Apparatus and information processing methods for a tracking system tracker unit

Claim 1

A TRACKING SYSTEM TRACKER UNIT WHICH GENERATES AN ELECTRICAL AZIMUTH TRACKING ERROR CORRECTION SIGNAL IN RESPONSE TO DETECTED CHANGES IN A TELEVISION CAMERA OUTPUT VIDEO SIGNAL PICTURING A SELECTED TARGET IN A CONTRASTING BACKGROUND TO CONTROL THE VIEWING AXIS OF THE TELEVISION CAMERA IN AZIMUTH TRACKING RELATION TO THE SELECTED TARGET, COMPRISING: (A) DETECTOR CIRCUIT MEANS DETECTING VOLTAGE AMPLITUDE CHANGES IN THE TELEVISION CAMERA OUTPUT VIDEO SIGNAL AND PRODUCING DETECTION PULSES THAT IDENTIFY AND MARK POSITIVE-GOING AND NEGATIVE-GOING VOLTAGE CHANGES THAT INDICATE THE REAL TIME-POSITION OF EDGE-LIKE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SELECTED TARGET, (B) SEPARATOR CIRCUIT MEANS FUNCTIONING TO CLASSIFY CONTRAST DETECTION PULSES RECEIVED FROM SAID DETECTOR CIRUCIT MEANS INTO SEPARATE POSITIVE-GOING AND NEGATIVE-GOING VOLTAGE CHANGE CHANNELS, (C) PULSE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS GENERATING A HORIZONTAL TRACKING GATE PULSE HAVING A DEFINITE TIME DURATION AND HAVING A VARIABLE TIME-POSITION IN EACH LINE OF HORIZONTAL SCAN OF THE TELEVISION CAMERA, (D) TWO AND GATE CIRCUIT MEANS EACH RECEIVING ONE DIFFERENT CLASS OF CONTRAST DETECTION PULSES SEPARATELY CHANNELLED BY SAID SEPARATOR CIRCUIT MEANS AND HORIZONTAL TRACKING GATE PULSES GENERATED BY SAID PULSE GENERATOR PULSE MEANS AND GATING TIME-COINCIDENT PORTIONS OF THOSE PULSES RECEIVED THEREIN AS AZIMUTH TRACKING ERROR DETECTION PULSES, (E) SUMMING CIRCUIT MEANS FUNCTIONING TO ADD THE TRACKING ERROR DETECTION PULSES GATED BY SAID TWO AND GATE CIRCUIT MEANS AND PORDUCE A TRACKING ERROR DETECTION PULSE SIGNAL REPRESENTING THE DIFFERENCE THEREOF AND REPRESENTING A SELECTION OF A DESIRED DIRECTION OF AZIMUTH TRACKING ERROR CORRECTION, AND (F) INTEGRATOR CIRCUIT MEANS INTEGRATING THE SIGNAL PRODUCED BY SAID SUMMING CIRCUIT MEANS TO FORM SAID ELECTRICAL AZIMUTH TRACKING ERROR CORRECTION SIGNAL, SAID AZIMUTH TRACKING ERROR CORRECTION SIGNAL POSITIONING THE HORIZONTAL TRACKING GATE PULSE GENERATED BY SAID PULSE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS IN A NON-SINGULARLY COINCIDENT RELATION TO RECEIVED CONTRAST DETECTION PULSES AT EACH OF SAID TWO AND GATE CIRCUIT MEANS AND CONTROLLING MOVEMENT OF THE VIEWING AXIS OF THE TELEVISION CAMERA TO AN ALIGNED AZIMUTH TRACKING RELATION TO THE SELECTED TARGET.