Geolocation on a single platform having flexible portions

A method of determining a position of an emitter with respect to a platform, implemented by one or more processors, comprising:

• detecting a signal from the emitter at each of a plurality of receivers provided on the platform, wherein one or more of the receivers is located on a rigid portion of the platform and one or more of the receivers is located on a respective flexing portion of the platform;
• receiving respective inertial measurement data for each of the one or more receivers on the flexing portion;
• receiving inertial navigation data for the platform;
• and
• determining the position of the emitter as a calculated function of the emitter signals received at each of the receivers, the inertial measurement data, the inertial navigation data and data defining a flexure relationship between the flexing portion and the rigid portion.

A geolocation system, comprising:

• an inertial navigation system (INS) disposed on a platform and configured to provide inertial navigation data with respect to the platform;
• an array of signal detectors disposed on the platform, wherein a first subset of the signal detectors is disposed on a flexing portion of the platform and a second subset of signal detectors is disposed on a rigid portion of the platform, each signal detector configured to provide detected signal data for a signal received from a signal emitter;
• a respective inertial measurement unit (IMU) disposed adjacent to each of the one or more signal detectors on the flexing portion, each IMU configured to provide respective inertial measurement data for the adjacent signal detector;
• and
• a locator module, implemented by one or more processors, coupled to the INS, IMUs and the signal detectors, configured to:
• calculate a respective velocity and a respective position of each one of the detectors on the flexing portion as a function of the respective inertial measurement data;
• and
• determine a position of the emitter as a function of the calculated velocity, calculated position, the inertial navigation data, the detected signal data and data defining a flexure relationship between the flexing and rigid portions of the platform.