FLIR boresight alignment

A boresight alignment system for aligning an optical sensor boresight to a set of navigation coordinates, said alignment system being associated with an aircraft, said system comprising:

• a pod secured to the aircraft, said optical sensor being positioned within the pod;
• a pod global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS), said pod GPS and INS providing a signal indicative of the position and velocity of the pod;
• an aircraft GPS and INS positioned on the aircraft and being separate from the pod, said aircraft GPS and INS providing a signal indicative of the position and velocity of the aircraft;
• and
• a transfer alignment filter, said transfer alignment filter being responsive to the signal of the position and velocity of the pod from the pod GPS and INS system and the signal of the position and velocity of the aircraft from the aircraft GPS and INS, said transfer alignment filter providing a signal of the difference between the position and velocity signals.

A boresight alignment system for aligning an optical sensor boresight to a reference frame, said system comprising:

• a first structure, said first structure including the optical sensor, said first structure further including a first inertial navigation system positioned on the structure and providing signals of the position and velocity of the structure;
• a second structure, said second structure including a second inertial navigation system positioned on the second structure and being separate from the first structure, said second inertial navigation system providing signals of the position and velocity of the second structure;
• and
• a transfer alignment filter, said transfer alignment filter being responsive to the position and velocity signals from both the first inertial navigation system and the second inertial navigation system and providing a signal to the first structure of the difference in attitude between the first structure and the second structure.

A method of aligning an optical sensor boresight to a set of navigation coordinates for an aircraft, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a pod secured to the aircraft in which the optical sensor is positioned within the pod;
• providing a pod global positioning system and inertial navigation system;
• using the pod global positioning system and inertial navigation system to provide signals indicative of the position and velocity of the pod;
• providing an aircraft global positioning system and inertial navigation system positioned on the aircraft and separate from the pod;
• using the aircraft global positioning system and inertial navigation system to provide signals indicative of the position and velocity of the aircraft;
• providing a transfer alignment filter that is responsive to the signals from the pod global positioning system and inertial navigation system and the aircraft global positioning system and the inertial navigation system;
• and
• using the transfer alignment filter to provide a difference between the position and velocity signals.