Patent Application
20070040061
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to imaging systems and to target identification systems. Some embodiments pertain to missile defense systems.
Target identification and tracking systems that employ a number of tracking vehicles to track and/or destroy targets generally require high resolution imaging to identify a specific aimpoint on a target that differs from the target's centroid. It may be desirable to track an aimpoint on a target, rather than a centroid, because the lethality of the tracking vehicle can be improved, resulting in reduced cost, size, and/or weight. Some conventional target identification systems use long-wave (LW) diffraction techniques to identify and/or track a target. The resolution of these long-wave diffraction techniques is limited by aperture size and wavelength, among other things, making these techniques impractical for small tracking vehicles, such as miniature kill vehicles, to track a target's aimpoint other than a centroid.
Some higher resolution systems that use shorter wavelengths for imaging may have better diffraction limits for tracking a separate aimpoint, but have a limited passive acquisition range and may require external illumination to acquire targets. Some lower resolution systems that track a target's centroid do not need high resolution because they do not identify a separate aimpoint. These lower resolution systems may require the tracking vehicles to have a higher kill radius. This may result in heavier and/or more expensive tracking vehicles.
Thus, there are general needs for methods and target tracking systems that can track a target's aimpoint that's offset from the centroid with smaller tracking vehicles.
A target identification and tracking system includes a carrier vehicle and one or more tracking vehicles. The carrier vehicle may determine an aimpoint of a target from an image of the target and may generate an offset from a tracking point to the aimpoint. The offset may be conveyed to an assigned tracking vehicle for tracking the tracking point of the target while navigating toward the aimpoint of the target. The tracking point may be the target's centroid. The carrier vehicle may employ a high-resolution LIDAR imaging system to identify the aimpoint from a target's features; while the tracking vehicle may employ a lower resolution optical imaging system for tracking the target's tracking point. The carrier vehicle may correct the offset for parallax and the offset may be revised as the tracking vehicle approaches the target.
The appended claims are directed to some of the various embodiments of the present invention. However, the detailed description presents a more complete understanding of embodiments of the present invention when considered in connection with the figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar items throughout the figures and:
The following description and the drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the invention sufficiently to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Examples merely typify possible variations. Individual components and functions are optional unless explicitly required, and the sequence of operations may vary. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for those of others. The scope of embodiments of the invention encompasses the full ambit of the claims and all available equivalents of those claims. Such embodiments of the invention may be referred to, individually or collectively, herein by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed.
In accordance with some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 generates an offset from a tracking point from an image of target 106, and at least one of tracking vehicles 103 (e.g., tracking vehicle 102) tracks the tracking point of target 106 while navigating toward an aimpoint of target 106 based on the offset. The aimpoint may be determined from the offset and the tracking point. The offset may be provided by the carrier vehicle. In some embodiments, the tracking point of a target may be a centroid of the target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Accordingly, tracking vehicles 103 only require sufficient resolution to track a tracking point rather than an aimpoint.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may correct the offset for parallax based on a position of the tracking vehicle 102 and a position of the carrier vehicle 104. In some embodiments, the parallax correction may take into account the differing views seen by the carrier vehicle (e.g., from direction 108) and the assigned tracking vehicle (e.g., from direction 110). In these embodiments, the offset may be translated between the offset seen by the carrier vehicle to an offset that would be seen by the tracking vehicle. Carrier vehicle 104 may convey the parallax corrected offset to tracking vehicle 102.
In some embodiments, offset 212 may comprise a distance and a direction from tracking point 202 to aimpoint 204. In some embodiments, offset 212 comprises a magnitude and an angle relative to tracking point 202. In some embodiments, tracking point 202 may be a centroid of the target 106. In some embodiments, the centroid may be the center of mass of the target as determined from a two-dimensional image (e.g., without range of the target) generated by carrier vehicle 104. This is described in more detail below.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 initially identifies a target, tracks tracking point 202, and directs a high-resolution laser-imaging sensor (e.g., LIDAR) at the tracked target to generate image 206. Image 206 may be a high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) image comprising a two-dimensional (2D) image of pixels with ranging information for at least some of the pixels. In these embodiments, tracking point 202 may already be known when carrier vehicle 104 generates image 206 of the target 106. In these embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may already be tracking target 106 when it generates the image 206 of target 106.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may track an intensity weighted centroid of target 106, which may more closely match a natural tracking point of the target. In these embodiments the intensity of image data (e.g., pixels) may be taken into account to weight the centroid of a tracked target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may determine aimpoint 204 by resolving the image including extracting features from the image. The features may include shape, orientation and/or size of the target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect, as other features may also be used to determine the aimpoint for a particular target.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 and tracking vehicles 103 may use a common reference frame, such as a common inertial reference frame, which may specify the direction of the aimpoint offset in a plane perpendicular to the tracking vehicle's line-of-sight. In these embodiments, offset 212 may be provided to the tracking vehicle relative to their common reference frame. In these embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 and carrier vehicle 104 may be able to track the tracking point of the targets relative to the same reference frame, reducing errors therebetween.
