NAVIGATIONAL PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR PATH CONTROL

• US 3,805,261 A
• Filed: 02/25/1964
• Issued: 04/16/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/1963
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Andre Adamsbaum, Jacques Desire Deschamps
• Original Assignee: Andre Adamsbaum, Jacques Desire Deschamps
• Inventors: Deschamps, Jacques Desire, Adamsbaum, Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilbur, Maynard R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Montone, G. E.
• Application Number:
  US04/347,996
• Time in Patent Office: 3,703 Days
• Field of Search: 343/5MM,5DP,100.7 340/149,146.3
• US Class Current: 342/64
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/04 Display arrangements

Abstract

A process for controlling the course of a body in motion by comparison of a known relief plot of a surveyed zone with a sounding plot obtained during the passage of the body over said zone, comprising storing a plurality of patterns of binary digits wherein each pattern corresponds to a different and known strip of the said zone, said binary digits being representative of the algebraical sign of the difference in heights between predetermined points of said strip, translating said sounding plot into a pattern of binary digits representative of the algebraical sign of the difference between readings taken in spaced conformity with said predetermined points, and correlating the translated pattern with each of the stored patterns of binary digits and thus obtaining the degree of concordance thereof.

Claims

1. A process for controlling the course of a body in motion by comparison of a known relief plot of a surveyed zone with a sounding plot obtained during the passage of the body over said zone, comprising storing a plurality of patterns of binary digits wherein each pattern corresponds to a different and known strip of the said zone, said binary digits being representative of the algebraical sign of the difference in heights between predetermined points of said strip, translating said sounding plot into a pattern of binary digits representative of the algebraical sign of the difference between readings taken in spaced conformity with said predetermined points, and correlating the translated pattern with each of the stored patterns of binary digits and thus obtaining the degree of concordance thereof.

2. The process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said translated sounding plot is obtained by sequentially sensing at predetermined intervals the change of relief in the actual strip of said zone being passed over by said body, and said step of translating comprising producing a bit of digital information corresponding to the sign difference between each said successively sensed change of relief, and wherein the bits of each pattern of stored binary digits correspond to the sign difference between the known changes in relief of corresponding known relief strips.

3. The process as set forth in claim 2 further comprising recording and storing said pattern of binary digits of said sounding plot after the step of translating whereby the binary digits are presented for correlation.

4. The process as set forth in claim 3 wherein said known strips are substantially parallel to the ideal course and are transversely adjacent each other, said step of correlating comprising recognizing the stored pattern of binary digits which most nearly corresponds to the sounded pattern of binary digits and indicating the actual course of the body with respect to the desired course.

5. The process as set forth in claim 4 comprising the additional step of applying to the sounded pattern of binary digits successive stepped phase displacements with respect to each of the stored patterns, said step of correlating through stored pattern recognition indicating both the actual course and true position of the body.

6. An electronic system for controlling the course of a body in motion by comparison of a known relief plot of a surveyed zone with a sounding plot comprising a first memory means programmed with binary information corresponding to the relief data of the known surveyed zone, said binary information being representative of the algebraical sign of the difference in heights between predetermined points of said zone, a second memory means, sounding means on board said body for producing a sounding plot in the form of a pattern of binary digits corresponding to the relief pattern of the strip of said zone actually flown over by said body, said binary digits being representative of the algebraical sign of the difference between readings taken in spaced conformity with said predetermined points and said sounding means feeding the pattern of binary digits to said second memory means, and correlating means connected to the outputs of said first and second memory means for determining the degree of concordance between said pattern of binary digits and the stored binary information.

7. A system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said first memory means is of the magnetic drum type and comprises a number of recording tracks, each track storing a pattern of binary information corresponding to a different strip of said zone.

8. A system as set forth in claim 7 wherein said second memory means is of the trigger circuit type and is adapted to render a continuous binary output without erasing whereby the pattern of binary digits stored therein is presented for correlation.

9. A system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said correlating comprises a multiplier section connected to the outputs of said first and second memory means and an integrator section connected to the output of said multiplier section.

10. A system as set forth in claim 9 wherein a pattern recognition means is connected to the output of said integrator section.