Hybrid velocity derived heading reference system
First Claim
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1. A vehicle navigation system including a true heading reference system for determining and controlling the position and velocity of a moveable vehicle, comprising:
- a receiver/processor on said vehicle for receiving range and range rate signals from a plurality of orbiting navigational satellites and processing said signals together with the stored ephemeris information of said satellites to provide a signal representative of the vehicle'"'"'s velocity with respect to the earth along the local meridian Vn, and its velocity along the local parallel of latitude, Ve, said system further comprising sensing apparatus on said vehicle for measuring and providing signals representing the vehicle'"'"'s axial velocities, Vx, Vy and Vz along the roll, pitch and yaw axes thereof, a vertical gyro adapted to provide instantaneous pitch and roll signals for said vehicle, a converter unit to which said axial velocity signals and said pitch and roll signals are fed to obtain signals representing the along-track velocity, Vh, and the cross-track velocity, Vd, of said vehicle, a velocity signal processor to which the four said velocity signals Vh, Vd, Vn, and Ve are fed, said velocity signal processor providing an output signal representative of the true heading of said vehicle from the vector relationship of said four velocity signals, and apparatus connected to said velocity signal processor for utilizing said output signal for the navigation of said vehicle.
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Abstract
An accurate and constantly updated heading reference is provided for movee vehicles, particularly aircraft. The heading is calculated from four velocity measurements, two of which are obtained from signals received from orbiting satellites, and two from on-board equipment which determines the vehicle'"'"'s along-track and cross-track velocities. The on-board equipment may be a Doppler ground-speed sensor or an inertial velocity sensor using accelerometers, the outputs of which are integrated.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A vehicle navigation system including a true heading reference system for determining and controlling the position and velocity of a moveable vehicle, comprising:
- a receiver/processor on said vehicle for receiving range and range rate signals from a plurality of orbiting navigational satellites and processing said signals together with the stored ephemeris information of said satellites to provide a signal representative of the vehicle'"'"'s velocity with respect to the earth along the local meridian Vn, and its velocity along the local parallel of latitude, Ve, said system further comprising sensing apparatus on said vehicle for measuring and providing signals representing the vehicle'"'"'s axial velocities, Vx, Vy and Vz along the roll, pitch and yaw axes thereof, a vertical gyro adapted to provide instantaneous pitch and roll signals for said vehicle, a converter unit to which said axial velocity signals and said pitch and roll signals are fed to obtain signals representing the along-track velocity, Vh, and the cross-track velocity, Vd, of said vehicle, a velocity signal processor to which the four said velocity signals Vh, Vd, Vn, and Ve are fed, said velocity signal processor providing an output signal representative of the true heading of said vehicle from the vector relationship of said four velocity signals, and apparatus connected to said velocity signal processor for utilizing said output signal for the navigation of said vehicle.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A hybrid heading reference system for use in navigating a vehicle, comprising:
- receiving and processing apparatus on said vehicle adapted to receive signals from a plurality of remote orbiting navigational satellites and to derive from said signals and from stored ephemeris information regarding the orbits of said satellites signals representative of the velocities with respect to the earth of said vehicle along the local meridian and along the local parallel of latitude;
sensing apparatus on said vehicle for measuring signals representative of the along-track and cross-track velocities of said vehicle, a velocity signal processor on said vehicle for processing the four said velocity signals to provide an output signal representative of the true heading of said vehicle, and apparatus connected to said velocity signal processor for utilizing said output signal for the navigation of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
- receiving and processing apparatus on said vehicle adapted to receive signals from a plurality of remote orbiting navigational satellites and to derive from said signals and from stored ephemeris information regarding the orbits of said satellites signals representative of the velocities with respect to the earth of said vehicle along the local meridian and along the local parallel of latitude;
Specification
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Current AssigneeUnited States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army (Government of the United States of America)
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Original AssigneeThe United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army
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InventorsGray, Jack
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Primary Examiner(s)Smith, Jerry
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Application NumberUS06/246,518Time in Patent Office890 DaysField of Search364/447, 364/450, 364/453, 364/455, 364/456, 364/457, 343/8, 343/9 R, 343/100 ST, 343/112 C, 343/112 S, 343/113 DEUS Class Current701/205CPC Class CodesG01C 21/1652 with ranging devices, e.g. ...G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar syste...G01S 19/52 Determining velocity
