Daytime stellar imager for attitude determination
US7447591B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 26, 2005 |
| Grant date | Nov 4, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 9, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01C21/025
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An automatic celestial navigation system for navigating both night and day by observation of K-band or H-band infrared light from multiple stars. One or more telescopes mounted on a movable platform such as a ship or airplane and directed at a substantially different portion of sky. Telescope optics focus (on to a pixel array of a sensor) H-band or K-band light from one or more stars in multiple telescopic fields of view. Each system also includes a GPS sensor and a computer processor having access to catalogued infrared star charts. The processor for each system is programmed with special algorithms to use image data from the infrared sensors, position and timing information from the GPS sensor, and the catalogued star charts information to determine orientation (attitude) of the platform.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.