Texas Instruments DMD Substructure Texas Instruments (TI) Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) is a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) which has a 2-D array of individually controlled aluminum micro-mirrors. The DMD is the spatial light modulator in TI's Digital Light Processing (DLP®) system. DLPs® are manufactured by TI and sold to OEMs for use in display products such as business projection systems. DMDs are currently commercially available in formats up to 1280x1024. Each micromirror in the DMD can reflect light in one of two directions (±20° optical) depending upon the state of the underlying memory cell (SRAM). With proper illumination, each mirror will reflect light into the pupil of the optical system when a '1' is written to its SRAM and out of the optical system when a '0' is written to its SRAM. The device is therefore binary in nature. The switching speed on the individual mirrors is approximately 10 usec. In commercially available visible projector systems, intensity control is achieved by binary Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). The binary image on the array can be updated at a rate of approximately 5000 Hz, and a global reset allows the entire image to be cleared in less than 20 usec.


OSC has developed two unique DMD-based IR projectors.  These commercially available systems are the:
  • Micro-Mirror Array Projector System (MAPS):  This system is a standalone dynamic infrared projector capable of generating realistic IR images for advanced testing of IR seekers, sensors, and FLIRS. Applications of the projector include hardware-in-the-loop testing, portable test sets, built-in testing, production line testing and training. The MAPS is capable of operating in two modes: flickerless binary and PWM. In binary mode, the projector is virtually flickerless, with only a brief reset occurring each frame to prevent hinge memory in the micromirrors. The projector is compact and can be produced at a low-cost compared to other IR projector technologies.
  • Dynamic Sensor Test Set (DSTS):  This system is designed for automated high speed testing of visible and IR sensors. The DSTS is designed to replace the static target plates and choppers used on industry-standard test collimators. The DSTS is capable of performing standard tests such as MTF, MRTD, and NEDT at very high speed, as well as advanced dynamic tests such as seeker tracking and correlation. The DSTS is a dynamic scene projector which can be operated in binary or PWM mode. Applications of the projector include any sensor test application which currently uses static test plates, but needs higher speed or dynamic scene capability.