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US 2006/0149458 A1Published application
Precision landmark-aided navigation
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsMichael Costello, Roy Castro
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Navigational systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide accurate processing of two-dimensional sensor images for navigation and determination of position in three-dimensions. Landmark features are extracted from two-dimensional sensor images and correlated to landmark features data stored in a database to estimate latitude, longitude, and altitude of a vehicle or missile.
Claims40
A method of navigation, comprising:
- processing imagery to extract a first set of landmark features with a first extraction algorithm;
- processing imagery from an image sensor with a second extraction algorithm to extract a second set of landmark features;
- and
- correlating the second set of landmark features to the first set of landmark features to estimate a location of the image sensor.
1 more element
A method of navigation, comprising:
- selecting a target aimpoint;
- processing pre-existing imagery to extract a first set of landmark features with a first extraction algorithm;
- providing a landmark feature database including the first set of landmark features;
- processing two-dimensional imagery from an in-flight image sensor with a second extraction algorithm to extract a second set of landmark features;
- and
- correlating the second set of landmark features to the landmark feature database to estimate a latitude, longitude, and altitude of the image sensor.
3 more elements
A method of navigation, comprising:
- providing a database;
- processing two-dimensional image data from an airborne sensor;
- comparing the two-dimensional image data to the database;
- and
- determining a three-dimensional location corresponding to the two-dimensional image data.
2 more elements
A navigation system, comprising:
- a database including a first set of landmark features extracted from pre-existing imagery;
- an airborne image sensor to provide in-flight imagery;
- and
- a processor operably coupled to the database and the image sensor, wherein the processor is operable to:
- process imagery from the image sensor to extract a second set of landmark features, and
- correlate the second set of landmark features to the first set of landmark features to estimate a location of the image sensor.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.