Michel Doucet

National Optics Institute · Optical design

Imaging in the Terahertz (THz) and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) bands offer advantages over doing do in other conventional bands, such as the visible, infrared (IR). The THz band ranges from 300 GHz to 3 THz or in wavelength, 1 mm to 100 μm. These longer wavelengths allows THz radiation to pass unobscured through some materials allowing for imaging hi...

This paper presents analysis and preliminary results from live video imaging tests in the millimeter/submillimeter (THz) range performed in different lighting conditions, through various obscurants over selected distances. The tests were performed using a compact THz camera based on an uncooled 384 × 288 microbolometer pixel focal plane array. A de...

The ability of millimeter waves (1-10 mm, or 30-300 GHz) to penetrate through dense materials, such as leather, wool, wood and gyprock, and to also transmit over long distances due to low atmospheric absorption, makes them ideal for numerous applications, such as body scanning, building inspection and seeing in degraded visual environments. Current...

In a typical optical system, optical elements usually need to be precisely positioned and aligned to perform the correct optical function. This positioning and alignment involves securing the optical element in a holder or mount. Proper centering of an optical element with respect to the holder is a delicate operation that generally requires tight...

Threaded rings are used to fix lenses in a large portion of opto-mechanical assemblies. This is the case for the low cost drop-in approach in which the lenses are dropped into cavities cut into a barrel and clamped with threaded rings. The walls of a cavity are generally used to constrain the lateral and axial position of the lens within the cavity...

Over the past decade, INO has leveraged its expertise in the development of uncooled microbolometer detectors for infrared imaging to produce terahertz (THz) imaging systems. By modifying its microbolometer-based focal plane arrays to enhance absorption in the THz bands and by developing custom THz imaging lenses, INO has developed a leading-edge T...

The translation of CARS imaging towards real time, high resolution, chemically selective endoscopic tissue imaging applications is limited by a lack of sensitivity in CARS scanning probes sufficiently small for incorporation into endoscopes. We have developed here a custom double clad fiber (DCF)-based CARS probe which is designed to suppress the c...

A software application, SIST, has been developed for the simulation of the video at the output of a thermal imager. The approach offers a more suitable representation than current identification (ID) range predictors do: the end user can evaluate the adequacy of a virtual camera as if he was using it in real operating conditions. In particular, the...

Lens positioning accuracy and manufacturing cost are two main concerns for optomechanical engineers looking for solutions to reduce costs while meeting stringent optical and environmental requirements. Minimizing optical component positioning errors generally translates into significant cost increases. To maximize the precision-to-cost ratio, there...

We propose a new laser profiling technique to scan surfaces with non-uniform reflectivity. A module producing two low speckle laser lines with different chromatic and geometric characteristics using birefringent plates and retarders is presented.

Synthetic aperture (SA) techniques are currently employed in a variety of imaging modalities, such as radar (SAR) and ladar (SAL). The advantage of fine resolution provided by these systems far outweighs the disadvantage of having large amounts of raw data to process to obtain the final image. Digital processors have been the mainstay for synthetic...

The following summarizes the capabilities of a prototype instrument for future missions, TEMMI (Three Dimensional Exploration Multispectral Microscope Imager).

An innovative microscope system had been developed by MDA and INO for planetary exploration applications funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The device is designed for the capture of low and high resolution images, providing multispectral and colour images, and for 3-D mapping of soil or rock samples. The system consists of a microscope equi...

Optical systems generally require a high level of optical components positioning precision resulting in elevated manufacturing cost. The optomechanical tolerance analysis is usually performed by the optomechanical engineer using his personal knowledge of the manufacturing precision capability. Worst case or root sum square (RSS) tolerance calculati...

This contribution describes a series of science instruments built by MDA together with other Canadian companies, ranging from sensors for navigation and workspace characterization, to chemical analysis, to subsurface and atmospheric investigations.

TEMMI was designed and developed for the Canadian Space Agency by two industrial partners, MDA and INO along with three investigative academic partners, Western University Canada, the University of New Brunswick and York University.

