Route planner with area avoidance capability
First Claim
1. A method for establishing a route with at least one way point by which a steerable vehicle will maneuver between a current source point and a destination point that avoids at least one intermediate obstacle, said method comprising the steps of:
- defining first and second bearing lines extending from the current source point to first and second tangents, respectively, of each of the at least one intermediate obstacle;
extending each of the defined bearing lines an incremental distance beyond the tangent thereof with a corresponding obstacle and thereby defining a next possible way point along that bearing line; and
converting each next possible way point to a way point for the route.
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Abstract
A method for establishing a path from a launch point to a destination point that can include multiple way points while avoiding landmass areas. Launch points and destination points can lie outside or inside the particular landmass areas. The method includes steps for defining tangents path areas to be avoided, extending those tangents to define way points and testing the individual way points to assure conformance to various conditions and constraints. A subset of paths are optimized. The shortest of the optimized paths becomes a final path.
82 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for establishing a route with at least one way point by which a steerable vehicle will maneuver between a current source point and a destination point that avoids at least one intermediate obstacle, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining first and second bearing lines extending from the current source point to first and second tangents, respectively, of each of the at least one intermediate obstacle;
extending each of the defined bearing lines an incremental distance beyond the tangent thereof with a corresponding obstacle and thereby defining a next possible way point along that bearing line; and
converting each next possible way point to a way point for the route. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for establishing a route for a missile between a launch point and a destination point that avoids at least one intermediate landmass, said method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a data base of landmasses that circumscribe the each landmass within a polygon defined by a plurality of data points;
defining an initial current source point relative to the launch point and a final way point relative to the destination point;
defining, by iterative processing, a plurality of rough paths between the initial current source point and the final way point by;
generating first and second bearing lines from the current source point to first and second tangents of the polygons surrounding each intermediate landmass;
defining a next possible way point relative to the tangent of each bearing line to one of the polygons;
converting each next possible way point to an intermediate way point for the rough path; and
substituting an intermediate way point as the current source point; and
selecting one of the rough paths as the route for the missile between the launching and destination points. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
defining a shortest path from the launch point to a segment on the polygon; and
incrementally increasing the shortest path to define the initial current source point.
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27. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein the destination point lies within the polygon around a corresponding landmass and said step of defining the final way point includes the steps of:
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defining a shortest path from the destination point to a segment on the polygon; and
incrementally increasing the shortest path to define the final way point.
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28. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein each landmass is further defines by a rectangle circumscribing a polygon, said method additionally testing, during each iteration, whether the destination point lies within the rectangle but outside the polygon associated with a landmass, said method comprising an alternative step for generating the first and second bearing lines to that landmass based upon the relative positions of the current source point, the destination point the corners of the polygon.
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29. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein said step of connecting a next possible way point to an intermediate way point includes testing the next possible way point against predetermined criteria.
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30. A method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of connecting a next possible way point to an intermediate way point includes determining whether the total number of way points in the rough path exceeds a maximum.
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31. A method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of connecting a next possible way point to an intermediate way point includes determining whether a distance to the next possible way point from a current source point exceeds a distance from the current source point to the destination point.
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32. A method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of connecting a next possible way point to an intermediate way point includes, after a first rough path exists, whether the sum of a distance from the initial way point to the current source point plus a distance from the current source point to the destination point exceeds the shortest possible path.
Specification