System Would Detect Aircraft to Turn Off Upward-Aimed Laser

An electronic system based on long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) sensors is being developed to detect aircraft flying near an upward-aimed, high-power laser beam. In the intended application, the system would alert a human laser operator and/or generate a signal to turn off the laser whenever an aircraft came within a specified exclusion zone - an approximately conical zone, surrounding the laser beam, from which the aircraft must be excluded to protect the human occupants of the aircraft against the laser beam. There could be a potential market for systems like this one in the laser-light-show, free-space laser communication, and lidar industries.