Vessel attitude determination system and method
US5933110A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 13, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 3, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 13, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S19/55
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A portable attitude determination apparatus and method are disclosed that can be used with a ship docking system. At least two receivers on a vessel receive Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data. GPS carrier phase measurements are used to determine attitude (i.e., roll, pitch and yaw angles) of a moving platform. The phase measurements are processed to determine a precise vector from one receiver phase center to the other. The azimuth and elevation of a baseline vector is then computed. Float ambiguities between the two receivers are determined, and are used to provide initial estimates of antenna baseline length and attitude. A search procedure is then employed to find the actual integer ambiguities. Only GPS observables are needed; no other external data input is required.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.