Methods and systems for detecting forward obstacles
First Claim
1. A method for detecting obstacles in the forward flight path of an air vehicle, the air vehicle utilizing a radar altimeter and an electronic digital elevation map for precision terrain aided navigation, the radar altimeter incorporating a forward looking antenna, said method comprising:
- determining a position of the air vehicle on the digital elevation map;
selecting an area of the digital elevation map in the flight path of the air vehicle, based at least in part on the determined air vehicle position;
scanning the terrain representing the selected map area with the forward looking antenna;
combining the digital elevation map data for the selected area with radar return data for the scanned, selected area; and
displaying the combined data to provide a representation of the terrain and obstacles in the forward flight path of the air vehicle.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for detecting obstacles in the flight path of an air vehicle are described. The air vehicle utilizes a radar altimeter incorporating a forward looking antenna and an electronic digital elevation map to provide precision terrain aided navigation. The method comprises determining a position of the air vehicle on the digital elevation map, selecting an area of the digital elevation map in the flight path of the air vehicle, based at least in part on the determined air vehicle position, and scanning the terrain representing the selected map area with the forward looking antenna. The method also comprises combining the digital elevation map data for the selected map area with radar return data for the scanned, selected area and displaying the combined data to provide a representation of the terrain and obstacles in the forward flight path of the air vehicle.
32 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for detecting obstacles in the forward flight path of an air vehicle, the air vehicle utilizing a radar altimeter and an electronic digital elevation map for precision terrain aided navigation, the radar altimeter incorporating a forward looking antenna, said method comprising:
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determining a position of the air vehicle on the digital elevation map;
selecting an area of the digital elevation map in the flight path of the air vehicle, based at least in part on the determined air vehicle position;
scanning the terrain representing the selected map area with the forward looking antenna;
combining the digital elevation map data for the selected area with radar return data for the scanned, selected area; and
displaying the combined data to provide a representation of the terrain and obstacles in the forward flight path of the air vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A radar altimeter, comprising:
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a precision terrain aided navigation (PTAN) processor configured to process interferometric radar altimeter data;
a terrain correlation processor configured to correlate data from said PTAN processor to a present vehicle location on a digital elevation map (DEM);
a forward map scanning processor configured to receive an altitude from said PTAN processor and determine a position on the DEM to scan which is forward of the vehicle;
a forward looking processor configured to receive data relating to a scan of the terrain corresponding to the position on the DEM that said forward map scanning processor is configured to scan; and
a display processor configured to process and reconcile data from said forward map scanning processor and said forward looking processor. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A processing unit for a radar altimeter, said processing unit configured to:
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receive and process interferometric radar altimeter data;
correlate processed interferometric radar altimeter data to a present vehicle location on a digital elevation map (DEM);
determine a terrain position to scan which is forward of the vehicle based at least in part on a position generated from the correlated interferometric radar altimeter data;
receive data relating to a scan of the terrain corresponding to the correlated interferometric radar altimeter data; and
combine the data relating to the scan of the terrain with data from the DEM. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification