Navigation system with rapid GNSS and inertial initialization
First Claim
1. An INS/GNSS navigation system comprising:
- on a first moving vehiclea constellation of target points proximate to a rendezvous site;
one or more transmitters that transmit target position information corresponding to the respective target points;
on a second moving vehiclea camera with known properties;
a receiver that receives the transmitted target position information;
anda navigation unit includinga camera image subsystem that determines calculated relative positions and orientations of the target points based on one or more camera images that include at least four of the target points,a GNSS subsystem including a GNSS receiver,an INS subsystem including an inertial measurement unit, andone or more processors configured to calculate an absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle based on the calculated relative position of the rendezvous site and the received target position information, the one or more processors providing the calculated absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle to at least the INS subsystem;
the INS subsystem determining a local position and orientation for use in an initialization process based on the calculated absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A navigation system for use with moving vehicles includes target points proximate to a rendezvous site located on a first moving vehicle. One or more transmitters associated with the target points broadcast time-tagged target point positioning information. A navigation unit on a second moving vehicle utilizes a camera with known properties to capture images that include the target points. The navigation unit processes the image that corresponds in time to the positioning information, to determine the relative position and orientation of the rendezvous site at the second vehicle. The navigation unit utilizes the relative position and orientation and an absolute position and orientation of the rendezvous site calculated from the target position information and calculates an absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle. The navigation unit then initializes its component inertial subsystem using a local position and orientation that are based on the calculated absolute position and orientation of the second vehicle.
41 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An INS/GNSS navigation system comprising:
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on a first moving vehicle a constellation of target points proximate to a rendezvous site; one or more transmitters that transmit target position information corresponding to the respective target points; on a second moving vehicle a camera with known properties; a receiver that receives the transmitted target position information; and a navigation unit including a camera image subsystem that determines calculated relative positions and orientations of the target points based on one or more camera images that include at least four of the target points, a GNSS subsystem including a GNSS receiver, an INS subsystem including an inertial measurement unit, and one or more processors configured to calculate an absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle based on the calculated relative position of the rendezvous site and the received target position information, the one or more processors providing the calculated absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle to at least the INS subsystem; the INS subsystem determining a local position and orientation for use in an initialization process based on the calculated absolute position and orientation corresponding to the second vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification