Modern missile systems use infrared imaging for tracking or target detection algorithms. The development and validation processes of these missile systems need high fidelity simulations capable of stimulating the sensors in real-time with infrared image sequences from a synthetic 3D environment. The Extensible Multispectral Image Generation Toolset (EMIT) is a modular software library developed at MBDA Germany for the generation of physics-based infrared images in real-time. EMIT is able to render radiance images in full 32-bit floating point precision using state of the art computer graphics cards and advanced shader programs. An important functionality of an infrared image generation toolset is the simulation of thermal shadows as these may cause matching errors in tracking algorithms. However, for real-time simulations, such as hardware in the loop simulations (HWIL) of infrared seekers, thermal shadows are often neglected or precomputed as they require a thermal balance calculation in four-dimensions (3D geometry in one-dimensional time up to several hours in the past). In this paper we will show the novel real-time thermal simulation of EMIT. Our thermal simulation is capable of simulating thermal effects in real-time environments, such as thermal shadows resulting from the occlusion of direct and indirect irradiance. We conclude our paper with the practical use of EMIT in a missile HWIL simulation.

Date Published: 3 May 2016
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 9820, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXVII, 982013 (3 May 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2230002

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9820:
Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXVII
Gerald C. Holst; Keith A. Krapels, Editor(s)