Conventional guidelines and approximations useful in macro-scale system design can become invalidated when applied to the smaller scales. An illustration of this is when camera pixel size becomes smaller than the diffraction-limited resolution of the incident light. It is sometimes believed that there is no benefit in having a pixel width smaller t...

On-board SAR processing requires a certain level of ruggedness; that is, the processor must not only process the incoming raw data faster than it enters, but also correct for phase errors without slowing down the processing speed. The source and effects of phase errors have been well described in digital SAR processing theory. However, in the domai...

Timely reception of SAR images is crucial for applications such disaster monitoring, operational earth observation and sea surveillance. The information obtained from the SAR images is needed by civilian security groups for events such as floods, earthquake, ice flows, as well as by law enforcement organizations for maritime threats such as illegal...

A THz VOx-based 160×120 microbolometer FPA camera with 52 μm pixel pitch has been developed at INO. Radiometric NEP values have been measured at different wavelengths. Real-time video-rate reflectance imaging using large beam area from a high-power FIR optically pumped THz laser has been also performed, demonstrating high sensitivity for stand alon...

This paper reviews the reconfiguration capabilities of a real time compact optronic SAR processor in order to adapt for changes in altitude and look angles of a SAR system in flight, either airborne or space-based. The optronic processor can be reconfigured instantaneously making it suitable for all application requiring real-time SAR imagery despi...

A THz camera based on an uncooled microbolometer 160X120 pixel array with nominal pitch of 52 mum has been developed at INO and initial transmission and reflection images showed promise. In the present paper, the characterization of both standard infrared and THz-optimized uncooled microbolometer pixel arrays are presented at both infrared and THz...

An image projector comprises a plurality of flexible reflective analog modulators (FRAMs), an illumination optics for focusing at least one light source thereon, a conversion optics for converting the variations in divergence of the beams reflected therefrom into variations in intensity, and a scanning mechanism coupled to a projection optics for d...

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is the only remote sensing technology that can provide high resolution images in adverse weather conditions and in day or night times. It is thus is a powerful tool for Earth monitoring. Certain applications, such as disaster relief, military reconnaissance and ice-flow and ship monitoring require a continuous flow of...

A THz 160×120 pixel array camera has been developed at INO. Real-time transmission and reflectance imaging at video rates of 30 frames/s were performed with a low-power 3 THz quantum cascade laser. Various hidden objects were imaged, proving feasibility of real-time THz imaging for security screening applications.

This paper introduces a compact optronic processor prototype that has the capability to instantaneously generate SAR images. This real-time processor is light weight, low power consuming and small in size, the design being specifically targeted for on-board SAR image processing. SAR images are typically processed electronically applying dedicated F...

This paper introduces a real-time compact optronic SAR processor that has the capability to generate ENVISAT/ASAR image swaths of 100 km × 100 km in 10 seconds exhibiting slant plane sampling distances of 4 meters in azimuth and 1 meter in range. It may be instantaneously reconfigured to process data from any of the 7 ASAR image swath modes. In thi...

As a ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) system can correct the wavefront errors caused by turbulence close to the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope (CFHT), an intensive study is in progress to determine the feasibility and the pertinence of equipping the CFHT of such a GLAO system. More specifically, the study concerns the implementation of GLAO capa...

The success of the high resolution nightglow studies conducted with the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea and the Very Large Telescopes in Chile led to the design of the Compact Echelle Spectrograph for Aeronomical Research (CESAR). This is an echelle spectrograph with grating post-dispersion that will be dedicated to nightglow studies at high spectral...

THz imaging is a very promising field rapidly growing in importance. This expanding field is at its early stage of development but already a large number of applications are foreseen. THz imaging promises to be a key technology in various fields, such as defense & security where it can be used to defeat camouflage. Based on its many years of experi...

An optical SAR processor prototype exhibiting real-time and fine sampling capabilities has been successfully developed and tested. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images are typically processed digitally applying dedicated Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms. These operations are time consuming and require a large amount of processing power and...

