Homing device

• US 4,152,703 A
• Filed: 09/01/1976
• Issued: 05/01/1979
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dan-Mar Company
• Original Assignee: Dan-Mar Company
• Inventors: Heckelman, James D., Ziemke, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Blum, Theodore M.
• Application Number:
  US05/719,421
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• Field of Search: 343/119, 343/120, 343/117 R, 343/121, 343/117 A, 343/225, 325/37
• US Class Current: 342/432
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/42 the desired condition being maintained automatically

Abstract

A homing system utilizing a loop antenna positioned at approximately 45° to the vertical to provide an electromagnetic field having both horizontal and vertical components. These signal components are picked up by a vertical loop stick antenna alternately connected to one of two bifilar wound coils of a horizontal loop stick antenna to provide alternating signals. The strength diagrams for the alternating signals are cardioid shaped and are arranged back to back with their null point passing through the intersections of the back to back signals. The null point of both antenna systems occurs when the horizontal loopstick antennas are at right angles to the electromagnetic lines of force; and any time that the horizontal loop sticks are turned at an angle relative to their null point, a difference in signal strength exists between the two antenna systems. This is picked up, and is amplified at separate time intervals by a common amplifier. The separate signals are detected, than thrown on the opposite sides of a reference voltage and filtered to give a signal, the polarity of which is indicative of the side of the null point to which the antenna is positioned and the strength of which is indicative of the amount of deviation. The signals are passed to a stepper motor which both rotates the antenna towards the sending station, and steers the driving motor for bringing the vehicle to the transmitting station. A unique automatic gain control is utilized to overcome the great difference in signal strength that exists in the 1,000 foot range adjacent to the transmitting station.

Claims

1. A radio control system comprising:

a transmitting antenna producing a high frequency alternating field having both horizontal and vertical components, a first receiving antenna producing an output that is primarily a function of said vertical component, a second receiving antenna producing an output that is primarily a function of its angular position to said horizontal component a third receiving antenna that is angularly positioned along with said second antenna and producing an output that is a function of its angular position to said horizontal component but which is of opposite electrical polarity with respect to the output of said second receiving antenna, first switch means actuated at an audio frequency and which when actuated adds the output of said first and second receiving antennas, second switch means actuated at an audio frequency and which when actuated adds the output of said first and third receiving antennas, conductor means receiving the alternate signals of said first and second switch means to provide an amplitude modulated signal the peaks and valleys of which correspond to the strength of said signals from said first and second switch means, means for detecting the amplitude modulated signal and providing a signal having peaks and valleys both of which are on one side of a reference voltage different from ground, signal adjusting means causing the voltage differential obtained by subtracting the valleys from a reference voltage which differential is in turn subtracted from the reference voltage while leaving the peaks substantially unchanged to provide a synthetic signal, filter means filtering the synthetic signal to provide a D.C. voltage, and means using the filtered synthetic signal for control.

2. The control system of claim 1 wherein said signal adjusting means comprises:

an operational amplifier having inverting and noninverting inputs, and third switch means operated in unison with said first and second switch means for causing the signal produced by said first switch means to be applied to said operational amplifier through said inverting input and causing the signal produced by said second switch means to be applied to said operational amplifier through said noninverting input.

3. The control system of claim 1 wherein said last mentioned means compares said D.C. voltage to a predetermined reference voltage to provide one directional signal when above said predetermined voltage and an opposite directional signal when below said predetermined reference voltage.

4. The control system of claim 3 including means providing pulses the speed of which is a function of the degree to which said D.C. voltage differs from said predetermined reference voltage.

5. The control system of claim 3 including drive means utilizing said directional signal to rotate the second and third receiving loop antennas to the null position.

6. The control system of claim 1 wherein said signal adjusting means comprises:

an operational amplifier having an inverting and a noninverting input, third switch means operated in unison with said first switch means and operatively delivering said peaks of said detected signal to said noninverting input, fourth switch means operated in unison with said second switch means and operatively delivering said valleys of said detected signal to said inverting input, and said filter means filters the output of said operational amplifier.

7. The control system of claim 6 including:

means deriving an AGC (automatic gain control) signal from said pulsating D.C. voltage and delivering said AGC signal to said amplifier in a manner decreasing the strength of said signal from said first and second switch means.

8. The control system of claim 6 including a high Q tuned circuit for transmitting said signal from said first and second switch means to said first amplifier, means deriving an AGC (automatic gain control) signal from said pulsating D.C. voltage and delivering said AGC signal to said high Q tuned circuit to decrease the signal strength by increasing the damping applied to the said tuned circuit.

