Development of a 2-color projection system for the KHILS VAcuum Cold Chamber (KVACC)

摘要

The KHILS Vacuum Cold Chamber (KVACC) was develoepd to provide the capability of perofrming hardware-in-the-loop testign of infrared seekers requiring scenes involving cold backgrounds. being able to project cold backgrunds enables the projector to simulate high-altitude exoatmospheric engagements. Previous tests with the KVACC projection system have used only one resistive-array projection device. In order to realistically stimulate a 2-color seeker, it is necessary to project in two, independently controlled IR bands. Missile interceptors commonly use two or more colors; thus, a 2-color projection capability has been developed for the KVACC system. The 2-color projection capability is being accomplished by optically combining two Phase 3 WISP arrays with a dichroic beam combiner. Both WISP arrays are cooled to user-selected temperatures ranging from ambient temperature to below 150 K. In order to test the projection system, a special-purpose camera has also been develoepd. The camera is designed to operate inside the vacuum chamber. It has a cooled, all-reflective broadband optical system to enable the measurement of low radiance levels in the 3-12 mu m spectrum. Camera upgrades later this year will allow measurements in two independent wavebands. Both the camera and the projector will be described in this paper.