Method for surveillance of space/air space

• US 8,044,840 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2006
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (Rheinmetall AG)
• Original Assignee: Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (Rheinmetall AG)
• Inventors: Honikel, Marc, Berger, Hanspeter
• Primary Examiner(s): LOBO, IAN J
• Application Number:
  US11/991,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20100007544A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 342/59, 367/129
• US Class Current: 342/59
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/2955 Means for determining the position of the radar coordinate system for evaluating the position data of the target in another coordinate system G01S7/24 takes precedence; sighting devices adapted for indirect laying of fire F41G3/16; inertial navigation G01C21/16

Abstract

The invention proposes utilizing the known geometry of the measurements in order to assign them to one another and to resolve ambiguities, wherein the 3D position of an object (3) in space is determined by a spatial section at the same time. This is done using a plurality (N) of sensors (A, B, C) and their geometries (10, 11, 12), wherein a first sensor (A) is part of the master sensor and a space curve (A1) is calculated and then transmitted to the geometry (11) of a sensor (B) which is defined as a slave sensor and whose local geometry (11) is taken into account, a further sensor (C) is then defined as a slave in which the space curves (B1-B3) of the correspondence obtained in the preceding step are calculated and transmitted to the geometry (12) of the new slave sensor (C) together with the master curve (A1), wherein the steps are repeated at least until the last (N) remaining sensor is defined as a slave in a last step (N−1) and the master (A1) and all of its associated measurements of the previous slave sensors (B, C) are transmitted to the local geometry of the last (N) slave sensor and compared with the measurements.

Claims

1. A method for automatic combinational optimization of target determination of a plurality of moving objects with assistance of a plurality of sensors and their displays, comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a first sensor (A) as a master sensor and calculating a master space curve (A1) of the first sensor;

(b) transferring the space curve to a display of a second sensor (B) defined as a slave sensor, the space curve being converted in the display of the slave sensor (B), wherein measurements outside of a relevant, distance and azimuth range that describe the space curve (A1) are not considered;

(c) defining a further sensor (c) as a new slave, in which the space curve (B1-B3) of a correspondence of measurements obtained in the previous step is calculated and transferred, together with the master space curve (A1), to a display of the new slave sensor (C), and the curve is taken into account as a new display;

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) at least until, in a final step, a last (N) remaining sensor is defined as a slave, the master space curve (A1) and all measurements associated with the master space curve (A1) from the previous slave sensors (B, C . . . N−

1) being transferred to the local display of the last (N) slave sensor; and

(e) displaying the local display of the last slave sensor as an aerial view of a superordinated Cartesian coordinate system of an air space monitoring sensor.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, including, when new information resolves ambiguities from the previous step, deleting the relevant measurements from an association list, although all the new measurements to be added are recorded.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, including, after the association of the local measurement, carrying out a check to determine whether the master sensor in each case has only a maximum of one associated measurement from the slave sensors, wherein, if this is not the case, the ambiguity at this time is resolved with the shortest distance of the respective measurement to the slave sensor, thus completing the association with the master sensor.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, including, once the association of the first master sensor (A) has been carried out, defining a next slave sensor as the master and repeating the steps for the remaining targets.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, including, for correlation introducing the measurements of the master sensor into the geometry of the respective slave sensor.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein a 3D situation is known by means of an intersection of the space curves (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3) from each point on the space curve (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3) by which means the missing dimensions (elevation/distance) can be read directly from the point at which the local measurement touches the curve (A1, B1-B3, C1-C3).

7. The method as defined in claim 5, including reducing complexity of the association and computation complexity by restricting the number of correlations to candidates along the space curves which have been projected into the geometry of the respective slave sensor.