APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR NAVIGATION
First Claim
1. An apparatus for use in determining location of a celestial body, the apparatus comprising:
- a polarizer comprising an array of polarized light filter cells comprising at least a first polarization direction and a second polarization direction different from said first polarization direction, said polarizer thereby producing polarized light of at least first and second different polarizations; and
a light sensor array configured to receive the polarized light from said polarizer and produce data indicative of a pattern of at least one of light polarization intensity and direction, said pattern being indicative of at least one of azimuth and elevation of the celestial body.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and system for use in determining location of a celestial body are presented. The apparatus comprises: a polarizer comprising an array of polarized light filter cells and a light sensor array. The array of polarized light filter cells comprises at least a first polarization direction and a second polarization direction different from said first polarization direction. And the polarizer thereby produces polarized light of at least first and second different polarizations. The light sensor array is configured to receive the polarized light from the polarizer and produce data indicative of a pattern of at least one of light polarization intensity and direction. The pattern is indicative of at least one of azimuth and elevation of the celestial body to be located.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An apparatus for use in determining location of a celestial body, the apparatus comprising:
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a polarizer comprising an array of polarized light filter cells comprising at least a first polarization direction and a second polarization direction different from said first polarization direction, said polarizer thereby producing polarized light of at least first and second different polarizations; and a light sensor array configured to receive the polarized light from said polarizer and produce data indicative of a pattern of at least one of light polarization intensity and direction, said pattern being indicative of at least one of azimuth and elevation of the celestial body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for use in determining location of a celestial body comprising:
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directing ambient light through an array of at least two polarized light filter cells comprising filter cells having a first polarization direction and filter cells having a second polarization direction different from said first polarization direction; detecting light components passing through said at least two filter cells of the first and second polarization directions by a light sensor unit comprising at least two light sensor elements, and producing detection data indicative of a polarization pattern of said ambient light by detecting a difference in intensity of the detected light components; and processing the data indicative of the polarization pattern and identifying at least one of azimuth and elevation of said celestial body. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A system for use in determining navigational data, the system comprising
a polarizer comprising an array of polarized light filter cells comprising at least a first polarization direction and a second polarization direction different from said first polarization direction, said polarizer thereby producing polarized light of at least first and second different polarizations; - and
a light sensor array configured to receive the polarized light from said polarizer and produce data indicative of a pattern of at least one of light polarization intensity and direction, said pattern being indicative of a location of the celestial body.
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Specification