Method for Surveillance of Space/Air Space

• US 20100007544A1
• Filed: 07/20/2006
• Published: 01/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (Rheinmetall AG)
• Original Assignee: Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (Rheinmetall AG)
• Inventors: Berger, Hanspeter, Honikel, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 8,044,840 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/53
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/2955 Means for determining the position of the radar coordinate system for evaluating the position data of the target in another coordinate system G01S7/24 takes precedence; sighting devices adapted for indirect laying of fire F41G3/16; inertial navigation G01C21/16

Abstract

The invention proposes utilizing the known geometry of the measurements in order to assign them to one another and to resolve ambiguities, wherein the 3D position of an object (3) in space is determined by a spatial section at the same time. This is done using a plurality (N) of sensors (A, B, C) and their geometries (10, 11, 12), wherein a first sensor (A) is part of the master sensor and a space curve (A1) is calculated and then transmitted to the geometry (11) of a sensor (B) which is defined as a slave sensor and whose local geometry (11) is taken into account, a further sensor (C) is then defined as a slave in which the space curves (B1-B3) of the correspondence obtained in the preceding step are calculated and transmitted to the geometry (12) of the new slave sensor (C) together with the master curve (A1), wherein the steps are repeated at least until the last (N) remaining sensor is defined as a slave in a last step (N−1) and the master (A1) and all of its associated measurements of the previous slave sensors (B, C) are transmitted to the local geometry of the last (N) slave sensor and compared with the measurements.

Claims

1-7. -7. (canceled)

8. A method for automatic combinational optimization of target definition of a plurality of moving objects with assistance of a plurality of sensors and their geometries, comprising the steps of defining a first sensor (A) as a master sensor;

calculating a space curve (A1) and then transferring the space curve to the geometry of a second taking the space curve into account in its local geometry;

defining a further sensor (c) as a slave, in which space curves (B1-B3) of correspondence obtained in the previous step are calculated and are transferred, together with the master curve (A1), to the geometry of the new slave sensor (C) and are taken into account as a new geometry; and

repeating these steps at least until, in a final step (N−

!), a last (N) remaining sensor is defined as a slave, the master (A1) and all the measurements associate with it from the previous slave sensors (B, C . . . N−

1) being transferred to the local geometry of the last (N) slave sensor, and compared with the measurements.

9. The method as defined in claim 8, including, when new information resolves ambiguities from the previous step, deleting the relevant measurements from an association list, although all the new measurements to be added are recorded.

10. The method as defined in claim 8, including, after the association of the local measurement, carrying out a check to determine whether the master sensor in each case has only a maximum of one associated measurement from the slave sensors, wherein, if this is not the case, the ambiguity at this time is resolved with the shortest distance of the respective measurement to the slave sensor, thus completing the association with the master sensor.

11. The method as defined in claim 8, including, once the association of the first master sensor (A) has been carried out, defining a next slave sensor as the master and repeating the steps for the remaining targets.

12. The method as defined in claim 8, including, for correlation introducing the measurements of the master sensor into the geometry of the respective slave sensor.

13. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein a 3D situation is known by means of an intersection of the space curves (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3) from each point on the space curve (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3) by which means the missing dimensions (elevation/distance) can be read directly from the point at which the local measurement touches the curve (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3).

14. The method as defined in claim 12, including reducing complexity of the association and computation complexity by restricting the number of correlations to candidates along the space curves which have been projected into the geometry of the respective slave sensor.