WILLIAM CHARLES RUFF
Pilots at Wade Ave, Baltimore, MD

License number
Maryland C1048575
Category
Airmen
Address
Address
39 Wade Ave, Baltimore, MD 21228

Professional information

William Ruff Photo 1

William Ruff - Baltimore, MD

Work:
State of Maryland
Grounds Maintenance Worker
State of Maryland
Painter
Hobbs and Sons
Plumber Assistant
Water Proofer
Route Driver/Water Proofer
Computer Donation Management
Dock Foreman
Education:
Ann Arundel Community College
Certificate in Graphic Arts Printer


William Ruff Photo 2

Scannerless Ladar Architecture Employing Focal Plane Detector Arrays And Fm-Cw Ranging Theory

US Patent:
5877851, Mar 2, 1999
Filed:
Sep 24, 1997
Appl. No.:
8/937150
Inventors:
Barry Stann - Silver Spring MD
William C. Ruff - Baltimore MD
Zoltan G. Sztankay - Rockville MD
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 308, H04N 718
US Classification:
356 509
Abstract:
A laser transmitter is amplitude modulated with a chirp signal to illumin an entire scene or field of view. A mixing process occurs in the received light path using an electro-optic light modulator positioned just in front of the focal plane detector array. The detector array detects and integrates the mixed light signal over some field of view. Numerous image frames are recorded periodically in the time over the FM period. The Fourier transform taken over time for a pixel establishes the range to the target in that pixel. Performing the Fourier transform for all pixels yields a three-dimensional image of objects in the field of view. Such an arrangement yields a scannerless ladar possessing high range resolution with no range ambiguities.


William Ruff Photo 3

Ladar System For Detecting Objects

US Patent:
6844924, Jan 18, 2005
Filed:
Jun 28, 2002
Appl. No.:
10/183536
Inventors:
William C. Ruff - Baltimore MD, US
Barry L. Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Paul H. Shen - North Potomac MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 308, G01P 336
US Classification:
356 509, 356 285
Abstract:
A high range resolution ladar includes a chirp generator for producing a chirp signal waveform that is used by a laser diode to propagate a divergent laser light waveform. The reflected light signals from the target are directed to a self mixing detector that is coupled to the chirp generator where the responsivity of the detector varies in accordance with the chirp waveform for converting reflected light signals from the target to electrical signals and for mixing the converted electrical signal with the chirp waveform to produce an output electrical signal whose frequency is proportional to the range to the target. The self-mixing detector includes at least one detector having a semiconductor substrate and first and second electrodes deposited on the substrate and spaced from each other, wherein the first set of electrodes is connected to the chirp generator and the second set of electrodes is connected to a memory for storing a plurality of frames of image data.


William Ruff Photo 4

Photon Counting, Chirped Am Ladar System And Related Methods

US Patent:
7675610, Mar 9, 2010
Filed:
Apr 5, 2007
Appl. No.:
11/789114
Inventors:
Brian Redman - Lafayette CO, US
William C. Ruff - Catonsville MD, US
Barry L. Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 3/08
US Classification:
356 503, 356 401, 356 41, 356 501, 356 51
Abstract:
Ladar systems and methods are provided. One embodiment is a ladar system comprising: a chirp generator for generating a chirped waveform; a laser for transmitting a light signal toward a target, the light signal being modulated by the chirped waveform; and a photon-counting sensor for receiving a temporally-modulated photon stream corresponding to the modulated light signal being reflected from the target and toward the ladar system, the photon-counting sensor gated relative to the chirped waveform.


William Ruff Photo 5

Systems For Doppler Tracking Using Photonic Mixing Detectors

US Patent:
7573564, Aug 11, 2009
Filed:
Jun 26, 2007
Appl. No.:
11/768354
Inventors:
William Charles Ruff - Catonsville MD, US
Brian C. Redman - Lafayette CO, US
Barry Lee Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 3/08
US Classification:
356 401
Abstract:
Ladar systems are provided. An exemplary ladar system includes a waveform generator for generating an arbitrary waveform, a laser for transmitting a modulated light signal toward a target, and a Doppler tracking loop for tracking the Doppler frequency shift between the transmitted light signal and a received reflected light signal.


