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"Precision Metric Zoom"
High-Resolution Long Range Surveillance/Imaging Lens

Delivered to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in January 2006 the Precision Metric Zoom Lens was manufactured as a result of an SBIR Phase I and II to design and manufacture a zoom lens system to image missiles during flight tests. The challenges of the program were to provide variable magnification and high resolution of objects at distances of 1 to 100 km while working in a desert environment. In Phase I, we designed and built a quarter-scale system, and, in Phase II, we built the full-scale system (shown in the figure below) for mission testing in the desert. Both systems contain 16 lenses and 2 moving lens groups and f-numbers ranging from 4 to 14. The focal lengths for the Phase II lens range from 750 mm to 3800 mm The system resolution is 100 line pairs/mm over all fields and zoom positions.
 

(Please Click here to download a PDF Technical Write-up on the Metric Zoom.)

• Imaging of missiles during flight tests (1 to 100 km)

• FOV: 0.36° to 1.8°
• Very long focal length: 750 mm to 3800 mm (30" to 150")
• Variable f-number: 4 to 14
• High throughput: >84%
• High resolution: 100 line pairs/mm
• Large-format camera (24-mm diagonal image plane)
• Scalable (1/4-scale version built in Phase I)
• Visible design that transfers easily to infrared
• Weight about 300 pounds

“Precision Metric Zoom Lens” from the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range.
(Phase I & Phase II )