Method for determining the direction of a radiation source

Claim 1

A method of determining the bearing of a source of optical radiation comprising the steps of: providing an optical sensor including a base member having a plurality of optical detectors mounted thereon in spaced apart relationship with each detector having an optical radiation receiving field and producing an output in response to the reception of optical radiation within the field, and further structure mounted on the base member to restrict the receiving field of each detector to a radially outwardly directed, generally conical volume having an apex at the detector; developing a reference function from the outputs of each of the detectors; periodically developing an instantaneous function from the outputs of each of the detectors; and comparing the instantaneous function to the reference function to determine when a change in optical radiation in the field of at least one detector occurs.

Claim 2

A method of determining the bearing of a source of optical radiation comprising the steps of: providing an optical sensor including a base member having a plurality of optical detectors mounted thereon in spaced apart relationship with each detector having an optical radiation receiving field and producing an output in response to the reception of optical radiation within the field, and further structure mounted on the base member to restrict the receiving field of each detector to a radially outwardly directed, generally conical volume having an apex at the detector; developing a reference function from the outputs of each of the detectors; periodically developing an instantaneous function from the outputs of each of the detectors; and comparing the instantaneous function to the reference function to determine when a change in optical radiation in the field of at least one detector occurs.

Claim 6

A method of determining the bearing of a source of radiation comprising the steps of: providing a radiation sensor including a base member having a plurality of radiation detectors mounted thereon in spaced apart relationship with each detector having a radiation receiving field and producing an output in response to the reception of radiation within the field, and further structure affixed to the base member to restrict the receiving field of each detector to a radially outwardly directed, generally conical volume having an apex at the detector; developing a reference function from the outputs of each of the detectors; periodically developing an instantaneous function from the outputs of each of the detectors; comparing the instantaneous function to the reference function to determine when a change in received radiation has occurred and which detector outputs have changed; determining that a transient object is in a receiving field when the number of detector outputs is less than a predetermined number; and utilizing the changed detector outputs to approximate the direction of the transient object from the radiation sensor.

Claim 7

A method of determining the bearing of a source of radiation comprising the steps of: providing a radiation sensor including a base member having a plurality of radiation detectors mounted thereon in spaced apart relationship with each detector having a radiation receiving field and producing an output in response to the reception of radiation within the field, and further structure affixed to the base member to restrict the receiving field of each detector to a radially outwardly directed, generally conical volume having an apex at the detector; developing a reference function from the outputs of each of the detectors; periodically developing an instantaneous function from the outputs of each of the detectors; comparing the instantaneous function to the reference function to determine when a change in received radiation has occurred and which detector outputs have changed; determining that a transient object is in a receiving field when the number of detector outputs is less than a predetermined number; and utilizing the changed detector outputs to approximate the direction of the transient object from the radiation sensor.