Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance

System architecture was developed to solve the issues of short pupil distance and mismatch between the simulated wavelength range and the sensor in the simulator of small targets in space. The system consists of Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS), a Polarizing Beam Splitter (PBS), a dual free-form sur...

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Main Authors: Yi Lu, Xiping Xu, Ning Zhang, Yaowen Lv, Hua Geng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Photonics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/578
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author Yi Lu
Xiping Xu
Ning Zhang
Yaowen Lv
Hua Geng
author_facet Yi Lu
Xiping Xu
Ning Zhang
Yaowen Lv
Hua Geng
author_sort Yi Lu
collection DOAJ
description System architecture was developed to solve the issues of short pupil distance and mismatch between the simulated wavelength range and the sensor in the simulator of small targets in space. The system consists of Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS), a Polarizing Beam Splitter (PBS), a dual free-form surface-illumination system, and a long-exit-pupil-distance projection system. The innovatively designed long exit pupil distance projection system can achieve an exit pupil distance of 1250 mm, covering the visible and near-infrared bands from 400 to 950 nm. The dual free-form surface-illumination system reaches a divergence angle of ±4.3° and an illumination non-uniformity of 4.7%. Experimental validation shows that the system’s star position error is better than −3.94″, and the angular distance error between stars does not exceed −7.69″. The radiation simulation accuracy for stars ranging from magnitude 3 to 6 is between −0.049 and 0.085 magnitudes, demonstrating high-precision simulation capabilities for both geometric and radiation characteristics. The research results set a critical theoretical foundation for the development of high-fidelity space target simulators, and the proposed dual free-form surface-design method and wide-spectrum aberration compensation technology provide a new paradigm for precision optical system design.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2304-6732
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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spelling doaj-art-d4f8a0bc115948dfa1ee26dc5e664df32025-08-20T03:29:39ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-06-0112657810.3390/photonics12060578Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil DistanceYi Lu0Xiping Xu1Ning Zhang2Yaowen Lv3Hua Geng4School of Opto-Electronic Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, ChinaSchool of Opto-Electronic Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, ChinaSchool of Opto-Electronic Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, ChinaSchool of Opto-Electronic Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, ChinaSchool of Opto-Electronic Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, ChinaSystem architecture was developed to solve the issues of short pupil distance and mismatch between the simulated wavelength range and the sensor in the simulator of small targets in space. The system consists of Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS), a Polarizing Beam Splitter (PBS), a dual free-form surface-illumination system, and a long-exit-pupil-distance projection system. The innovatively designed long exit pupil distance projection system can achieve an exit pupil distance of 1250 mm, covering the visible and near-infrared bands from 400 to 950 nm. The dual free-form surface-illumination system reaches a divergence angle of ±4.3° and an illumination non-uniformity of 4.7%. Experimental validation shows that the system’s star position error is better than −3.94″, and the angular distance error between stars does not exceed −7.69″. The radiation simulation accuracy for stars ranging from magnitude 3 to 6 is between −0.049 and 0.085 magnitudes, demonstrating high-precision simulation capabilities for both geometric and radiation characteristics. The research results set a critical theoretical foundation for the development of high-fidelity space target simulators, and the proposed dual free-form surface-design method and wide-spectrum aberration compensation technology provide a new paradigm for precision optical system design.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/578long-exit pupil distanceoptical system designliquid crystal on silicon (LCOS)space small-target simulator
spellingShingle Yi Lu
Xiping Xu
Ning Zhang
Yaowen Lv
Hua Geng
Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
Photonics
long-exit pupil distance
optical system design
liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS)
space small-target simulator
title Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
title_full Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
title_fullStr Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
title_full_unstemmed Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
title_short Dynamic Spatial Small-Target Simulation System with Long-Exit Pupil Distance
title_sort dynamic spatial small target simulation system with long exit pupil distance
topic long-exit pupil distance
optical system design
liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS)
space small-target simulator
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/578
work_keys_str_mv AT yilu dynamicspatialsmalltargetsimulationsystemwithlongexitpupildistance
AT xipingxu dynamicspatialsmalltargetsimulationsystemwithlongexitpupildistance
AT ningzhang dynamicspatialsmalltargetsimulationsystemwithlongexitpupildistance
AT yaowenlv dynamicspatialsmalltargetsimulationsystemwithlongexitpupildistance
AT huageng dynamicspatialsmalltargetsimulationsystemwithlongexitpupildistance