Beam Control for Laser Systems Short Course
Degree Type: Professional Continuing Education
Course Description
This is a four-hour introductory course on the salient features of pointing a laser on target. The course is taught from a Control Engineer's perspective, but it is presented at a level such that one with an engineering degree will easily understand the concepts and basic tools applied. The uninitiated in directed energy will find this an excellent foundational course for entry studies into laser weapon systems. Topics included are error budgets, beam control hardware (gimbals, inertial reference units), stabilization, control laws, tracking algorithms, adaptive optics, pointing, and the performance models to estimate error budget compliance. Derivations of performance equations are minimal and completely contained for further study. Each section is well referenced for further self-study.
The course outline is as follows:
Intended Audience
The target audience consists of those individuals who are working in an associated discipline and wish to learn the lexicon, hardware, algorithms, and basic approach to getting the energy on target.
Instructor Biographies
Glen P. Perram, Professor of Physics, B.S. Cornell University, 1980 M.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, 1981, Ph.D. Air Force Institute of Technology, 1986. Professor Perram's research interests include chemical lasers, laser weapon modeling and simulation, remote sensing, and chemical physics. He has served on the AFIT faculty since 1989 and is the author of over 30 archival journal articles and 80 presentations.
