Compact multispectral continuous zoom camera for color and SWIR vision with integrated laser range finder

In an electro-optical sensor suite for long range surveillance tasks the optics for the visible (450nm – 700nm) and the SWIR spectral wavelength range (900nm – 1700 nm) are combined with the receiver optics of an integrated laser range finder (LRF) .The incoming signal from the observed scene and the returned laser pulse are collected within the common entrance aperture of the optics. The common front part of the optics is a broadband corrected lens design from 450 – 1700nm wavelength range. The visible spectrum is split up by a dichroic beam splitter and focused on a HDTV CMOS camera. The returned laser pulse is spatially separated from the scene signal by a special prism and focused on the laser receiver diode of the integrated LRF. The achromatic lens design has a zoom factor 14 and F#2.6 in the visible path. In the SWIR path the F-number is adapted to the corresponding chip dimensions . The alignment of the LRF with respect to the SWIR camera line of sight can be controlled by adjustable integrated wedges. The two images in the visible and the SWIR spectral range match in focus and field of view (FOV) over the full zoom range between 2° and 22° HFOV. The SWIR camera has a resolution of 640×512 pixels. The HDTV camera provides a resolution of 1920×1080. The design and the performance parameters of the multispectral sensor suite is discussed.