9. The control system of claim 8 where said high Q tuned circuit tunes each of the two antenna systems to resonance when their respective switch means (first or second) is actuated.

10. The radio control system of claim 1 wherein said second and third receiving antennas are bifilar wound coils of a horizontal loopstick antenna.

11. The control system of claim 1 where the transmitting antenna is positioned at an angle to the vertical to produce the said horizontal and vertical components.

12. The control system of claim 1 where separate horizontally and vertically positioned receiving antennas are used to produce outputs that are a function of said horizontal and vertical field components.

13. The control system of claim 1 where said second receiving antenna is effectively connected in series with said first receiving antenna when said first switch means is actuated, and said third receiving antenna is effectively connected in series with said first receiving antenna when said second switch means is actuated.

14. A direction sensing device comprising:

a first antenna system the output signal of which differs in amplitude on opposite sides of its null point and the change in strength of which per degree of rotation differs on opposite sides of the null point, a second antenna system providing an output signal corresponding to said first antenna system but the corresponding points of which are on opposite sides of said null, said antenna systems being fixed relative to each other with their null points coinciding, means amplifying the output of both antenna systems separately, means detecting both amplified signals separately, means combining said detected signals by causing peaks of the detected signals to alternate with each other and with the alternating peak to be on opposite sides of a reference voltage different from ground, and means filtering the combined signal to produce a signal that is a function of the deviation of said antenna systems from said null.

15. A direction sensing device comprising:

a first antenna system the output signal of which differs in amplitude on opposite sides of its null point, a second antenna system the output signal of which differs in amplitude on opposite sides of its null point, said first and second antenna systems being rotatable in fixed phase relationship with each other, a first amplifier, a high Q circuit feeding said amplifier, a first switch means which when actuated communicates said first antenna system to said high Q circuit, second switch means which when actuated communicates said second antenna system to said high Q circuit, electronic clock means alternately actuating said first and second switch means, detection means detecting the output of said amplifier, an operational amplifier having inverting and noninverting inputs, third switch means operated by said electronic clock means and communicating the output of said detection means to said inverting input in unison with the actuation of first switch means, fourth switch means operated by said electronic clock means and communicating the output of said detection means to said noninverting input in unison with the actuation of said second switch means, and filter means filtering the output of said operational amplifier to provide a composite D.C. signal.

16. The device of claim 15 including a stepper motor for rotating said antenna systems in unison, a comparator for comparing the polarity of said composite D.C. signal to a reference voltage to provide a first output direction signal to said stepping motor when said composite D.C. signal is positioned with respect to the reference voltage, and a second output direction signal to said stepping motor where said composite D.C. signal is negative with respect to the reference voltage, an optical isolator for providing a signal that is a function of the divergence of said composite D.C. signal from said reference voltage, and a stepping oscillator delivering a stepping signal to said stepping motor the frequency of steps of which is a function of the output of said optical isolator.

17. The control system of claim 16 including means deriving an AGC signal from said detection means and delivering said AGC signal to said high Q circuit to decrease the signal strength by increasing the damping applied to the said high Q circuit.

18. A homing device comprising:

first and second antenna systems providing signals from a sending station which signals have similar strength patterns that project on opposite sides of the null position for both systems, means for amplifying and detecting both signals relative to a reference voltage above ground and feeding respective detected signals to respective noninverting and inverting inputs of an operational amplifier having a constant biasing voltage corresponding to the null position of said first and second antenna systems, and filtering means to provide a composite signal the strength of which relative to the reference voltage indicates from which side of the null position the signal was received.

19. A radio control system comprising:

first and second antenna systems which provide different signals in response to direction from a transmitted source;

first means alternately communicating signals from said first and second antenna systems to amplifier means to produce a synthetic wave form;

second means detecting said synthetic wave form to give a pulsating D.C. voltage having crests and valleys;

third means producing a second synthetic wave form in which a first voltage differential between the crests and a reference voltage different from ground, and a second voltage differential between the valleys and said reference voltage, are caused to be on opposite sides of a reference voltage;

fourth means averaging peaks and valleys of said second synthetic wave form; and

means utilizing the average voltage so produced as a control function.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein said last mentioned means comprises:

an optical isolator, means feeding the output signal of said optical insulator to the base of a unijunction transistor and to a condensor through a bleed resistor, to produce a series of pulses the frequency of which is a function of said output signal of said fourth means.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein:

said third means comprises an operational amplifier having inverting and noninverting inputs to one input of which the crests of said pulsating D.C. voltage is communicated, and to the other input of which the valleys of said pulsating D.C. voltage is communicated.