Patent Application
20180080741
The field of art disclosed herein pertains to active camouflage systems and method, and more particularly for visual and thermal optimized active camouflage.
Conventional military camouflage is passive; modern camouflage uniforms employ disruptive patterns and countershading to mimic the dappled textures and rough boundaries found in natural and urban settings. An example of the current state of the art which possesses all of the above mentioned attributes is the U.S. Marine Corps MARPAT camouflage uniform, which comprises a fractal pattern of pixel like squares and rectangles designed to blend a subject into its background.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an active camouflage system including one or more imaging devices that are engagable to a first side of a subject and that is to detect a visual image. A display assembly is comprised of at least one display segment and that is engageable to a second side of the subject. An active camouflage controller is in communication with the imaging device and the display assembly to: receive a visual image; prepare a camouflage image based at least in part on the visual image; and display the camouflage image on the display assembly.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing an active camouflage system. In one or more embodiments the method includes attaching a synthetic sapphire glass cover to an active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display screen. The method includes attaching an anti-reflective coating to the sapphire glass cover to form a display segment. The method includes attaching the display segment to a first side of a substrate that is attachable around a subject. The method includes attaching an imaging device on an opposing second side of the substrate.
In an additional aspect, the present innovation provides method of actively camouflaging a subject. In one or more embodiments, the method includes attaching more than one display segment on a subject that present different planar vantage points on a first side of the subject. The method includes detecting from an opposing side of the subject visual images that corresponds to the respective planar vantage points. The method includes causing the display segments respectively to display respective camouflage images that correspond to the visual images.
These and other features are explained more fully in the embodiments illustrated below. It should be understood that in general the features of one embodiment also may be used in combination with features of another embodiment and that the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, are described in the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Theoretical analysis reveals that this aim can be better obtained by dynamically matching the object to be camouflaged to its background colors and light levels thus rendering it virtually invisible to the eye. In one or more embodiments, the present innovation can address aspects of implementing active camouflage by utilizing wearable high-contrast ratio screens connected to visible light and infrared cameras, light sensors, and three dimensional depth sensors. In one or more embodiments, the present innovation can address aspects of at least partially resolving potential issues with respect to viewing angle and parallax, resulting in a three dimensional active camouflage effect. In one or more embodiments, the present innovation can address aspects of applying this active camouflage technique to infrared wavelengths in addition to visible light. In one or more embodiments, the present innovation can address aspects of applying this active camouflage concept to ground and aerial vehicles. Other objects and a fuller understanding of the innovation may be ascertained from the following description and claims.
Several methods are available for the fabrication of an active camouflage device. In one instance: Square shaped or hexagonal high contrast OLED or E-ink screens of 1-20 cubic inches in area are obtained. In one or more embodiments, the display screen 114 can be an active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display screen. AMOLED is a display technology for use in mobile devices and television. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix refers to the technology behind the addressing of pixels. An AMOLED display consists of an active matrix of OLED pixels that generate light (luminescence) upon electrical activation that have been deposited or integrated onto a thin-film-transistor (TFT) array, which functions as a series of switches to control the current flowing to each individual pixel. Typically, this continuous current flow is controlled by at least two TFTs at each pixel (to trigger the luminescence), with one TFT to start and stop the charging of a storage capacitor and the second to provide a voltage source at the level needed to create a constant current to the pixel, thereby eliminating the need for the very high currents required for passive-matrix OLED operation. TFT backplane technology is one aspect in the fabrication of AMOLED displays. The two primary TFT backplane technologies, namely polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and amorphous silicon (a-Si), are used today in AMOLEDs. These technologies offer the potential for fabricating the active-matrix backplanes at low temperatures (below 150° C.) directly onto flexible plastic substrates for producing flexible AMOLED displays.
The exterior surfaces of these display screens 114 are made of a rugged and durable transparent material. This can encompass high hardness ceramics and treated glass such as sapphire, transparent spinel ceramic, or chemically toughened glass coated with optically transparent silicon dioxide (SiO2) films or ductile materials such as toughened plastic. Sapphire is an exemplary example of a display screen 114. Synthetic sapphire refers not to the amorphous state, but to the transparency. Sapphire is not only highly transparent to wavelengths of light between 150 nm (UV) and 5500 nm (IR) (the human eye can discern wavelengths from about 380 nm to 750 nm), but is also extraordinarily scratch-resistant. Sapphire has a value of 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Benefits of synthetic sapphire glass include (i) very wide optical transmission band from UV to near-infrared, (0.15-5.5 μm), (ii) significantly stronger than other optical materials or standard glass windows, highly resistant to scratching and abrasion, and (iii) extremely high melting temperature (2030° C.). Sapphire glass refers to crystalline sapphire used as an optical window or cover. Some windows are made from pure sapphire boules that have been grown in a specific crystal orientation, typically along the optical axis, the c-axis, for minimum birefringence for the application. The boules are sliced up into the desired window thickness and finally polished to the desired surface finish. Sapphire optical windows can be polished to a wide range of surface finishes due to its crystal structure and its hardness. The surface finishes of optical windows are normally called out by the scratch-dig specifications in accordance with the globally adopted MIL-O-13830 specification.
