Airborne reconnaissance system
First Claim
1. An airborne reconnaissance system comprising:
- Gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom;
At least one array of light sensors positioned on the gimbals, for being directed by the same within at least two degrees of freedom;
Map storage means for storing at least one Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, divided into portions;
Inertial Navigation System for real-time providing to a gimbals control unit navigation and orientation data of the aircraft with respect to a predefined global axes system;
Portion selection unit for selecting, one at a time, another area portion from the area of interest;
Servo control unit for;
A. Receiving from said Digital Elevation Map one at a time, a coordinates set of the selective area portion, said set comprising the x;
y coordinates of said area portion, and the elevation z of the center of that portion;
B. Receiving continuously from said inertial navigation system present location and orientation data of the aircraft;
C. Repeatedly calculating and conveying into a gimbals servo unit in real time and at a high rate signals for;
a. during a direction period, signals for directing accordingly the gimbals including said at least one array of light-sensing units towards said x;
y;
z coordinates of the selected area portion, and;
b. during an integration period, in which the array sensors integrates light coming from the area portion, providing to the gimbals unit signals for compensating for the change in direction towards the x;
y;
z coordinates of the selected portion evolving from the aircraft motion;
Gimbals servo for effecting direction of the gimbals in at least two degrees of freedom according to the signals provided from said Servo Control Unit;
Sampling means for simultaneously sampling at the end of the integration period pixel levels from each of said array sensors, a set of all of said sampled pixel levels forms an image of said area portion; and
Storage means for storing a plurality of area portion images.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An airborne reconnaissance system comprising: (1) Gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom; (2) At least one array of light sensors positioned on the gimbals, for being directed by the same within at least two degrees of freedom; (3) Map storage means for storing at least one Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, divided into portions; (4) Inertial Navigation System for real-time providing to a gimbals control unit navigation and orientation data of the aircraft with respect to a predefined global axes system;(5) Portion selection unit for selecting, one at a time, another area portion from the area of interest; and (6) servo means for directing the gimbals. The system uses data from the inertial navigation system and from the digital elevation map for real-time calculating direction to selected area portions, and for maintaining the direction during integration of light from the terrain, and for producing corresponding images of area portions.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An airborne reconnaissance system comprising:
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Gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom;
At least one array of light sensors positioned on the gimbals, for being directed by the same within at least two degrees of freedom;
Map storage means for storing at least one Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, divided into portions;
Inertial Navigation System for real-time providing to a gimbals control unit navigation and orientation data of the aircraft with respect to a predefined global axes system;
Portion selection unit for selecting, one at a time, another area portion from the area of interest;
Servo control unit for;
A. Receiving from said Digital Elevation Map one at a time, a coordinates set of the selective area portion, said set comprising the x;
y coordinates of said area portion, and the elevation z of the center of that portion;
B. Receiving continuously from said inertial navigation system present location and orientation data of the aircraft;
C. Repeatedly calculating and conveying into a gimbals servo unit in real time and at a high rate signals for;
a. during a direction period, signals for directing accordingly the gimbals including said at least one array of light-sensing units towards said x;
y;
z coordinates of the selected area portion, and;
b. during an integration period, in which the array sensors integrates light coming from the area portion, providing to the gimbals unit signals for compensating for the change in direction towards the x;
y;
z coordinates of the selected portion evolving from the aircraft motion;
Gimbals servo for effecting direction of the gimbals in at least two degrees of freedom according to the signals provided from said Servo Control Unit;
Sampling means for simultaneously sampling at the end of the integration period pixel levels from each of said array sensors, a set of all of said sampled pixel levels forms an image of said area portion; and
Storage means for storing a plurality of area portion images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for carrying out airborne reconnaissance, comprising:
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a. Providing at least one array of light-sensitive pixels;
b. Mounting the at least one array on gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom so that the gimbals can direct the array to a selected Line of Sight;
c. Providing a Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, reconnaissance images from said area are to be obtained;
d. Providing an Inertial Navigation System for obtaining at any time during the flight the updated xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the center of the array with respect to a predefined coordinates system;
e. Providing a calculation unit for, given xp;
yp location coordinates of a center of specific area portion within the area of interest, and the zp elevation coordinate at said portion center as obtained from said Digital Elevation Map, and the said xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the array center at same specific time, determining the exact angles for establishing a line of sight direction connecting between the center of the array and the said xp;
yp;
zp coordinates;
f. Given the calculation of step e, directing accordingly the center of the array'"'"'s Line of Sight to the center of the area portion;
g. During an integration period, effecting accumulation of light separately by any of the array light sensors;
h. During the integration period, repeating at a high rate the calculation of step e with updated array xa;
ya;
za coordinates, and repeatedly, following each said calculation, correcting the direction as in step f;
i. At the end of the integration period, sampling all the array sensors, and saving in a storage as images of the array portion;
j. Selecting new portion coordinates xp;
yp;
zp within the area of interest, and repeating steps e to j for these new coordinates;
k. When the coverage of all the area of interest is complete, terminating the process, or beginning coverage of a new area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for providing motion compensation during airborne photographing comprising:
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a. Providing at least one array of light-sensitive pixels;
b. Mounting the at least one array on gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom so that the gimbals can direct its Line of Sight towards a selective area portion;
c. Providing a Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, reconnaissance images from said area are to be obtained;
d. Providing an Inertial Navigation System for obtaining at any instant during flight the updated xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the center of the array with respect to a predefined coordinates system;
e. Providing a calculation unit for, given xp;
yp location coordinates of a center of specific area portion within the area of interest, and the zp elevation coordinate at said portion center as obtained from said Digital Elevation Map, and the said xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the array center at same specific time, determining the exact angles for establishing a line of sight direction connecting between the center of the array and the said xp;
yp;
zp coordinates;
f. During an integration period, when the center of the array'"'"'s Line of Sight is directed to a center of an area portion, effecting accumulation of light separately by any of the array light sensors;
g. During the integration period, repeating at a high rate the calculation of step e with updated array xa;
ya;
za coordinates, and repeatedly, following each said calculation, correcting the direction by keeping the center of the array directed to the center of the selected area portion, therefore compensating for aircraft movement; and
h. At the end of the integration period, sampling all the array sensors, and saving in a storage as images of the array portion.
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32. A method for carrying out airborne targeting, comprising:
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a. Providing at least one weapon;
b. Mounting the at least one weapon on gimbals having at least two degrees of freedom so that the gimbals can direct the weapon to a selected Line of Sight;
c. Providing a Digital Elevation Map of an area of interest, selected objects within said area are to be targeted;
d. Providing an Inertial Navigation System for obtaining at any time during the flight the updated xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the center of the weapon with respect to a predefined coordinates system;
e. Providing a calculation unit for, given xp;
yp location coordinates of a center of a specific target within the area of interest, and the zp elevation coordinate at said target center as obtained from said Digital Elevation Map, and the said xa;
ya;
za coordinates of the weapon center at same specific time, determining the exact angles for establishing a Line of Sight direction connecting between the center of the weapon and the said xp;
yp;
zp coordinates;
f. Given the calculation of step e, directing accordingly the center of the weapon Line of Sight to the center of the target;
h. During the effective targeting and shooting period, motion compensating for the motion of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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Specification