Synthetic Digital Sextant for Navigation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for determining a position of a platform, the method comprising:
- determining a location of a horizon line using a sensor onboard the platform;
detecting one or more celestial objects in the sky using the sensor onboard the platform;
determining differential angular measurements between the horizon line and at least one of the celestial objects in the sky over a duration of time; and
determining the position of the platform based on the differential angular measurement between the horizon line and the celestial objects.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Technology for determining a position of a platform is described. A location of a horizon line can be determined using a sensor onboard the platform. One or more celestial objects in the sky can be detected using the sensor onboard the platform. Differential angular measurements between the horizon line and at least one of the celestial objects in the sky can be determined over a duration of time. The position of the platform can be determined based on the differential angular measurements between the horizon line and the celestial objects.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A method for determining a position of a platform, the method comprising:
-
determining a location of a horizon line using a sensor onboard the platform; detecting one or more celestial objects in the sky using the sensor onboard the platform; determining differential angular measurements between the horizon line and at least one of the celestial objects in the sky over a duration of time; and determining the position of the platform based on the differential angular measurement between the horizon line and the celestial objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for determining a location of a synthetic horizon line from a platform, the method comprising:
-
identifying a satellite in orbit using a sensor onboard the airborne platform; estimating positions of the satellite along its ballistic orbit over a defined period of time; determining a local vertical acceleration (LVA) vector of the satellite based on position estimations of the satellite; transforming the LVA vector of the satellite to an LVA vector of the airborne platform; and calculating an angle between the LVA vector of the platform and a horizon direction based on a current position of the platform and a curvature of the Earth, wherein the angle between the LVA vector of the platform and the horizon direction is used to determine the location of the horizon line, wherein the horizon line is a synthesized horizon line. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A system onboard a platform that is operable to determine a position of the platform, the system comprising:
-
an electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensor; an inertial measurement unit (IMU); an inertial navigation unit (INU); and a computing device, comprising; a processor; and a memory device including a data store to store a plurality of data and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; identify a location of a horizon line based on measurements obtained from the EO/IR sensor onboard the platform; identify one or more celestial objects in the sky based on measurements obtained from the EO/IR sensor onboard the platform; identify differential angular measurements between the horizon line and the one or more celestial objects in the sky over a duration of time; and determine the position of the platform using the differential angular measurements between the horizon line and the celestial objects, IMU measurements collected from the IMU, and INU measurements collected from the INU. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification