Polarization-based Visible Light Target Simulation Technology

It is found that the degree of polarization of reflected light from man-made objects is relatively large,while that from natural environment on land has almost no polarization information.This discovery was immediately applied to missile guidance technology.Because the reflected light of man-made object has a large degree of polarization,if the seeker can capture and recognize this special polarized light,the hit rate of missile can be greatly improved.But the test cost of polarization guided missile is very expensive.Scientists invented hardware-in-the-loop simulation experiment to reduce the test cost.Using Target Simulator to Simulate Striking Target for Testing Seeker.In view of this,a polarization-based visible light target simulator is designed as a target source device for hardware-in-the-loop simulation experiments.The visible target simulator converts the image data of the simulated target into visible light through digital micromirror device(DMD)for projection.The projected light is transformed into polarized light by polarization modulation optical system,and the gray image of the target with polarization information is generated.The polarized gray image is used as a simulated target in the hardware-in-the-loop simulation experiment.In this paper,the design of visible light target simulator and polarization modulation optical system are the main contents.The basic theory of polarization optics and the working principle of DMD are introduced.The experimental platform is built,including visual simulation host computer,DMD driving circuit,optical projection system and polarization modulation optical system.The software design is completed.Four gray-scale images with 0,45,90 and 135 degrees linear polarization information and a pair of gray-scale images with circular polarization information are obtained through experiments.The feasibility of polarization-based visible light target simulation technology is verified.And the system uses a high-performance DMD working platform to get clear target images,which meets the performance requirements of the hardware-in-the-loop simulation experimental source equipment.