Laser based video projectors (LBVP) are relatively new on the scene of video display. LBVPs consist of laser beams that are scanned and synchronously modulated. An important characteristic of the LBVP is the very short lifetime of the pixels. Each pixel produces light only for the very short time during which the laser beam passes on it. The short...

An endoscope capable of Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) imaging would be of significant clinical value for improving early detection of endoluminal cancers. However, developing this technology is challenging for many reasons. First, nonlinear imaging techniques such as CARS are single point measurements thus requiring fast scanning in...

This paper introduces a compact real-time reconfigurable optronic SAR processor. SAR images are typically processed electronically applying dedicated Fourier transformations. The optronic processor performs these tasks at the speed of light. The prototype has the capability to generate a SAR image blocks in about 1.5 seconds and a complete ASAR sce...

A Compact Real-Time Optical SAR Processor has been successfully developed and tested. SAR, or Synthetic Aperture Radar, is a powerful tool providing enhanced day and night imaging capabilities. SAR systems typically generate large amounts of information generally in the form of complex data that are difficult to compress. Specifically, for planetar...

High resolution is in demand for the new applications based on the use of infrared technology. For observation task, high resolution provides more information either under the form of better resolving power or larger field-of-view. Various solutions can be envisioned to achieve high resolution imaging. In this paper, a combination of high resolutio...

A prototype THz imaging system based on modified uncooled microbolometer detector arrays, INO MIMICII camera electronics, and a custom f/1 THz optics has been assembled. A variety of new detector layouts and architectures have been designed; the detector THz absorption was optimized via several methods including integration of thin film metallic ab...

A unique collimated display concept has been developed by INO and its partners for wide angle immersive display applications. The concept involves the reflection of scanned beams inside a reflective dome having a symmetry of revolution and an elliptical profile. The axis of revolution of the reflective dome coincides with the axis of rotation of th...

The use of uncooled infrared (IR) imaging technology in Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) systems produces a unique tool that perfectly fulfills the all-weather, day-and-night vision demands in modern battlefields by significantly increasing the effectiveness and survivability of a dismounted soldier. The main advantage of IR imaging is that no illuminati...

A rugged lightweight thermal weapon sight (TWS) prototype was developed at INO in collaboration with DRDC-Valcartier. This TWS model is based on uncooled bolometer technology, ultralight catadioptric optics, ruggedized mechanics and electronics, and extensive onboard processing capabilities. The TWS prototype operates in a single 8-12 mum infrared...

A dual band thermal/visible weapon sight (TVWS) prototype was developed by INO in collaboration with DRDC Valcartier. The TVWS operates in the 8-12 mum infrared (IR) and 300-900 nm visible wavebands for enhanced vision capabilities in day and night operations. It is equipped with lightweight athermalized coaxial catadioptric objectives, a bolometri...

The control of optical distortion is useful for the design of a variety of optical system. The most popular is the F-theta lens used in laser scanning system to produce a constant scan velocity across the image plane. Many authors have designed during the last 20 years distortion control corrector. Today, many challenging digital imaging system can...

It is well known that a fish-eye lens produces a circular image of the scene with a particular distortion profile. When using a fish-eye lens with a standard sensor (e.g. 1/3", 1/4",.), only a part of the rectangular detector area is used, leaving many pixels unused. We proposed a new approach to get enhanced resolution for panoramic imaging. In th...

A unique MEMS based spatial light modulator has been developed by INO and its partners for projection display applications. This unique device incorporates a linear array of micromirrors. Each micromirror is a 25 mum x 25 mum microbridge. Electrostatic actuation allows the control of the curvature of each micromirror independently. Combined with ap...

INO supports research on Ferrofluidic Deformable Mirror (FDM) adaptive optics technologies and, as such, its research activities include the development and characterization of FDM and high resolution (ExAO) adaptive optics systems using such FDMs. Liquid mirrors have long been recognized as a potential low-cost alternative to conventional solid mi...

