System for position and velocity sense of an aircraft
First Claim
1. A method analyzing flight information of an aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. producing a video stream from a vision sensing system wherein at least one object is tracked;
b. receiving attitude data from an attitude detecting device;
c. providing a computer capable of receiving and analyzing said video stream to obtain coupled optic flow data containing both aircraft rotational movement and aircraft translational movement relative to said at least one object being tracked; and
d. extracting decoupled aircraft translational movement data from said coupled optic flow data by utilizing said attitude data.
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Abstract
A system for determining the position and/or velocity of an autonomous aircraft in a low-cost, low-weight manner independent of external technological dependencies such as satellites or beacons is claimed. The solution comprises a combination of traditional technologies (IMUs, altitude sensing, control systems, visual sensing technology, etc.) coupled with algorithms to implement their combined use. The solution is small enough for inclusion on small mass aircraft, yet its precision and capability make it useful for large aircraft as well. Utilizing the positional data, a series of control loops is claimed which allow an aircraft to autonomously take-off and land, station hold in a very precise manner, and fly in very close proximity to other objects with little chance of collision.
151 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method analyzing flight information of an aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. producing a video stream from a vision sensing system wherein at least one object is tracked;
b. receiving attitude data from an attitude detecting device;
c. providing a computer capable of receiving and analyzing said video stream to obtain coupled optic flow data containing both aircraft rotational movement and aircraft translational movement relative to said at least one object being tracked; and
d. extracting decoupled aircraft translational movement data from said coupled optic flow data by utilizing said attitude data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method analyzing flight information of an aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. producing a video stream from a vision sensing system wherein at least one object is tracked;
b. receiving angular rate data from an angular rate detecting device;
c. providing a computer capable of receiving and analyzing said video stream to obtain coupled optic flow data containing both aircraft rotational movement and aircraft translational movement relative to said at least one object being tracked; and
d. extracting decoupled aircraft translational movement data from said coupled optic flow data by utilizing said angular rate data. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for determining at least one of position or velocity of an aircraft, said method comprising the steps of:
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a. Reading coupled video data comprising aircraft rotational data and aircraft movement data;
b. Recording inertial aircraft data in at least two dimensions; and
c. Decoupling said aircraft translational data from said coupled video data by compensating for said aircraft rotational data with said inertial aircraft data in at least two dimensions. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification