5 ms·
The other poster mentions analog techniques used in contrast-tracking TV-guided munitions like the Walleye, but digital "CV-like" image/contour matching methods
by cpgxiii 6y ago
The other poster mentions analog techniques used in contrast-tracking TV-guided munitions like the Walleye, but digital "CV-like" image/contour matching methods were used on the original Tomahawk cruise missile and the Pershing 2 missile to provide terrain-matching navigation and target guidance. GPS was neither sufficiently complete or accurate for strategic weapons in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
In more modern weapons, imaging IR sensors are well-established for terminal guidance on missiles like LRASM, JASSM, or NSM to distinguish targets from clutter and identify specific target features (specific parts of a ship, for example). Of course "traditional" "IR-homing" SAMs and AAMs now use imaging sensors (often with multiple modes like IR+UV) to distinguish between the target and decoys/jammers. Even your basic shoulder-fired anti-tank missile like Javelin requires some amount of CV to identify and track a moving target.
- tal8d 6y ago> analog techniques used in contrast-tracking aka edge detection :) I don't remember if it was the Sidewinder or Walleye that eventually dropped in a CCD (or both), but I know that the Maverick (which is technically older than Walleye) got along without a CCD until the GWOT - when it finally upgraded. The Javelin actually beat Maverick in that regard, having a 64x64 sensor 10 years earlier - able to handle scaling and perspective change for the 2-d designated target pattern. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a454087.pdf https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a454087.pdf