Accuracy test and analysis for infrared search and track system

Infrared search and track (IRST) attracts many attentions nowadays. It is important to evaluate the performance of the detection and tracking performance for the development of IRST. This paper presents a tracking accuracy indoor test method for IRST. The proposal approach compares the simulated target trajectories with the tracks given by the IRST and calculates the dynamic tracking accuracy of the tested system. An infrared point target track simulator was built to simulate the actual target and missile trajectories. The movement of the simulator was driven by a high-precision stepper motor. A blackbody was used to simulate the infrared radiation of targets. The simulator was controlled by computer via RS-232 serial port. The simulator moving speed, direction and the operation angle value was managed in a software interface written in Visual Basic. The moving point target's coordinates, azimuth and elevation angle trajectories were reconstructed through the algorithm of coordinate translation. A comparison between the simulated target track and IRST recorded trajectory was performed to get the tracking accuracy of tested system. The paper describes the tracking accuracy test system design and implementation in detail. The experimental test and result analysis are provided to verify the effectiveness.