Patents by Inventor Rockie L. Ricks

Rockie L. Ricks has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9213100
    Abstract: A method forms a passive acoustic track to cue an active multistatic acoustic tracking system. The passive track cue reduces the false track rate in the active tracker by focusing search area and selectively initiating active tracks. The passive track originates from a fixed passive acoustic horizontal line array (HLA). The HLA cannot determine target range or resolve left-right ambiguity but can predict Closest-Point-of-Approach (CPA) events. For each CPA event, a cue is forwarded to the active system for initiation. The method presents a minimal parametric representation for a passive acoustic track and uses an algorithm to obtain initial estimated parameters to initiate the passive track more effectively. A performance evaluation is given. The method also includes conversion of the passive track to normalized-coordinates for use with multistatic tracking systems. The passive track quality is assessed to determine whether it is sufficient to justify cueing the active multistatic system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Rockie L. Ricks, Cherry Y. Wakayama
  • Patent number: 6495827
    Abstract: A low-cost high-resolution staring infrared imaging sensor for viewing a large Field Of Regard (FOR) while integrating over a small IFOV to detect small dim targets by subdividing the FOR into a plurality of internal optical paths without the use of mechanically-movable parts. Each of the plurality of internal optical paths may be further subdivided by a plurality of steerable micro-mirrors to reduce the IFOV and enhance long-range target acquisition capability. The sensor includes a primary lens for accepting infrared radiation from a Field Of Regard (FOR), a plurality of primary mirrors each disposed to reflect a portion of an FOR image along a different optical path, a secondary lens in each optical path to focus the FOR image portion onto a secondary mirror for reflection along a preselected direction, and a tertiary lens in each optical path to focus the FOR image portion onto an image detector array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Travis W. Metcalf, Charles S. Bendall, Rockie L. Ricks
  • Publication number: 20020088942
    Abstract: A low-cost high-resolution staring infrared imaging sensor for viewing a large Field Of Regard (FOR) while integrating over a small IFOV to detect small dim targets by subdividing the FOR into a plurality of internal optical paths without the use of mechanically-moveable parts. Each of the plurality of internal optical paths may be further subdivided by a plurality of steerable micro-mirrors to reduce the IFOV and enhance long-range target acquisition capability. The sensor includes a primary lens for accepting infrared radiation from a Field Of Regard (FOR), a plurality of primary mirrors each disposed to reflect a portion of an FOR image along a different optical path, a secondary lens in each optical path to focus the FOR image portion onto a secondary mirror for reflection along a preselected direction, and a tertiary lens in each optical path to focus the FOR image portion onto an image detector array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2001
    Publication date: July 11, 2002
    Inventors: Travis W. Metcalf, Charles S. Bendall, Rockie L. Ricks