System and method of evaluating an object using electromagnetic energy

Abstract

A system for evaluating subject objects includes at least one physical source operable to emit electromagnetic energy and driver electronics drivingly coupled to at least one physical source. The driver electronics is configured to drive at least one physical source as a number of logical sources, using an electromagnetic forcing function. The number of logical sources is greater than the number of physical sources. In addition, the system includes a sensor configured to receive an electromagnetic response from at least a portion of an evaluation object illuminated by one or more physical sources operated as logical sources, and convert the electromagnetic response to a test response signal indicative of the electromagnetic response of the evaluation object.

1 . A system, comprising:
 a computer-readable medium that stores a database including a plurality of reference patterns, the reference patterns indicative of a broadband electromagnetic response by at least a first reference object, at least two of the reference patterns indicative of respective broadband responses to illumination of the first reference object by at least one physical source with respective ones of at least two different bands of electromagnetic energy.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the respective ones of the at least two different bands of electromagnetic energy partially overlap one another. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the database includes source normalization values for each of a plurality of physical sources. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a computing device coupled to the database, the computing device configured to:
 receive a test response signal indicative of an electromagnetic response to illumination of an evaluation object being evaluated by the at least one physical source; 
 normalize the test response signal based upon the stored source normalization values; and 
 compare the normalized test response signal to at least one of the stored plurality of reference patterns to evaluate the evaluation object. 
   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the normalization values depend upon an ambient operating temperature of the at least one physical source.