The Apollo Mini is an uncooled long-wave thermal clip-on device intended to mount in front of the existing magnified day sight. The immediate advantages of this approach of converting the day scope into a thermal imaging device include no change in cheek weld, no change in trigger reach, and continued use of existing ballistic reticules in the day scope. The Armasight Apollo Mini eliminates the traditional requirement of removing your existing day scope from your rifle, to replace it with a dedicated thermal sight (which would also involve re-zeroing). The Apollo simply mounts in front of your own standard daytime optical sight. Factory bore-sighted to tolerances of less than 1 MOA, no re-zeroing is required. The Apollo allows the user to maintain consistent eye relief and shooting position; because the operator uses their own, familiar day scope – no re-training is required.

The 24/7 mission capability is only one of the strengths of the Apollo Mini. The thermal imaging technology also allows you to detect targets by cutting through snow, dust, smoke, fog, haze, and other atmospheric obscurants.

Equipped with digital compass and inclinometer, Apollo Mini offers the operator the tools necessary to interpolate accurate distance to target and target orientation.

Collateral applications of Apollo Mini Thermal Imaging Device include functionality as a unity magnification (1x) stand-alone weapon sight and handheld uncooled thermal monocular 1x or 3x (with use of 3x booster).

Armasight has included a compass and inclinometer in the Apollo Mini package for finer range estimation and target orientation. A five-button wireless remote switch is included to operate and modify the settings on the Apollo Mini to optimize the imagery for the viewed scene without having to remove your hands from the weapon.

Utilizing the latest FLIR Quark 2 Technology, the Apollo Mini is offered in 336x256 and 640x512 pixel formats. Additional Armasight proprietary hyper-image processing (HIP) code provides the Apollo with a robust library of software features to tailor the image to the optimum standards required of the operator. These features include direct button functions such as display brightness, palette selection, manual non-uniformity correction (NUC) using a simple, intuitive three button keypad. Menu driven features incorporate desirable operator-specific adjustments such as palette selection, scene-related imaging corrections, stored rifle caliber profiles, format selection, compass calibration sequence, and a “factory settings” default option. The wireless remote capability and Bluetooth features prevents the Apollo Mini from becoming obsolete as new applications and software reaches maturity and comes to market. The nine-pin connector on the Apollo Mini reveals the dynamic nature of this mite-sized powerhouse. Through the multi-pin connector, the operator can record video using the Armasight Digital Video Recorder (DVR), augment the battery life by attaching to external battery options, inject target range data from an externally mounted Armasight laser rangefinder and update/upload new software revision and applications from personal accounts associated with the Armasight customer access web sites.

Special User-Adjustable Imaging Tools

• Active Contrast Enhancement (ACE) – a digital “Contrast” correction that allows for a smart scene optimization based on dynamic adjustments where a variety of contrast levels occur depending on relative scene temperature.
• Second Generation Digital Detail Enhancement (DDE) – a “Sharpness” correction that is digitally enhances the picture to present clearer imagery, significantly improves edge sharpening and further reduces image noise.
• Smart Scene Optimization (SSO) – a fine-tuning computational correction that significantly improves an overall visual acuity for targets that have thermal signatures similar to a surrounding background.
• Information-Based Histogram Equalization (IBHEQ) – a “Sky/Sea” enhancement – information based environment dependent algorithm that automatically adjusts camera gain and excludes pixels determined to not contain critical information, specifically helpful in scenes with lots of sky or water.
• Automatic Gain Control (AGC) – a “Gain” correction that used to automatically adjust the gain to an appropriate range, the weaker the image signal, the stronger the gain.
• User-Controlled Manual Non-Uniformity Correction/Flat-Field Correction (UCMNUC/FFC). There is a mechanical shutter between the camera sensor and the lens. This shutter is used to perform a non-uniformity correction (NUC) also known as flat-field correction (FFC. During FFC, the shutter presents a uniform temperature source to each detector element in the array. While imaging the flat-field source, the camera updates the offset correction coefficients, resulting in a more uniform image after the process is complete. All Apollo Mini models allow for user to manually trigger or interrupt scheduled UCMNUC/FFC function.
• Silent Shutterless NUC ™ (SSN) – In addition to user controlled manual NUC/FFC all Apollo Mini models employ a digital supplemental non-mechanical flat-field correction that allows to extend the periods between mechanical shutter events and to further reduce image noise. SSN is always ON enhancement.