Claims
- 1. A position determination system suitable for underwater deployment, said system comprising
a global positioning system (GPS) for providing GPS data representing a position of a GPS receiver, a sonar ranging transmitter and receiver providing ranging data representing a distance and direction from a sonar receiver to a sonar transmitter, and means for combining said ranging data with said GPS data to provide geographically-referenced position data representing a position of said sonar receiver.
- 2. The position determination system as recited in claim 1 further including
means for transmitting GPS data over a communication link provided by said sonar ranging transmitter and receiver.
- 3. The position determination system as recited in claim 2, further including a communication link from said sonar receiver to said sonar transmitter.
- 4. The position determination system as recited in claim 3, wherein said communication link provided from said sonar receiver to said sonar transmitter is a separate communication channel from said communication link provided by said sonar ranging transmitter and receiver.
- 5. The position determination system as recited in claim 1, further including
means for selectively storing said geographically-referenced position data.
- 6. The position determination system as recited in claim 5, further including
means for recalling stored geographically-referenced position data.
- 7. The position determination system as recited in claim 6, wherein said means for selectively storing and said means for recalling include a three-position switch.
- 8. The position determination system as recited in claim 5, further including
a download port for transferring stored geographically-referenced position data to a processor.
- 9. The position determination system as recited in claim 1, further including
means for correction of said ranging data for at least one of depth relative to said sonar transmitter, water temperature and water salinity.
- 10. The position determination system as recited in claim 1, wherein said means for combining said ranging data with said GPS data to provide geographically-referenced position data and a display are integrated with a diving mask.
- 11. A position determination enhancement for connection with a sonar ranging transmitter and receiver system for providing ranging data representing distance and direction between said sonar transmitter and said sonar receiver and suitable for underwater deployment, said enhancement comprising
a global positioning system (GPS) for providing GPS data representing a position of a GPS receiver, and means for combining said ranging data with said GPS data to provide geographically-referenced position data representing a position of said sonar receiver.
- 12. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 11 further including
means for transmitting GPS data over a communication link provided by said sonar ranging transmitter and receiver.
- 13. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 12, further including a communication link from said sonar receiver to said sonar transmitter.
- 14. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 13, wherein said communication link provided from said sonar receiver to said sonar transmitter is a separate communication channel from said communication link provided by said sonar ranging transmitter and receiver.
- 15. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 11, further including
means for selectively storing said geographically-referenced position data.
- 16. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 15, further including
means for recalling stored geographically-referenced position data.
- 17. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 16, wherein said means for selectively storing and said means for recalling include a three-position switch.
- 18. The position determination system as recited in claim 15, further including
a download port for transferring stored geographically-referenced position data to a processor.
- 19. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 11, further including means for correction of said ranging data for at least one of depth relative to said sonar transmitter, water temperature and water salinity.
- 20. The position determination enhancement as recited in claim 11, wherein said means for combining said ranging data with said GPS data to provide geographically-referenced position data and a display are integrated with a diving mask.
- 21. A method for underwater position determination including steps of
determining distance and direction ranging information between a sonar transmitter and a sonar receiver, providing global positioning system (GPS) data to a processor associated with said sonar receiver, and combining said ranging information with said GPS data to estimate a position of said sonar receiver.
- 22. The method as recited in claim 21, further including a step of
correcting said GPS data based on a plurality of sets of said ranging data.
- 23. The method as recited in claim 21, further including a step of
selectively storing an estimated position of said sonar receiver.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/384,716, filed May 31, 2002, which is hereby fully incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60384716 |
May 2002 |
US |