DUAL BAROMETER SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVED ALTITUDE ESTIMATION

• US 20180274919A1
• Filed: 05/31/2018
• Published: 09/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Inventors: PAN, Guoxiu
• Granted Patent: US 11,105,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/06 by using barometric means

Abstract

An apparatus for determining an altitude of a mobile unit includes one or more processors individually or collectively configured to obtain local measurement data comprising a local atmospheric pressure at a location of the mobile unit, obtain reference measurement data comprising a reference atmospheric pressure at a location of a reference unit that is movable, and determine the altitude of the mobile unit based on the local measurement data and the reference measurement data.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining an altitude of a mobile unit, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors, individually or collectively configured to;

obtain local measurement data comprising a local atmospheric pressure at a location of the mobile unit,

obtain reference measurement data comprising a reference atmospheric pressure at a location of a reference unit, and

determine the altitude of the mobile unit based on the local measurement data and the reference measurement data,

wherein the reference unit is movable.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises a local altitude determined based on the local atmospheric pressure,

the reference measurement data comprises a reference altitude determined based on the reference atmospheric data, and

the one or more processors are further configured to determine the altitude of the mobile unit by adjusting the local altitude based on the reference altitude.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to adjust the local measurement data based on the reference measurement data to obtain adjusted local measurement data, and determine the altitude of the mobile unit based on the adjusted local measurement data.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reference unit is movable to remain within a predetermined horizontal distance from the mobile unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises the local atmospheric pressure at one or more local measurement time points,

the reference measurement data comprises the reference atmospheric pressure at one or more reference measurement time points corresponding to the one or more local measurement time points, and

the one or more processors are further configured to determine the altitude of the mobile unit at each of the one or more local measurement time points, based on the local measurement data at the local measurement time point and the reference measurement data at a reference measurement time point corresponding to the local measurement time point.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises the local atmospheric pressure at a plurality of local measurement time points, and

the reference measurement data comprises the reference atmospheric pressure at a plurality of reference measurement time points corresponding to the plurality of local measurement time points.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the local measurement data further comprises a local temperature at the location of the mobile unit, and

the reference measurement data further comprises a reference temperature at the location of the reference unit.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein:

the mobile unit comprises a local temperature sensor configured to measure the local temperature, and

the reference unit comprises a reference temperature sensor configured to measure the reference temperature.

9. A method for determining an altitude of a mobile unit, the method comprising:

obtaining local measurement data comprising a local atmospheric pressure at a location of the mobile unit;

obtaining reference measurement data comprising a reference atmospheric pressure at a location of a reference unit; and

determining the altitude of the mobile unit based on the local measurement data and the reference measurement data;

wherein the reference unit is movable.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises a local altitude determined based on the local atmospheric pressure,

the reference measurement data comprises a reference altitude determined based on the reference atmospheric data, and

determining the altitude of the mobile unit comprises adjusting the local altitude based on the reference altitude.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

adjusting the local measurement data based on the reference measurement data to obtain adjusted local measurement data,

wherein the altitude of the mobile unit is determined based at least on the adjusted local measurement data.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises the local atmospheric pressure at one or more local measurement time points,

the reference measurement data comprises the reference atmospheric pressure at one or more reference measurement time points corresponding to the one or more local measurement time points, and

determining the altitude of the mobile unit includes determining the altitude of the mobile unit at each of the one or more local measurement time points, based on the local measurement data at the local measurement time point and the reference measurement data at a reference measurement time point corresponding to the local measurement time point.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the local measurement data comprises the local atmospheric pressure at a plurality of local measurement time points, and

the reference measurement data comprises the reference atmospheric pressure at a plurality of reference measurement time points corresponding to the plurality of local measurement time points.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein each local measurement time point is substantially synchronized with one corresponding reference measurement time point.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the local measurement data further comprises a local temperature at the location of the mobile unit, and

the reference measurement data further comprises a reference temperature at the location of the reference unit.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the mobile unit comprises a local temperature sensor configured to measure the local temperature, and

the reference unit comprises a reference temperature sensor configured to measure the reference temperature.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the mobile unit and the reference unit are configured to transmit data to or receive data from one another via a wireless connection comprising one or more of a cellular communication network, a wireless serial communication link, or an Internet or Internet-based network.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the mobile unit and the reference unit are configured to transmit data to or receive data from one another in real time, and the altitude of the mobile unit is instantaneously determined.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein the mobile unit and the reference unit are configured to generate the local and reference measurement data and determine the altitude of the mobile unit periodically at predetermined intervals during movement of the mobile unit.

20. The method of claim 9, wherein the mobile unit and the reference unit are configured to generate the local and reference measurement data and determine the altitude of the mobile unit at user re