William Ruff Photo 6

Chirped Amplitude Modulation Ladar

US Patent:
7570347, Aug 4, 2009
Filed:
Jun 26, 2007
Appl. No.:
11/768635
Inventors:
William Charles Ruff - Catonsville MD, US
Barry L. Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 3/08
US Classification:
356 501
Abstract:
An imaging method and apparatus using an unmodulated pulsed laser with a chirp modulated receiver is provided for producing 3D plus intensity imagery of targets in heavily cluttered locations The apparatus includes a laser for emitting a laser beam and synchronizing a receiver to receive a reflected laser signal and transform the reflected laser signal into a displayable image that includes intensity information.


William Ruff Photo 7

High Range Resolution Ladar

US Patent:
5608514, Mar 4, 1997
Filed:
Apr 19, 1995
Appl. No.:
8/424949
Inventors:
Barry L. Stann - Silver Spring MD
William C. Ruff - Baltimore MD
Zoltan G. Sztankay - Rockville MD
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 308, G01S 1308
US Classification:
356 509
Abstract:
In a high range resolution ladar, a chirp signal waveform is propagated as a divergent laser light waveform and the target reflected return is collected and converted to a current proportional to power. An undelayed chirp signal is added in a mixer to the return current and then low pass filtered to recover a mixed intermediate frequency (IF) signal having a frequency proportional to the target range. Periodically, the light circuit is interrupted and the chirp signal is processed through the mixer and low pass filter without a target return current and this output, the mixer self-clutter, is stored. This stored self-clutter signal is subsequently subtracted from the mixed IF signal on a chirp by chirp basis to cancel the self-clutter produced by the mixer. The subtracted signal is then frequency analyzed to determine target range.


William Ruff Photo 8

Systems And Methods For Performing Active Ladar And Passive High Resolution Imagery

US Patent:
7411662, Aug 12, 2008
Filed:
Oct 20, 2005
Appl. No.:
11/256278
Inventors:
William C. Ruff - Catonsville MD, US
Barry L. Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Paul H. Shen - North Potomac MD, US
Brian C. Redman - Silver Spring MD, US
Keith M. Aliberti - Catonsville MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01C 3/08
US Classification:
356 515, 356 401, 382106
Abstract:
A system and method for performing high-resolution imagery of a target are provided. One embodiment is a method of performing high-resolution imagery of a target comprising: generating a chirped waveform that modulates a light signal transmitted toward a target for performing active LADAR of the target; generating a low-frequency local oscillator waveform for performing active imaging; and simultaneously performing passive imaging and active LADAR.


William Ruff Photo 9

Electronically Code-Multiplexed Readout Of Photo-Detector Arrays

US Patent:
7129465, Oct 31, 2006
Filed:
Apr 13, 2005
Appl. No.:
11/104918
Inventors:
Jorge Andres Garcia - Newark DE, US
Fouad Eskender Kiamilev - Hockessin DE, US
William Beynon Lawler - Edgewater MD, US
William Charles Ruff - Catonsville MD, US
Barry Lee Stann - Edgewater MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC
International Classification:
H01J 40/14
US Classification:
250214R, 250214 A
Abstract:
Methods and apparatus for generating a code-multiplexed readout value of photocurrents for a photo-detector array of cells are disclosed. Readout values are determined using a multiplexer and current amplifier for each cell and a current-to-voltage converter for each row of cells. The multiplexer multiplexes a photocurrent in an electrical domain for a respective cell using a code and generates electric currents responsive to the photocurrent. The current amplifier amplifies the electric currents. The current-to-voltage converter for each row generates the readout value for that row of the array responsive to the amplified electric currents.