Gyroscopic system for boresighting equipment
First Claim
1. A gyroscopic system for translating parallel and non-parallel lines between a reference line and a device to be aligned with respect to the reference line, comprising:
- a first inertial sensor configured to be substantially stationary, said first inertial sensor comprising a first three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to produce an output signal and a reflector;
a second inertial sensor configured to be portable so as to be positionable adjacent to said first inertial sensor and comprising a gimbal restricted to two physical axes, a gimbal drive system, an electromagnetic energy beam generator, a second three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to generate an output signal, and a collimator, said collimator being operable to determine an angle between a beam projected by said beam generator and a beam reflected from said reflector and to generate an output signal indicative of said determined angle; and
a control circuit operable to process output signals generated by said collimator and said first and second three-axis gyroscopic sensors, to provide steering commands to the gimbal drive system to move the gimbal about its two physical axes such that the reflector and beam have a fixed orientation to perform calculations to compensate for a third physical axis, and determine relative orientations of said first and second inertial sensors with respect to each other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A gyroscopic system for translating parallel and non-parallel lines between a reference line and a device to be aligned with respect to the reference line is provided. The system includes a first inertial sensor configured to be substantially stationary, the first inertial sensor comprising a first three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to produce an output signal and a reflector. A second inertial sensor is configured to be portable so as to be positionable adjacent to the first inertial sensor and comprises a gimbal restricted to two physical axes, a gimbal drive system, an electromagnetic energy beam generator, a second three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to generate an output signal, and a collimator. The collimator is operable to determine an angle between a beam projected by the beam generator and a beam reflected from the reflector and to generate an output signal indicative of the determined angle. A control circuit is operable to process output signals generated by the collimator and the first and second three-axis gyroscopic sensors and determine relative orientations of the first and second inertial sensors with respect to each other.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A gyroscopic system for translating parallel and non-parallel lines between a reference line and a device to be aligned with respect to the reference line, comprising:
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a first inertial sensor configured to be substantially stationary, said first inertial sensor comprising a first three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to produce an output signal and a reflector; a second inertial sensor configured to be portable so as to be positionable adjacent to said first inertial sensor and comprising a gimbal restricted to two physical axes, a gimbal drive system, an electromagnetic energy beam generator, a second three-axis gyroscopic sensor configured to generate an output signal, and a collimator, said collimator being operable to determine an angle between a beam projected by said beam generator and a beam reflected from said reflector and to generate an output signal indicative of said determined angle; and a control circuit operable to process output signals generated by said collimator and said first and second three-axis gyroscopic sensors, to provide steering commands to the gimbal drive system to move the gimbal about its two physical axes such that the reflector and beam have a fixed orientation to perform calculations to compensate for a third physical axis, and determine relative orientations of said first and second inertial sensors with respect to each other. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for reference sighting, comprising:
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a) determining a nominal mirror line in a base frame for each reference mirror; b) measuring a first measurement vector for the first reference mirror; c) logging an orientation of the first gyro and the second gyro at the time of the measuring; d) converting the measurement vector to quaternion form; e) computing an actual mirror line with respect to the nominal mirror line; f) virtually de-rolling the orientation of the second gyro; and g) causing the optical reference line to converge on the nominal mirror line. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for aligning a device comprising:
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aligning a stationary inertial sensor with respect to a reference line; projecting an electromagnetic beam from a portable inertial sensor to a mirror coupled to said stationary inertial sensor and detecting the angle of the reflected beam; determining the relative position of said portable inertial sensor with respect to said stationary inertial sensor using the detected angle and output data from a first gyroscope provided in said stationary inertial sensor and a second gyroscope provided in said portable inertial sensor; controlling a two-axis gimbaled platform carrying circuitry for generating the electromagnetic beam to orient the platform about two axes; determining a compensation for movement of the platform about a third axis; and calculating a position of said device with respect to said reference line using said detected angle, said compensation and said output data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification