INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AIMED SHOOTING OF SNIPER AND OBSERVATION OF SPOTTER

• US 20110173869A1
• Filed: 06/24/2010
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kaishot Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: ID. Fone Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: UHM, HYUN DUK
• Granted Patent: US 8,104,216 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 42/111
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/06 Electric or electromechanical safeties F41A17/04, F41A17/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/08 for inhibiting firing in a specified direction, e.g. at a friendly person or at a protected area F41A27/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/46 Trigger safeties, i.e. means for preventing trigger movement F41A17/02 - F41A17/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/06 Rearsights
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 3/02 using an independent line of sight
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 3/165 using a TV-monitor

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling the aimed shooting of a sniper and the observation of a spotter. At the same time that a sniper directly checks the shape of the target using a sighting telescope, a spotter observes the surroundings of the target using an observatory telescope. The sniper deflects images of the target using a prism, focuses the images, and converts the focused images into digital moving image signals. The spotter deflects images of the target using a prism, focuses the images, and converts the focused images into digital moving image signals. Two types of images can be selectively transmitted, or can be combined with each other using a multiplexer and transmitted to a shooting controller in a multi-screen division form. A commanding office can identify a precise target and make a decision pertaining to shooting.

Claims

1. An integrated control system for controlling aimed shooting of a sniper and observation of a spotter, comprising:

a sighting camera unit for allowing a sniper, who aims at a target with a firearm and will shoot at the target, to check a shape of the target formed by a sighting telescope while viewing the shape through a second eyepiece, for deflecting images of the target using a first prism of a reflection optical unit closely located on a first side of a first eyepiece of the sighting telescope at an angle of 90°

, for focusing the images using a camera lens, and for generating image signals using an image conversion module;

an observation camera unit for allowing a spotter, who widely grasps safety of a place where the sniper is disposed and surroundings of the target and observes whether the sniper has precisely hit the target at a time of shooting at the target while preventing the sniper'"'"'s position from being leaked to another party, to identify the target and the surroundings of the target using an observatory telescope while viewing them through a first eyepiece, for deflecting images of the target and the surroundings at an angle of 90°

using a first prism of a reflection optical unit closely located on a first side of an observation magnification lens, for focusing the images using a camera lens, and for generating image signals using an image conversion module;

a multiplexer for allowing two types of moving images acquired by the sighting camera unit and the observation camera unit to be selectively transmitted by the sniper or the spotter by manipulating channel selection switches of a wireless control transmission unit, and dividing video obtained through two channels into images for multiple screens;

the wireless control transmission unit for transmitting digital moving images in real time to a shooting controller of a commanding office at a remote place through a wireless image transmitter while the video are viewed on a small-sized monitor of the wireless control transmission unit;

a shooting controller disposed in a control unit of the commanding office at the remote place and configured to receive video of the target aimed at by the sniper and video of a situation of a spot captured by the spotter;

the control unit for transmitting a trigger lock release signal in a wireless manner when a commander of the commanding office makes a precise decision pertaining to shooting and then presses an approval button of the shooting controller while issuing a shoot command via remote control; and

a trigger locking unit for controlling an electromagnetic lock, which has blocked pulling of a trigger of the firearm using a force of an electromagnet, when the wireless control transmission unit receives the trigger lock release signal from the shooting controller.

2. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the sighting camera unit is constructed in a vertical structure and is configured such that it allows the sniper to check the shape of the target formed by the sighting telescope while viewing the shape through the second eyepiece, deflects the images of the target using the first prism of the reflection optical unit closely located on the first side of the first eyepiece of the sighting telescope at an angle of 90°

, focuses the images using the camera lens, and generates the image signals using the image conversion module.

3. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the sighting camera unit is configured such that:

images of the target which receive 50% of light passing through the first prism closely located on the first eyepiece of the sighting telescope by which the sniper directly identifies the target are directly identified by the sniper through the second eyepiece with his or her eye, and images of the target which receive part of remaining 50% of the light are deflected by the first prism at an angle of 90° and

are transmitted to the camera lens of the reflection optical unit of the sighting camera unit,

the camera lens desirably focuses the images and transmits the focused images to the image conversion module, and the image conversion module converts the images of the target into digital moving image signals, and

the first prism having a reflective surface is closely disposed on the first side of the first eyepiece of the sighting telescope by which the sniper identifies the target with his or her eye, and is configured to receive the images of the target corresponding to part of the light and deflect the images at an angle of 90°

.

