Miniature celestial direction detection system
First Claim
1. A miniature celestial direction detection system comprised of:
- A) at least one camera for viewing a large portion of sky, said camera comprising;
1) a wide angle lens and2) a sensor having a focal plane array of at least about 350,000 pixels; and
B) an inclinometer andC) a microprocessor programmed with;
1) an astronomical algorithm for defining locations of celestial objects based on known time, and2) coordinate transformation software for converting pixel image software into astronomical coordinates.
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Abstract
A celestial direction finding system. The system includes an inclinometer, at least one camera for imaging both the daytime sky and the nighttime sky and a computer programmed with a sun, moon and star catalog and algorithms for automatically determining directions based on positions of celestial bodies imaged by at least one camera and incline positions measured by the inclinometer. In a preferred embodiment all of the above features are combined in a single battery operated miniature celestial direction finding module. Geographical positions of nearby objects can be determined with the addition of a rangefinder and knowledge of the geographical position of the camera. The geographical position of the system in preferred embodiments can be determined with the addition of a GPS unit.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A miniature celestial direction detection system comprised of:
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A) at least one camera for viewing a large portion of sky, said camera comprising; 1) a wide angle lens and 2) a sensor having a focal plane array of at least about 350,000 pixels; and B) an inclinometer and C) a microprocessor programmed with; 1) an astronomical algorithm for defining locations of celestial objects based on known time, and 2) coordinate transformation software for converting pixel image software into astronomical coordinates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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4. The celestial direction detection system and further comprising a location means for providing input of location of said camera accurate to within two kilometers.
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22. The celestial direction detection system as in claim wherein said robotic vehicle comprises at least one weapon.
Specification