Adaptive Zoom Riflescope Prototype Has Push-Button Magnification
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - 10:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Sandia National Laboratories has developed a prototype Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles (RAZAR). At the push of a button, RAZAR can toggle between high and low magnifications, enabling users to zoom in without having to remove their eyes from their targets or their hands from their rifles. The RAZAR prototype uses a patented active optical zoom system, called "adaptive zoom." Adaptive zoom changes the focal lengths of two or more lenses by varying the curvature of the lenses' surfaces to provide optical zoom without changing their overall positions relative to one another, allowing the user to view either a wide-angle image or zoom in on an area of interest with a compact, low-power system.