4. The integrated control system according to claim 3, wherein the sighting camera unit is constructed in a horizontal structure comprising a plurality of prisms, comprising:

a second prism installed in the sighting camera unit and configured to deflect again the images of the target received from the first prism at a predetermined angle; and

a third prism disposed on a first side of the second prism and configured to transmit the images of the target received from the second prism along a parallel path,

wherein when the camera lens of the sighting camera unit receives the images of the target directly provided by the third prism and transmits the images to the image conversion module, the image conversion module generates the digital video signals by converting the analog video into the digital video signals.

5. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the observation camera unit is configured such that it allows the spotter, who widely grasps the safety of the place where the sniper is disposed and the surroundings of the target and observes whether the sniper has precisely hit the target at a time of shooting at the target while preventing the sniper'"'"'s position from being leaked to another party, to identify the target and the surroundings of the target using the observatory telescope while viewing them through a second eyepiece, deflects the images of the target and the surroundings at an angle of 90°

using the first prism of the reflection optical unit closely located on the first side of the observation magnification lens, focuses the images using the camera lens, and generates the image signals using the image conversion module.

6. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein a half mirror instead of the first prism is located on the first side of the first eyepiece of the sighting telescope by which the sniper identifies the target, thus enabling images of the target to be collected on and reflected towards the camera lens.

7. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the sighting camera unit is configured such that the image conversion module thereof is implemented as an infrared camera or a thermal camera to identify the target even at night.

8. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless control transmission unit is constructed such that two types of video captured by the sighting camera unit and the observation camera unit are selectively transmitted by the sniper or the spotter by manipulating channel selection switches of the wireless control transmission unit and such that the digital video signals are transmitted in real time to the shooting controller of the commanding office located at the remote place at a distance of from several km to several hundreds of km by using the multiplexer, which is capable of dividing the video obtained by two types of channels into images for multiple screens, and the wireless image transmitter while the digital moving image signals are viewed on the small-sized monitor of the wireless control transmission unit.

9. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the shooting controller is configured such that, when one sniper and a plurality of spotters are disposed, moving images transmitted by the sniper and the spotters through the wireless image transmitter are displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor of the shooting controller of the commanding office at the remote place with a screen of the LCD monitor divided into screens for multiple channels, and are viewed in real time through corresponding channels of the sniper and the spotters.

10. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the shooting controller is capable of storing all images transmitted by the sniper in internal or external memory, enables the images to be played and viewed later, and comprises the wireless control transmission unit for connecting a shooting unit and the control unit located at the remote place to each other so that video/audio and GPS metadata therebetween can be bidirectionally communicated.

11. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein transmission equipment for video, audio and GPS metadata is provided to include the wireless control transmission unit therein, the wireless control transmission unit being configured to receive individual moving images through two or more types of channels of the sighting camera unit and the observation camera unit and to selectively transmit the video/audio by manipulating a plurality of channel selection switches, and configured to transmit in real time the digital video/audio signals to the commanding office located at the remote place at a distance of from several km to several hundreds of km by using the multiplexer, which is capable of dividing the moving images obtained by the two or more types of channels into images for multiple screens, and the wireless image transmitter while the digital moving image signals are viewed on the small-sized monitor of the wireless control transmission unit when the sniper is moving and loaded on a helicopter, an airplane, land transportation means, a patrol boat, or a ship.

12. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the trigger locking unit is configured such that when the trigger lock release signal is received from the shooting controller in a state in which the trigger locking unit is provided on the trigger of the firearm of the sniper to prevent the sniper from carelessly shooting at the target, the electromagnetic coil lock retreats from its locked position and a trigger lock function is released at a same time that the trigger lock release signal is transmitted to an electromagnetic coil control of the trigger locking unit for controlling the electromagnetic coil lock which has blocked pulling of the trigger using a force of an electromagnet.

