Accurate targeting from imprecise locations

• US 6,708,109 B1
• Filed: 07/18/2002
• Issued: 03/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Pradhan, Salil V., Gugala, Jan, Brignone, Cyril
• Primary Examiner(s): Camby, Richard M.
• Application Number:
  US10/198,419
• Time in Patent Office: 607 Days
• Field of Search: 701/207, 701/211, 701/213, 701/23, 701/28, 180/167-169
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system

Abstract

Compensation for tolerances inherent in state-of-the-art locating and targeting. Based upon known approximate position and heading of the spotter, and certain data related to objects with the a vision area, an expanded field of vision related to the perspective of a virtual spotter location is generated. Compensation for present location variance due to locator equipment inherent tolerance is provided such that targeting of each object in the vision area can be precisely implemented.

Claims

1. A positioning device comprising:

means for determining heading of the device;

means for determining current position of the device within a predetermined variance;

means for targeting objects within a vision area of the device and receiving a signal indicative of capture of one or more said objects;

means for determining the identity of said objects, including approximate distance from said current position; and

from said heading, said position, and distance, means for compensating for said predetermined variance and for adjusting field-of-vision of said means for targeting relative to each of said objects.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

means for displaying a list of one or more said objects within said field-of-vision.

3. The device as set forth in claim 2 comprising:

means for connecting to a respective Internet link related to said objects from said list.

4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein aperture of the device for each of said objects respectively depends on each object distance and is modulated by the variance.

5. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for targeting objects is a receiver for accepting a predetermined beacon signal from said objects.

6. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjusting field-of-vision is a union of all vision areas from all the possible user locations in a circle-of-incertitude around said device defined by said variance.

7. The device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said union of all vision areas is described by the equation

8. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for compensating and for adjusting is programmable.

12. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein targeting of each of said objects in the vision area is corrected for incertitude of said approximate position of said apparatus.

13. The method as set forth in claim 1 in a programmable mobile targeting apparatus.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein said programming is implemented in accordance with the following computer code:

<

compute—

Object (Map, L_device, Accuracy, v°

, S_obj)

S_obj-old←

S_obj

S_obj←

empty

for each Object in Map,

d←

Object Distance from (L_device)

if (D<

Accuracy),

then, S_obj←

Object,

otherwise

β

°

_obj←

ObjectBearing (L_user)

α

°

_obj←

SweepAngle (D, Accuracy, v°

)

if (Object ε

S_obj-old)

β

°

_obj←

β

°

_obj←

hysteresis°

if (α

°

_obj<

β

°

_obj)

Sobj←

Object

return Sobj>

.

9. A method for compensating position variance of a positioning device, the method comprising:

storing a map of potentially detectable objects;

saving a set of data S_obj-old related to all actually detected objects from an estimated location p_e;

creating a temporary data storage, “

S_obj,”

;

for each of the actually detected objects_n, determining distance “

d”

from the device, and if any of said objects is within a predetermined area, storing those objects into the temporary data storage;

for each of said objects which are outside the predetermined area, determining an angle β

°

_obj between device heading and each current one of said objects outside the predertermined area direction;

for each of said objects outside the predetermined area, determining aperture angle, α

_obj, between the device heading and an extreme possible position P_o of an object at distance, d, from the device;

for each individual one of said objects outside the predetermined area, determining if angle β

°

_obj is smaller than angle α

_obj and, if so, current said individual one is added to the temporary data storage, S_obj, and, if not, ignoring said current said individual one and repeating said determining if angle β

°

_obj is smaller than angle α

_obj for remaining individual ones of said objects outside the predetermined area; and

displaying Sobj.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9 comprising:

if a currently said individual one of the objects outside said the predetermined area matches an object in said set of data, S_obj-old, angle hysteresis°

limit is increased, where hysteresis°

is an arbitrary parameter which is set to make already detected objects harder to lose.

11. A method for compensating for tolerances inherent in state-of-the-art locating and targeting apparatus, the method comprising:

based upon known approximate position and heading of the apparatus and predetermined data related to objects with a vision area of the apparatus, generating an expanded field-of-vision related to the perspective of a virtual position of the apparatus; and

displaying objects within said expanded field-of-vision area such that compensation for present location variance due to apparatus inherent tolerance.

15. A portable positioning device comprising:

a housing;

interconnected within said housing, a compassing subsystem, a geophysical positioning subsystem, a targeting-and-receiving subsystem for targeting objects within a vision area of the device and receiving a signal indicative of capture of said object, a database of positioning-and-targeting information related to potential objects-of-interest, and a programmable computing subsystem having programming such that from heading, current approximate position, and current approximate distance, said computing subsystem provides an adjusting of field-of-vision of said targeting-and-receiving subsystem relative to each of said objects within the vision area, compensating for predetermined variances of said compassing subsystem and geophysical positioning subsystem of the device.

16. The device as set forth in claim 15 further comprising:

a visual display providing a list of one or more objects within said field-of-vision.

17. The device as set forth in claim 16, said computing subsystem further comprising:

programming for establishing an Internet link to a selected object from said list.

18. The device as set forth in claim 15 wherein said targeting-and-receiving subsystem includes a receiver for accepting a predetermined beacon signal from said objects.