INO supports research on Ferrofluidic Deformable Mirror (FDM) adaptive optics technologies and, as such, its research activities include the development and characterization of FDM and high resolution (ExAO) adaptive optics systems using such FDMs. Liquid mirrors have long been recognized as a potential low-cost alternative to conventional solid mi...

In this paper, we present the optical design of the optical train of Panoramix-II, a wide-field VIS-NIR camera to be installed at the cassegrain focus of OMM (Observatoire du Mont Megnantic, Quebec, Canada). This camera is optimized for g (0.41-0.55), r (0.556-0.689), i (0.693-0.867) and z (0.851-0.95) operating region and used a 2kX4k EEV detector...

The visual displays of contemporary military flight simulators lack adequate definition to represent scenes in basic fast-jet fighter tasks. For example, air-to-air and air-to-ground targets are not projected with sufficient contrast and resolution for a pilot to perceive aspect, aspect rate and object detail at real world slant ranges. Simulator d...

The visual displays of contemporary military flight simulators lack adequate definition to represent scenes in basic fast-jet fighter tasks. For example, air-to-air and air-to-ground targets are not projected with sufficient contrast and resolution for a pilot to perceive aspect, aspect rate and object detail at real world slant ranges. Simulator d...

We present three designs and tolerances of wide-field imagers (30×30 arc-minutes or larger) for astronomical surveying. Two infrared cameras (CPAPIR and PANORAMIX II) were designed for the 0.8-2.4 µm band and a third one (WIRCAM) for the visible and near-infrared band extending from 410 nm to 950 nm. The cameras are installed on the telescopes of t...

As part of the Infrared Eye project, this article describes the design of large-deviation, achromatic Risley prisms scanning systems operating in the 0.5 - 0.92 and 8 - 9.5 microns spectral regions. Designing these systems is challenging due to the large deviation required (zero - 25 degrees), the large spectral bandwidth and the mechanical constra...

A two-layer neutral network architecture for carrying out optodigital classification operations is proposed. The optical neural network implementation is suitable for pattern recognition and classification into digital format. The neural network is based on an optical correlator, an optoelectronic threshold, and an optodigital encoder. The module n...

In this paper an optical configuration based on autosynchronized laser scanning is proposed for the 3D measurement of road surfaces. The advantages of this technique over classical triangulation methods are exposed. The road inspection system developed at the National Optics Institute (NOI) using this type of laser telemetry is also presented. This...

A rotation, scale and translation invariant pattern recognition technique is proposed.It is based on Fourier- Mellin Descriptors (FMD). Each FMD is taken as an independent feature of the object, and a set of those features forms a signature. FMDs are naturally rotation invariant. Translation invariance is achieved through pre- processing. A proper...

Optic is widely recognized in information processing for its inherent parallelism. This potential has made optics a promising technology for applications such as pattern recognition1, neural network2,3 and target tracking. The systems developed for these applications often take advantage of the so-called Vander Lugt correlator4 architecture which p...

A simple phase-characterization method for spatial light modulators is proposed. The low-cost method permits high-precision measurement and provides data for the setting of the spatial-light-modulator operating point in the phase-modulation mode. The dynamic phase response is used to perform efficient kinoform recording. In order to record the kino...

The National Optics Institute is currently carrying out a project in automatic target recognition in order to locate, recognize, and track potential targets (e.g. tanks or troop carriers) monitored in real time by an infrared camera. In this paper, we present an algorithm based on the Distance Classifier Correlation Filter (DCCF), a subclass of the...

The large number of new materials such as amalgams and the variety of techniques for finishing and polishing in operative dentistry has stimulated interest in simple, nondestructive methods of surface roughness evaluation. We studied an optical method based on the scattering of reflected coherent light on prepared samples of composite resins submit...

The large amount of new materials like amalgams and techniques of finishing and polishing in operative dentistry has stimulated interest for simple non-destructive methods of surface roughness evaluation. We studied an optical method based on the scattering of coherent light upon reflection on prepared samples of composite resins submitted to diffe...