Detection of modulating elements

Methods and apparatus for detecting a modulating element 1 of an object are disclosed in which signal values are obtained from one or more optical detectors 200. A determination is then made of whether there is a time-dependent variation in the obtained signal values (Fig. 3), and a modulating eleme...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Jason John Lepley, Mark Edgar Bray
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 03.03.2021
Subjects
CALCULATING
COMPUTING
COUNTING
HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
PHYSICS
PRESENTATION OF DATA
RECOGNITION OF DATA
RECORD CARRIERS
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Summary:Methods and apparatus for detecting a modulating element 1 of an object are disclosed in which signal values are obtained from one or more optical detectors 200. A determination is then made of whether there is a time-dependent variation in the obtained signal values (Fig. 3), and a modulating element is detected based on this determination. The object of interest could be an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone (400), and the modulating element could be its rotors or blades 11,12. The rapid modulation of the signal caused by rotors can be used to distinguish a UAV from, for example, a bird. The optical detector could be a non-imaging detector, e.g. a quadrant detector 700. The apparatus could further provide a control signal for guiding an apparatus towards the detected element (e.g. weapons guidance). In other embodiments the modulating element could be an exhaust plume or a human face.
Bibliography:Application Number: GB20190012326