Infrared laser landing marker

• US 8,692,691 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army
• Inventors: Fung, Yau L., Hill, Andrew J., Bachelder, Paul W., Mayer, Robert B., Froeschl, Blaine C., Lum, Alden K., Snyder, Miguel P., Larsen, Kim W. D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mahase, Pameshanand
• Application Number:
  US13/468,248
• Publication Number:
  US 20130300586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• Field of Search: 340/951
• US Class Current: 340/947
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/20 Arrangement of optical beacons

Abstract

An infrared laser landing marker system provides a capability to mark a boundary line of varying lengths with near infrared lasers, e.g., of the order 8xx nm. This system can be either directly operated or remotely operated via satellite communications and is compatible with currently fielded night vision goggles. Two modules, placed at either end of boundary, self align to each other and then proceed to mark a boundary edge of a landing zone with an infrared laser line.

Claims

1. An infrared laser landing marker system, comprising:

placing two opposing infrared laser landing marker modules at opposite ends of a predetermined area to mark a landing zone, each said module being mounted to a platform or a tripod and stationed at each respective end along a boundary edge of said landing zone;

orienting said two opposing infrared laser landing marker modules to face each other with a horizontal tolerance of about 20 degrees, respectively;

activating the modules to emit an alignment laser for the opposing module to align to;

detecting and aligning with the respective opposing module by each of the modules for alignment; and

disabling the respective alignment laser upon completion of said alignment; and

each infrared laser landing marker module generating a near infrared line generating laser about half the distance of the landing zone toward the respective opposing module, the composite of which near infrared line generating lasers creating one continuous boundary line spanning the length of the landing zone.

2. The infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 1, wherein said generation of a near infrared line generating laser is based on scanning a laser line to trace a solid line along said boundary edge of the landing zone.

3. The infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 1, wherein said near infrared line generating laser is visible only to detectors or night vision goggles to wavelengths in the range of about 800-899 nm wavelengths.

4. The infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 1, wherein said modules can be adjusted to accurately define a boundary edge of a landing zone of varying length.

5. The infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 1, wherein the opposing modules self-align as a pair, thereby reducing the risk and the time it takes to configure the modules.

6. The infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 5, wherein the self-aligning modules are capable of long term pre-placement and/or remote operation to serve as a covert marker for temporary and ad-hoc landing zones.

7. An infrared laser landing marker module capable of detecting an opposing module beacon of an infrared laser landing marker system according to claim 1 for self alignment, comprising:

an alignment laser to function as a point source beacon for the opposing module to detect for self alignment;

a quad photo-detecting sensor having four quadrants to detect an alignment laser from said opposing module, the four quadrants of the sensor capable of enabling compare and determine for alignment to said opposing module;

a line generating laser for activation upon completion of alignment;

a processor and electronics board for computations to determine the needed adjust alignment; and

a pan motor and a tilt stepper motor for adjustment of azimuth and elevation of the module.

8. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, comprising a tripod or like platform for mounting said module.

9. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, wherein upon said completion of alignment, the alignment laser is deactivated and the line generating laser is activated.

10. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, wherein differences in signal strength across the sensor determine the directions the module need to move in order to self align.

11. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, wherein said alignment is repeated until the module is best aligned.

12. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, comprising a battery chamber to supply power and enable remote operation of the module without the use of external electricity.

13. The infrared laser landing marker module according to claim 7, comprising user controls located on a back of the module to enable a user to activate and deactivate the module on location, or by remote control in case of a pre-placement prior to a landing operation.

14. An infrared laser landing marker operating method, comprising:

placing one infrared laser landing marker module at one end and another module at another end of a landing zone to define the length of a landing strip;

disposing the modules to oppose each other within a 20 degree horizontal tolerance;

activating the infrared laser landing marker by powering the respective module;

selecting a runway distance setting to closely approximate the landing strip length of the landing zone;

activating an alignment laser for each module to alignment with respect to the opposing module; and

activating a line generator, each infrared laser landing marker module generating a near infrared line generating laser about half the distance of the landing zone toward the respective opposing module, the composite of which near infrared line generating lasers creating one continuous boundary line spanning the length of the landing zone.

15. The infrared laser landing marker operating method according to claim 14, wherein activating said line generator scans a near infrared laser line along one boundary edge of said landing zone.

16. The infrared laser landing marker operating method according to claim 14, wherein said modules can be reset if alignment fails, or to realign the modules.

17. The infrared laser landing marker operating method according to claim 14, wherein the modules can be powered off to deactivate the infrared laser landing marker.

18. The infrared laser landing marker operating method according to claim 14, wherein the modules can be powered on either locally or remotely via communications.