In instances where sapphire as the transparent window 116 is used to ruggedize the display screen 114, the sapphire glass can optionally be coated with a layer of vanadium (IV) oxide (VO2) of twenty five to four hundred nanometers in thickness to form the VO2 layer 118. In this case, the bezels of each individual screen can be connected to the induction heating mechanism 120, which can rapidly modulate the heat of the sapphire screen. Thin films of VO2 deposited over sapphire glass display highly unusual infrared optical properties due solely to an atypical interaction between the VO2 film and the sapphire substrate when the VO2 is heated to an intermediate state of its insulator metal transition. This response is widely tunable; i.e., as the thin film is heated past a certain threshold, its degree of thermal emission decreases; heated to temperatures past approximately 80° C., sapphire glass treated with a VO2 thin film starts emitting less thermal radiation and appears much colder on an infrared camera. This has clear implications for an active camouflage system, particularly as many modern weapons systems rely on infrared imaging to acquire targets. Being able to actively shift the black body radiation curve of the camouflaged object allows it to blend into its surroundings or project non identifiable shapes, and this, in turn, allows for a degree of active infrared camouflage well in advance of the current state of the art. Optionally, these screens are then anti reflection treated. This can encompass single layer anti reflection coatings, multi-layer anti reflection coatings, or nanotextured anti-reflection structures.
In a particular embodiment, an exemplary use in the present innovation can include the anti-reflection coating 122 that is a multilayer interference structure, in which transparent materials with different refractive indexes are deposited in one dimension over the ruggedized screen surface.
To further improve performance of an anti-reflection coating 122, a “moth eye nanotextured layer 124 can be included, in which the surface is covered with a two-dimensional array of cones which have a period and height of several hundred nanometers. This texturing, in addition to improving anti-reflective performance, has the added benefit of increasing hydrophobicity and water resistance.
These display segments 208 can be arranged in a wearable grid, ideally hexagonal or square, with cameras and sensors located at junctions where the screens meet. Each screen can be given a coordinate, and each input camera/sensor can project to single coordinate or a set of coordinates.
Ambient light sensors, preferentially between screens and located at screen junctions, can also project to a coordinate or set of coordinates. These sensors would match screen output to ambient light settings, thus allowing the camouflaged object to blend into its surroundings without seeming to emit light. The screens, with input from the cameras and depth sensors, can be programmed to display an abstract pattern pixel array, based on the colors and features of the landscape, and this pattern can be refreshed either manually or on an arbitrary timed basis, e.g. every 10 or 30 minutes. Alternatively, these cameras and sensors can be programmed to present the observer with the scene that the camouflaged object is blocking out, thus presenting a translucent effect. This effect where cameras on the camouflage system user's rear project their image to the front, and cameras on the front project to the rear can be displayed in real time and refreshed at 30 frames per second or faster. Tracking sensors 230 such as depth sensor can be used to track the motion of nearby people and vehicles, and can be programmed to alter the displayed images/scenes/pattern based on their predicted viewing angle. For example, the active camouflage system 200 can detect first and second targets 234a. 234b. This may help to prevent potential parallax issues.
In certain manifestations of the above invention, parallax issues can be further ameliorated via the use of lenticular screens.
When trying to camouflage a shape with sharp angles, e.g. a vehicle, lenticular screens can be used to blend light input from the corners of the vehicle when the vehicle is not directly in front of its viewers, thus masking its outline and providing a quasi 3D active camouflage effect.
The devices described above can be feasibly powered with commercially available batteries including, but not limited to, lithium ion batteries, nickel zinc batteries, and others known to those with an ordinary skill in the art. When used in land or aerial vehicles, these devices can be powered by either standalone batteries or integrated electrical systems, e.g. automobile accessory power. The devices described above can be manufactured with the use of commercially available processors and memory.
In the above described flow charts of
It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a “colorant agent” includes two or more such agents.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although a number of methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred materials and methods are described herein.
As will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art, the methods and compositions of the invention substantially reduce or eliminate the disadvantages and drawbacks associated with prior art methods and compositions.
It should be noted that, when employed in the present disclosure, the terms “comprises.” “comprising,” and other derivatives from the root term “comprise” are intended to be open-ended terms that specify the presence of any stated features, elements, integers, steps, or components, and are not intended to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, integers, steps, components, or groups thereof.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the invention herein disclosed fulfill the objectives stated above, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by one of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The present Application for Patent claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/139,093, entitled “ACTIVE CAMOUFLAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD,” filed Mar. 27, 2015, and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US16/24279 | 3/25/2016 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62139093 | Mar 2015 | US |
