A cinetheodolite is a photographic instrument for collection of trajectory

Trajectory

A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...

 data. It can be used to acquire data in the testing of missile

Missile

Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...

s, rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s, projectile

Projectile

A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....

s, aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, and fire control systems; in the ripple firing of rockets, graze action tests, air burst

Air burst

An air burst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target or a delayed armor piercing explosion....

 fuze

Fuze

Fuze Beverage, commercially referred to as just Fuze , is a manufacturer of teas and non-carbonated fruit drinks enriched with vitamins. Currently the brand consists of five vitamin-infused lines: Slenderize, Refresh, Tea, Defensify, and Vitalize...

 tests, and similar operations. Cinetheodolites provide angular measurements of the line of sight to the vehicle. This permits acquiring accurate position data. Together with timing systems, velocity and acceleration data can be developed from the position measurements. Cinetheodolites can serve as primary sources of position and velocity data to about 30 km slant range

Slant range

In radio electronics especially radar terminology, slant range is the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level relative to a specific datum....

.

These instruments were developed from a family of optical devices known as theodolite

Theodolite

A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...

s by the addition of a movie camera

Movie camera

The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...

, thus adding the ability to track the vehicle in flight and to obtain continuous trajectory data.

Introduction

One of the objectives of testing missile and rocket systems is to determine the actual "in-flight" performance of the vehicles themselves. One of the prime requirements for establishing the performance of vehicles in flight is to obtain accurate data which will reveal the position in space and the attitude of the vehicle during its trajectory. The employment of optics at a missile range

Missile range

Missile range may refer to the following:* Missile Range Instrumentation Ship* Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division* Ballistic missiles classified according to their range...

 may become highly significant in obtaining these data, if the atmosphere permits reasonably unobstructed observation, and if, moreover, an all-land test area makes possible optimum siting of instruments for most desirable look angles. Under these conditions, optics in general, and photogrammetry

Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is the practice of determining the geometric properties of objects from photographic images. Photogrammetry is as old as modern photography and can be dated to the mid-nineteenth century....

 in particular, correlated with other instrumentation systems, can provide effective and accurate data of target trajectory.

Description

The cinetheodolite is a combination photo-recording and surveying instrument which tracks and photographs targets (in flight vehicles, etc.) at selectable frame rate

Frame rate

Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...

s. Some cinetheodolites have rate-aided tracking control, whereby an open loop servomechanism

Servomechanism

thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...

 in conjunction with operator actuated hand wheels match the angular rates of the tracking axis with the angular rates of the target line of position.

Cinetheodolites consist of a stable base and bearing, a vertical gimbal

Gimbal

A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis. A set of two gimbals, one mounted on the other with pivot axes orthogonal, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain immobile regardless of the motion of its support...

 or trunnion

Trunnion

A trunnion is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting and/or pivoting point. In a cannon, the trunnions are two projections cast just forward of the centre of mass of the cannon and fixed to a two-wheeled movable gun carriage...

 carrier which rotates about a vertical axis normal to the plane of the base; a central drum or housing which contains the system telescopic lenses, plus a camera and film assembly; a horizontal trunnion shaft on which the central drum is mounted so that it can rise or dip about the horizontal
axis; and the sighting telescope

Telescope

A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

s, which are also mounted on the horizontal trunnion shaft.

Manufacturers

Notable cinetheodolite manufacturers include Askania

Askania

Askania Cinetheodolite is a camera-based system that measures and records azimuth, elevation, and time data on 35mm film along with an image of a target. Multiple cinetheodolites generally operated together and each system is slewed in azimuth and elevation to track the target...

 Werke Rathenow (Germany), Rheinmetall Air Defence (formerly Contraves AG, Switzerland), and BELOMO

BELOMO

BelOMO or Belorusskoe Optiko-Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie was founded in Minsk in 1971 in Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union, now Belarus. The main plant of this enterprise is the Minskiy Mechanichesckiy Zavod imeni S.I. Vavilova BelOMO or Belorusskoe Optiko-Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie (Belarus...

(Belarus).