal strength, the second signal strength, and the attenuation constant, wherein the first measurement point, the second measurement point, and the generation position are present on one straight line. This method can be extended to estimate a signal generation point in 2D plane or 3D space.

A solar tracker system including a tracker apparatus including a plurality of solar modules, each of the solar modules being spatially configured to face in a normal manner in an on sun position in an incident direction of electromagnetic radiation derived from the sun, wherein the solar modules include a plurality of PV strings, and a tracker controller. The tracker controller includes a processor, a memory, a power supply configured to provide power to the tracker controller, a plurality of power inputs configured to receive a plurality of currents from the plurality of PV strings, a current sensing unit configured to individually monitor the plurality of currents, a DC-DC power converter configured to receive the plurality of power inputs powered from the plurality of PV strings to supply power to the power supply, and a motor controller, wherein the tracker controller is configured to track the sun position.

A solar tracker system including a tracker apparatus including a plurality of solar modules, each of the solar modules being spatially configured to face in a normal manner in an on sun position in an incident direction of electromagnetic radiation derived from the sun, wherein the solar modules include a plurality of PV strings, and a tracker controller. The tracker controller includes a processor, a memory, a power supply configured to provide power to the tracker controller, a plurality of power inputs configured to receive a plurality of currents from the plurality of PV strings, a current sensing unit configured to individually monitor the plurality of currents, a DC-DC power converter configured to receive the plurality of power inputs powered from the plurality of PV strings to supply power to the power supply, and a motor controller, wherein the tracker controller is configured to track the sun position.

A system and method are provided for determining a location of a laser using a diffraction grating. The system includes a lens that projects diffraction patterns from the diffraction grating as an image of diffraction peaks onto a plane. Optical sensors then sense the diffraction peaks. A processor connected to the optical sensors applies a laser position determination method to determine the laser location. In the method, the processor obtains the diffraction peak measurements from the optical sensors and applies a transform to arrange the diffraction peaks into a grid of regularly spaced peaks. The processor then applies convolution kernels to analyze the grid of regularized peaks to to determine a position of a zeroth order diffraction central peak that is used to calculate the angle of incidence of the axis of the laser beam to determine the laser position.

A system and method are provided for determining a location of a laser using a diffraction grating. The system includes a lens that projects diffraction patterns from the diffraction grating as an image of diffraction peaks onto a plane. Optical sensors then sense the diffraction peaks. A processor connected to the optical sensors applies a laser position determination method to determine the laser location. In the method, the processor obtains the diffraction peak measurements from the optical sensors and applies a transform to arrange the diffraction peaks into a grid of regularly spaced peaks. The processor then applies convolution kernels to analyze the grid of regularized peaks to to determine a position of a zeroth order diffraction central peak that is used to calculate the angle of incidence of the axis of the laser beam to determine the laser position.