System for estimating the speed of an aircraft, and an application thereof to detecting obstacles

• US 7,791,529 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2006
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Airbus Helicopters
• Original Assignee: Eurocopter
• Inventors: Filias, François Xavier, Petillon, Jean-Paul, Pire, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory; Bernarr E
• Application Number:
  US11/435,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20070075893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,573 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/104, 382/106, 382/107, 342 25 R- 25 F, 342 52- 66, 342104-123, 342/175, 342/176, 342/179, 342189-197, 342/27, 342/28, 356/27, 356/28, 356/29, 348/699, 701 1- 28, 367/87, 367/89, 367/90, 367/91, 367/93, 367/94, 367/117
• US Class Current: 342/115
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/183 Compensation of inertial measurements, e.g. for temperature effects
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/589 measuring the velocity vector
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/882 for altimeters measuring height using barometric means G01C5/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/588 measuring the velocity vector
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/86 Combinations of sonar systems with lidar systems; Combinations of sonar systems with systems not using wave reflection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/933 of aircraft or spacecraft

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of determining an estimated speed of an aircraft relative to ground being overflown by the aircraft, in which use is made of the sum of an acceleration measurement of the aircraft plus a difference value, the difference value being obtained from observation data or signals relating to a region of the ground.

Claims

1. A method of determining at least two components of the estimated speed vector ({right arrow over ({circumflex over (v)}) of an aircraft relative to the ground (19), the method comprising the following steps:

successively forming at least two images (z₁(x,y), z₂(x,y)) of a single region of the ground, the images including distance data relating to the distance between the aircraft and points in the single region of the ground, the distance data corresponding to measurements delivered by a range finder;

determining offsets ({right arrow over (d)}) between the images;

determining a first raw or observed speed as a function of the offsets ({right arrow over (d)}) between the images;

making inertial measurements of the movement of the aircraft; and

combining the first raw or observed speed with the inertial measurements of the movement of the aircraft in order to determine the estimated speed vector({right arrow over ({circumflex over (v)}).

2. A method according to claim 1, in which making the inertial measurements of the movement of the aircraft comprises measuring three acceleration components and three angular speed components of the movement of the aircraft.

3. A method according to claim 1, in which combining the first raw or observed speed with the inertial measurements of the movement of the aircraft comprises filtering the first raw or observed speed with the inertial measurements of the movement of the aircraft.

4. A method according to claim 3, comprising determining an a priori covariance matrix (V) for the error affecting the first raw or observed speed, and in which filtering is performed by a complementary filter (102, 202, 302, 402) having gains (K) that vary and depend on said covariance matrix.

5. A method according to claim 4, in which the complementary filter is a Kalman filter.

6. A method according to claim 1, in which the distance measurements come from a scanning range finder or from a snapshot range finder.

7. A method according to claim 1, in which the distance measurements are obtained by scanning the region of the ground.

8. A method according to claim 1, in which the images comprise light intensity data (I) of points of the observed region of the ground as delivered by at least one camera, the method further comprising determining a second raw or observed speed as a function of offsets between said images.

9. A method according to claim 8, in which measurements of airspeed of the aircraft are combined with the light intensity data.

10. A method according to claim 8, in which heading or magnetic field measurements are combined with the light intensity data.

11. A method according to claim 8, in which altitude or barometric pressure measurements are also combined with the light intensity data.

12. A method according to claim 1, in which determining the first raw or observed speed comprises implementing a differential method.

13. A method according to claim 1, in which determining the first raw or observed speed comprises implementing a method selected from the group consisting of a correlation method, a method based on energy, a method using parameterized models, or implementing a combination of said methods.

14. A method according to claim 1, in which measurements of airspeed of the aircraft are also combined with the inertial, or distance, measurements.

15. A method according to claim 1, in which heading or magnetic field measurements are also combined with the inertial or distance measurements.

16. A method according to claim 1, in which at least one of altitude and barometric pressure measurements is also combined with the inertial or distance measurements.

17. A system (18) for determining an estimated speed vector ({right arrow over ({circumflex over (v)}) of an aircraft (25) including an inertial measurement unit (23) delivering inertial measurements relating to measured movement of the aircraft, the system further comprising:

distance measurement means (11) for measuring distances between the aircraft and points in a region of the ground (19);

means (16, 116, 216, 316, 416) for determining an observed or raw speed vector ({right arrow over (v)}_R) as a function of the distances delivered by the distance measurement means (11); and

hybridization means (24) for combining the inertial measurements and the observed or raw speed vector ({right arrow over (v)}_R) and for delivering the estimated speed vector({right arrow over ({circumflex over (v)}),

wherein the distance measurement means (11) is one of a lidar, a radar, and a sonar.

18. A system according to claim 17, in which the means (16, 116, 216, 316, 416) for determining an observed or raw speed vector produce a speed difference vector ({right arrow over ({circumflex over (v)}−

{right arrow over (v)}_R), and in which the hybridization means (24) include filter means (13) for filtering said speed difference vector and the inertial measurements.

19. A system according to claim 18, in which the filter means (13) present gain (K) that is variable as a function of the covariances (V) of the errors affecting the distance measurements and also as a function of the covariances (U) of errors affecting the inertial measurements.

20. A system according to claim 17, in which the observed or raw speed vector is determined from an offset ({right arrow over (d)}) between two successive series of distance measurements, and from time interval (τ

) between said two series of observations of a single region of the ground.

21. A system according to claim 17, further comprising a barometric altimeter, a magnetometer (92), or an airspeed sensor (93), together with hybridization means for combining the measurements delivered by these sensors with the inertial and distance measurements.

22. A system according to claim 17, further including at least one passive observation sensor such as an infrared camera, and means for determining a second observed speed from images delivered by said sensor and from the distance measurements, in order to mitigate stages during which it is not possible to estimate raw or observed speed from distance measurements only.

23. A system according to claim 17, that is independent of a satellite positioning system.

24. A method of detecting obstacles while on board an aircraft, the method comprising the following operations:

extracting an observed or raw speed vector ({right arrow over (v)}_R) for the aircraft from at least one sequence of images of a region overflown by the aircraft, the images being delivered by an observation sensor (11) installed on board the aircraft, each image comprising information including relative three-dimensional positions for the aircraft and a plurality of points of the region;

obtaining echoes of the region from an on-board range finder;

hybridizing the observed or raw speed vector with speed delivered by an on-board inertial sensor to obtain a hybrid speed; and

detecting obstacles from the echoes and from the hybrid speed.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the aircraft is a rotary wing aircraft.