13. The integrated control system according to claim 1, further comprising a release indication lamp located on a top of the second eyepiece of the sighting camera unit, and configured such that when the trigger lock release signal is received from the shooting controller in a state in which the trigger locking unit is provided on the trigger of the firearm of the sniper to prevent the sniper from carelessly shooting at the target, the release indication lamp is turned on, and shooting at the spot is controlled via remote control by the commanding office at the remote place in such a way that the sniper recognizes that the trigger locking unit has been released and can shoot at the target by pulling the trigger.

14. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless control transmission unit and the shooting controller perform wireless communication at a distance of from several km to several hundreds of km therebetween using various methods according to circumstances, and images/sound/metadata and radio control signals are simultaneously transmitted using a long-distance direct transmission method based on Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or a transmission method based on a WiFi network, a WiMAX (or Wibro) network, a Trunked Radio System (TRS) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)/Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile communication network, or a 3G High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) or 3G HSUPA satellite communication network.

15. The integrated control system according to claim 1, wherein the shooting controller is configured such that the commander who is directly viewing the images of the target on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor of the shooting controller can control approval/disapproval of a shoot command by precisely identifying the target, analyzing the situation of the spot and transmitting a shooting control signal to a shooting unit and such that the images of the target are received from the shooting unit through the wireless video/audio transmitter to allow the commander to view the images displayed on the LCD monitor, and the shooting controller is provided with a program for automatically analyzing the situation of the spot to enable a number of bullets, an azimuth angle between the sniper and the target, current effective shooting distance, target accuracy rate, etc. to be displayed on a screen of the LCD monitor.

16. The integrated control system according to claim 11, wherein the wireless control transmission unit is configured such that when Radio Detection And Ranging (RADAR) equipment, Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) equipment for sound wave measurement, a Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) camera, an infrared camera or a thermal camera is mounted in a helicopter or an airplane and the sniper gets on the helicopter or the airplane and conducts an operation, moving images can be received through multiple channels and can be selectively transmitted by manipulating the channel selection switches, and the multi-channel moving images can be separately transmitted or selectively transmitted through the multiplexer which is capable of dividing a screen into multiple screens, and such that the digital video image signals are transmitted in real time to the commanding office, located at the remove place at a distance of from several km to several hundreds of km, through the wireless video/audio transmitter while being viewed on the small-sized monitor of the wireless control transmission unit.

17. An integrated control method of controlling aimed shooting of a sniper and observation of a spotter, comprising:

disposing a sniper who identifies a location of a target and will shoot at the target while aiming at the target with a firearm;

allowing the sniper to aim at the target while viewing a magnified image of the target using a second eyepiece of a sighting camera unit attached to a sighting telescope provided on the firearm;

allowing the sniper to identify the target using the second eyepiece and collect images of the target, transmitting part of the images of the target to a camera lens through a first prism of a reflection optical unit of the sighting camera unit, and allowing an image conversion module to convert the images of the target into digital video image signals;

locating the prism on a first side of a first eyepiece of the sighting telescope by which the sniper identifies the target, receiving images of the target corresponding to part of light and deflecting the images at an angle of 90°

using the prism, allowing the camera lens to receive the images of the target, directly provided by the prism, allowing the image conversion module to convert analog images into digital moving image signals, and transmitting the digital moving image signals of the target to a shooting controller of a commanding office located at a remote place through a wireless control transmission unit;

connecting a shooting unit connected to the wireless control transmission unit and a control unit located at the remote place to each other so that Video/Audio and shooting control signals therebetween are bidirectionally communicated in real time;

Display the images of the target on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor of the shooting controller and enabling the images of the target to be viewed in real time by the control unit;

the control unit determining whether to approve or disapprove shooting in such a way that a commander detects a precise location of the target and is aware of a time of shooting while viewing the images of the target on the LCD monitor of the shooting controller, and then transmitting a shooting approval signal to the wireless control transmission unit of the shooting unit;

when the commander presses an approval button provided on a portion of the shooting controller, transmitting a shoot approval command to the sniper;

when the control unit issues a shoot command, transmitting the shoot command to an electromagnetic coil control mounted on the firearm through the wireless control transmission unit; and

the electromagnetic control transmitting a radio release signal in compliance with the shoot approval command, and retreating an electromagnetic coil lock of a trigger locking unit from its locked position, so that the sniper views a turn-on operation of a release indication lamp and shoots at the target in a locking release state by pulling the trigger.