Remote reconnaissance for space exploration
OwnerKenneth Dean Stephens, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system of reconnaissance for the staging of a mission in a target area of a remote location in space is disclosed, including satellite surveillance means; a plurality of radio beacon/video camera transceiver means; communication means connecting the satellite surveillance means with the plurality of radio beacon/video camera transceiver means; communication means connecting the plurality of radio beacon/video camera transceiver means with at least one base station; and analysis means to analyze video, positional and other data from the target area.
Claims18
A method of reconnaissance for the staging of a mission in a target area of a remote location in space utilizing a plurality of deployable camera/communications surveying devices (buoy cameras), wherein the buoy cameras include:
- a pole camera including at least one video camera;
- a camera mechanism comprising at least one lens and a pan-tilt head which can be operated remotely;
- a location device for determining local coordinates of the buoy camera and triangulating targets within its range;
- a local network communication device to serve as a radio node for video, communication and data interchange between the apparatus and other devices at the target area;
- a transceiver that exchanges video, communication and location data between the camera and an orbiting vehicle;
- and a power supply including at least one battery and at least one photovoltaic solar panel, the method comprising:
- identifying the target area from the orbiting vehicle;
- deploying at least one communication satellite over the target area;
- releasing the plurality of buoy cameras over the target area ejected by the orbiting vehicle;
- activating a plurality of sensors on each of the plurality of buoy cameras to collect video and data;
- activating the transceiver on each of the plurality of buoy cameras;
- transmitting the collected video and data to the at least one communication satellite;
- relaying, via a relay transceiver the collected video and data from the at least one communication satellite to a base station remote from the mission site to enable analysis of the data at the base station.
A system of reconnaissance for the staging of a mission in a target area of a remote location in space utilizing a plurality of deployable camera/communications surveying devices (buoy cameras), wherein the buoy cameras include:
- a pole camera including at least one video camera configured to collect video and still pictures;
- a camera mechanism comprising at least one lens and a pan-tilt head which can be operated remotely;
- a location device for determining local coordinates of the buoy camera and triangulating targets within its range;
- a local network communication device to serve as a radio node for video, communication and data interchange between the apparatus and other devices at the target area;
- a transceiver that exchanges video, communication and location data between the camera and an orbiting vehicle;
- and a power supply including at least one battery and at least one photovoltaic solar panel, further including:
- a plurality of buoy cameras released from an orbiting vehicle;
- at least one sensor on each of the plurality of buoy cameras configured to collect data;
- wherein the at least one transceiver on each of the plurality of buoy cameras enables data to be transmitted between a communications satellite and the plurality of buoy cameras;
- and
- a relay transceiver on the communications satellite configured to relay the video and data from the plurality of buoy cameras to the base station.
A method of tracking the position of a target object in a mission area at a remote location in space utilizing a plurality of deployable camera/communications surveying devices (buoy cameras), wherein the buoy cameras include:
- a pole camera including at least one video camera;
- a camera mechanism comprising at least one lens and a pan-tilt head which can be operated remotely;
- a position-indicating location device for determining local coordinates of the buoy camera and triangulating targets within its range;
- a local network communication device to serve as a radio node for video, communication and data interchange between the apparatus and other devices at the target area;
- a transceiver that exchanges video, communication and location data between the camera and an orbiting vehicle;
- and a power supply including at least one battery and at least one photovoltaic solar panel, the method comprising:
- deploying a plurality of the buoy cameras in the mission area;
- activating the position-indicating location device on each buoy camera;
- activating the local network communication device on each buoy camera;
- linking the local network communication devices on the plurality of buoy cameras to form a mesh or informal network;
- establishing a precise location of each buoy camera in a local grid at the mission area;
- tracking the position of the target object on the local grid by ranging the target object's distance from the position-indicating location device on at least three buoy cameras.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.