DEPLOYABLE AIRBORNE SENSOR ARRAY SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE

• US 20170024854A1
• Filed: 11/13/2014
• Published: 01/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Humfeld, Keith Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 11,341,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 3/00 Aircraft adaptations to facilitate towing or being towed B64D39/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/60 Tethered aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/202 using tethers for connecting to ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10044 Radar image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30212 Military
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30232 Surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4053 based on super-resolution, i.e. the output image resolution being higher than the sensor resolution

Abstract

A deployable airborne sensor array system and method of use are provided herein. The system includes a tether configured to be coupled to and deployed from an aircraft and a plurality of airborne vehicles coupled to the tether. Each of the plurality of airborne vehicles includes different lift characteristics to form a three-dimensional (3D) array of airborne vehicles. Each airborne vehicle includes a sensing device configured to generate sensor data associated with a target. The system also include a computing device configured to process the sensor data received from each of said plurality of airborne vehicles and generate an image of the target based on the sensor data.

Claims

1. A deployable airborne sensor array system comprising:

a tether configured to be coupled to and deployed from an aircraft;

a plurality of airborne vehicles coupled to said tether, each of said plurality of airborne vehicles having different lift characteristics to form a three-dimensional (3D) array of airborne vehicles, each airborne vehicle comprising a sensor device configured to generate sensor data associated with a target; and

a computing device configured to;

process the sensor data received from each of said plurality of airborne vehicles; and

generate an image of the target based on the sensor data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said tether comprises a tether network having a plurality of tethers coupling together one or more of said plurality of airborne vehicles.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said different lift characteristics include unbalanced wings on at least first and second airborne vehicles that cause the first and second airborne vehicles to respectively glide to the left and to the right of the aircraft, and further include a positive lift profile and negative lift profile on at least third and fourth airborne vehicles that cause the third and fourth airborne vehicles to respectively glide above and below the aircraft, such that the plurality of airborne vehicles establish a three-dimensional array of sensors operating coherently to capture a three-dimensional view of a target at an instant in time.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein each sensor device comprises an imaging camera and said computing device is further configured to:

aim the plurality of imaging cameras at the target; and

instruct the imaging cameras to capture a two-dimensional (2D) image of the target.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said computing device is further configured to determine a position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said computing device is further configured to:

determine an effective pixel size for each imaging camera based on the position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target; and

generate a super-resolution image of the target using the effective pixel size for each imaging camera.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein said computing device is further configured to generate a 3D image of the target using 3D ray tracing methodology, the 3D image generated based on the position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein said computing device is further configured to:

instruct the imaging cameras to capture a two-dimensional (2D) image of the target at varying times; and

interleave the captured 2D images based on the time in which each 2D image was captured to generate a high-speed video of the target.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said computing device is further configured to:

instruct each of the sensor devices to transmit a radio frequency pulse signal toward the target;

receive a radio frequency pulse return signal from each of the sensor devices; and

combine the received radio frequency pulse return signals to generate an image of the target having increased azimuth and range resolution.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the image is a 3D image.

11. A method comprising:

deploying a tether from an aircraft, the tether including a plurality of airborne vehicles coupled to the tether, each of the plurality of airborne vehicles having different lift characteristics to form a three-dimensional (3D) array of airborne vehicles;

each airborne vehicle including a sensing device configured to generate sensor data associated with a target; and

processing, by a computing device, sensor data associated with a target received from each of the plurality of airborne vehicles, the sensor data generated by a sensing device coupled to each airborne vehicle; and

generating, by the computing device, an image of the target based on the sensor data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein deploying a tether further comprises deploying a tether network including a plurality of tethers coupling together one or more of the plurality of airborne vehicles.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein each sensor device includes an imaging camera, said method further comprising:

aiming the plurality of imaging cameras at the target; and

instructing the imaging cameras to capture a two-dimensional (2D) image of the target.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining an effective pixel size for each imaging camera based on the position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target; and

generating a super-resolution image of the target using the effective pixel size for each imaging camera.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a 3D image of the target using 3D ray tracing methodology, the 3D image generated based on the position of each of the imaging cameras relative to the target.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

instructing the imaging cameras to capture a two-dimensional (2D) image of the target at varying times; and

interleaving the captured 2D images based on the time in which each 2D image was captured to generate a high-speed video of the target.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

instructing each of the sensing devices to transmit a radio frequency pulse signal toward the target;

receiving a radio frequency pulse return signal from each of the sensing devices; and

combining the received radio frequency pulse return signals to generate a 3D image of the target having increased azimuth resolution.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein deploying a tether further comprises deploying a tether including a plurality of airborne vehicles having different horizontal and vertical lift characteristics relative to one another, such that the plurality of airborne vehicles establish a three-dimensional array of sensors operating coherently to capture a three-dimensional view of a target at an instant in time.