360 degree infrared imager with scalable architecture

Providing situational awareness in three dimensions using thermal imaging is of great practical importance for civilian and military applications, but there are currently no solutions available at acceptable cost. The emergence of low-cost computer power and thermal-imaging systems now provides an alternative solution, where the use of arrays of low-cost cameras enables imaging using quasi-curved detection planes to enable aberration-free imaging of extreme fields of view with an extremely high-pixel count. This presentation will discuss the design and practical demonstration of solutions based around the use of multi-camera imaging using low-cost thermal imaging cameras to provide 360° panoramic imaging. Through using compact low-pixel count detectors paired with inexpensive silicon lenses, we have created a compact scalable architecture with a high angular resolution. This parallelized camera system produces video-rate long-wave infrared panoramic snapshots and offers the multifunctionality of multiple-camera integral imaging such as 3D imaging, ranging and imaging through obscurants.