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 28.02.2024
Subjects
AIRCRAFT
AVIATION
CALCULATING
COMPUTING
COSMONAUTICS
COUNTING
ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
PERFORMING OPERATIONS
PHYSICS
TRANSPORTING
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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