US 12,392,714 B2
Optical alignment compensation system for a gas detection system
Giorgio Signorello, Zurich (CH); Orges Furxhi, Fort Collins, CO (US); Joris Van Campenhout, Leuven (BE); Anton Vasiliev, Bredene (BE); and Olivier Rousseaux, Oud-Heverlee (BE)
Assigned to IMEC VZW, Leuven (BE); and Universiteit Gent, Ghent (BE)
Appl. No. 18/027,679
Filed by IMEC VZW, Leuven (BE); and Universiteit Gent, Ghent (BE)
PCT Filed Sep. 27, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/076478
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 22, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/064032, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 31, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 20198630 (EP), filed on Sep. 28, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0077411 A1, Mar. 7, 2024
Int. Cl. G01N 21/27 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 21/274 (2013.01) [G01N 2201/0636 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical alignment compensation system (50) for a gas detection system for detecting a gas, the optical alignment system (50) comprising:
an array (51) of transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c), wherein each transceiver pair (51a, 51b, 51c) is configured to transmit and receive light (52) with an optical spectrum in an absorption region of the gas (53) to be detected;
a retroreflector (54) arranged at a nominal position and configured to reflect the light (52);
an optical element (55) arranged and configured to direct the light (52) from at least one of the transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c) along an optical path through the gas (53) to the retroreflector (54), to receive the light (52) reflected by the retroreflector (54) along the optical path, and to direct the reflected light (52) to the respective transceiver pair (51a, 51b, 51c); and
a control unit (56) configured to select one of the transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c) for transmitting and receiving the light (52), wherein the control unit (56) is configured to perform a search algorithm to identify the transceiver pair (51a, 51b, 51c) that receives the reflected light (52) with the highest signal response and to select said transceiver pair (51a, 51b, 51c),
wherein the search algorithm comprises
a brute-force interrogation of transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c) in conditions of lower signal response of the reflected light (52) received by the transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c),
a gradient descent based interrogating of transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c) in conditions of higher signal responses of the reflected light (52) received by the transceiver pairs (51a, 51b, 51c).