Compact navigation system and method
First Claim
1. A compact navigation system for a rover, the navigation system comprising:
- a housing configured to be transported by the rover;
a gimbal system having two or more gimbals that includes at least an outer gimbal connected to said housing and an inner gimbal nested in and connected to said outer gimbal;
a solid state three-axis gyro assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a gyro logic circuit responsive to said three-axis gyro assembly for producing an inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
an accelerometer logic circuit responsive to said three-axis accelerometer assembly for producing a non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and
a processor responsive to said gyro logic circuit and said accelerometer logic circuit for determining the attitude and the position of said housing to provide for long term accuracy of the attitude and the position for navigation of the rover.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A compact navigation system for a rover is provided. The navigation system includes a housing configured to be transported by the rover; a gimbal system having two or more gimbals that includes at least an outer gimbal connected to the housing and an inner gimbal nested in and connected to the outer gimbal; a solid state three-axis gyro assembly mounted on the inner gimbal; a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted on the inner gimbal; a gyro logic circuit responsive to the three-axis gyro assembly for producing an inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis; an accelerometer logic circuit responsive to the three-axis accelerometer assembly for producing a non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and a processor responsive to the gyro logic circuits and the accelerometer logic circuits for determining the attitude and the position of the housing to provide for long term accuracy of the attitude and the position for navigation of the rover.
73 Citations
70 Claims
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1. A compact navigation system for a rover, the navigation system comprising:
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a housing configured to be transported by the rover;
a gimbal system having two or more gimbals that includes at least an outer gimbal connected to said housing and an inner gimbal nested in and connected to said outer gimbal;
a solid state three-axis gyro assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a gyro logic circuit responsive to said three-axis gyro assembly for producing an inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
an accelerometer logic circuit responsive to said three-axis accelerometer assembly for producing a non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and
a processor responsive to said gyro logic circuit and said accelerometer logic circuit for determining the attitude and the position of said housing to provide for long term accuracy of the attitude and the position for navigation of the rover. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A compact navigation system for a rover, the navigation system comprising:
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a housing configured to be transported by the rover;
a gimbal system having three or more gimbals that includes at least an outer gimbal connected to said housing and an inner gimbal nested in and connected to one or more middle gimbals that are connected to said outer gimbal;
a solid state three-axis gyro assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted on said inner gimbal;
a gyro logic circuit responsive to said three-axis gyro assembly for producing an inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
an accelerometer logic circuit responsive to said three-axis accelerometer assembly for producing a non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and
a processor responsive to said gyro logic circuit and said accelerometer logic circuit for determining the attitude and the position of said housing to provide for long term accuracy of the attitude and the position for navigation of the rover. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A method for navigating a rover on the Earth or other celestial body, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a housing configured to attach to the rover, the housing including a gimbal system having two or more gimbals that includes at least an outer gimbal connected to said housing, zero or one or more middle gimbals and an inner gimbal nested in and coupled one to the other and to said outer gimbal, said gimbal system including a solid state three-axis gyro assembly and a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted within said gimbal system;
obtaining information about a position of a first point in a trajectory of the rover;
if the rover is not initially stationary at the first point, obtaining information about the velocity and the attitude;
if the rover is stationary at the first point, determining the velocity due to rotation of the Earth or other celestial body from the position and determining the attitude of the first point in the trajectory of the rover using said three-axis gyro assembly and said three-axis accelerometer assembly by rotating said gimbal system through four or more gyrocompass positions;
traversing through the trajectory to a second point in the trajectory while inertially navigating and carouseling or indexing the gimbals;
if the rover is stationary at the second point, determining the attitude at the second point in the trajectory using said three-axis gyro assembly and said three-axis accelerometer assembly by rotating said gimbal system through four or more gyrocompass positions to obtain attitude results; and
updating navigation of the rover with the attitude results. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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Specification