System for aligning target sensor and weapon
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsSean D. Keller, Michael S. Cherry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for aligning a weapon to a high-performance target sensor. A reference measurement sensor installed on the target sensor measures the direction and range to each of several references points on the weapon. From these measurements, and measurement by the target sensor of target states, a processing circuit calculates the states of the target in a coordinate system of the weapon. Each reference point may be a retroreflector; the reference measurement sensor may include an imaging sensor to measure direction, and a laser range finder to measure range.
Claims20
A system for measuring the position of a target in a coordinate system of a weapon, the system comprising:
- a target sensor, configured to measure the position of the target, in a coordinate system of the target sensor;
- a plurality of retroreflectors secured to the weapon;
- a reference measurement sensor, comprising:
- an imaging sensor configured to measure the direction, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of a subset of the retroreflectors;
- and
- a ranging sensor configured to measure the distance, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of the subset of the retroreflectors;
- and
- a first processing circuit configured to calculate, from the direction and distance measurements, the position, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, of each of the subset of the retroreflectors;
- a second processing circuit configured to calculate,
- from:
- the position of the target, in the coordinate system of the target sensor;
- and
- the position, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, of each retroreflector of the subset of the retroreflectors,
- a target pointing direction of the weapon, in the coordinate system of the weapon, the target pointing direction being tangent, at the weapon, to a munition trajectory beginning at the weapon and terminating at the target.
A system for measuring the position of a target in a coordinate system of a weapon, the system comprising:
- a target sensor, configured to measure the position of the target, in a coordinate system of the target sensor;
- a first plurality of retroreflectors secured to the weapon;
- a first reference measurement sensor, comprising:
- a second plurality of retroreflectors;
- an imaging sensor configured to measure the direction, in the coordinate system of the first reference measurement sensor, to each retroreflector of the first plurality of retroreflectors;
- and
- a ranging sensor configured to measure the distance, in the coordinate system of the first reference measurement sensor, to each retroreflector of the first plurality of retroreflectors;
- a second reference measurement sensor, comprising:
- an imaging sensor configured to measure the direction, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of the second plurality of retroreflectors;
- and
- a ranging sensor configured to measure the distance, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of the second plurality of retroreflectors;
- and
- a processing circuit configured to calculate, from:
- the direction and distance measurements;
- and
- the position of the target, in the coordinate system of the target sensor;
- a target pointing direction of the weapon, in the coordinate system of the weapon, the target pointing direction being tangent, at the weapon, to a munition trajectory beginning at the weapon and terminating at the target.
A method for aligning a target sensor and a weapon, the target sensor comprising a reference measurement sensor, the reference measurement sensor comprising an imaging sensor and a ranging sensor, the weapon comprising a plurality of retroreflectors, the method comprising:
- measuring, with the imaging sensor, the direction, in a coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of a subset of the retroreflectors;
- measuring, with the ranging sensor, the distance, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, to each retroreflector of the subset of the retroreflectors;
- calculating, from the direction and distance measurements, the position, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, of each of the subset of the retroreflectors;
- and
- calculating,
- from:
- the position, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, of the target;
- and
- the position, in the coordinate system of the target sensor, of each of the subset of the retroreflectors,
- a target pointing direction of the weapon, in a coordinate system of the weapon, the target pointing direction being tangent, at the weapon, to a munition trajectory beginning at the weapon and terminating at the target.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.