In some embodiments, tracking vehicle 102 may revise offset 212 while navigating toward the target. Offset 212 may change with respect to the tracking point as the tracking vehicle approaches the target. A revised inertial vector for navigating to aimpoint 204 based on a revised offset may be determined to allow tracking vehicle 102 to continue in a direction toward aimpoint 204. In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may determine the revised offset and may send the revised/updated offset to tracking vehicle 102 as tracking vehicle 102 navigates toward target 106, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may track a tracking point of each of a plurality of targets 107 and may generate an image of each of targets 107 with a high-resolution laser-imaging system. In these embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may determine an aimpoint based on characteristics of the images for each of targets 107, and may determine an offset to the aimpoint from a tracking point for each of the targets. In these embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may assign one of the tracking vehicles to each of the targets (e.g., based on proximity) for possible interception and may convey an associated one of the offsets to the assigned tracking vehicle 102. In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may convey information to tracking vehicles 102 over links 112, which may be RF links or laser/optical links, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, each of the assigned tracking vehicles may track the tracking point of an associated target while navigating toward the aimpoint of that target based on the associated offset.
In some embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may use a passive optical imaging system to navigate toward the target. In some embodiments, the passive optical imaging system may provide sufficient resolution to determine the tracking point; however the passive optical imaging system may provide insufficient resolution to determine the aimpoint, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In this way, the imaging system may receive images from imaging direction 110 with the navigation system may direct the tracking vehicle in navigation direction 114.
In some embodiments, targets 107 may be moving rapidly in space external to earth's atmosphere (i.e., in the exo-atmosphere). In some embodiments, targets 107 may be enemy missiles or enemy warheads. In some embodiments, system 100 may track and destroy one or more of targets 107. In some embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may comprise kinetic energy kill vehicles, miniature kill vehicles, explosive kill vehicles, space vehicles or spacecraft, guided missiles, and/or guided projectiles, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may detonate within a predetermined kill-radius of the aimpoint of a target or at impact with the target. In other embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may attempt to destroy a target by impact with the target. In these embodiments, the aimpoint may be a lethal spot on the target and may be determined based on the target's vulnerability as well as the potential for damage that may be inflicted by the particular type of tracking vehicle, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. For example, on certain types of targets, the aimpoint may be a predetermined distance back from the front or nose of the target.
In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may be an interceptor booster, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may release one or more of tracking vehicles 103 after identifying one or more of targets 107. In some embodiments, carrier vehicle 104 may release tracking vehicles 103 when within a predetermined range of targets 107. In these embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may be provided tracking information (e.g., the tracking points) of the targets prior to their release, although in other embodiments, the tracking information may be provided after their release. In some embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may be released after carrier vehicle 104 processes images of the targets and determines their aimpoint. In these embodiments, tracking vehicles 103 may be provided with the offset information as well as the tracking points of the targets prior to being released, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.
In some embodiments, processing system 306 may correct the offset for parallax based on a position of a tracking vehicle and a position of carrier vehicle 300. Transmitter 310 may be used to convey the corrected offset to the tracking vehicle. In some embodiments, processing system 306 revises the parallax corrected offset as the tracking vehicle navigates toward the target, and transmitter 310 sends the revised offset to the tracking vehicle as it closes in on the target.
In some embodiments, imaging system 304 may be a high-resolution imaging system, such as a laser-radar (LIDAR) system for generating a three-dimensional (3D) image of one or more targets. In some embodiments, the three-dimensional image may comprise a two-dimensional (2D) image of pixels with ranging information for at least some of the pixels, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, imaging system 304 may have field-of-regard (FOR) 308 that may include the plurality of targets 103 (
In some embodiments, processing system 306 may include a feature extractor for use in determining the aimpoint of a particular target by resolving the image and extracting features from the image. The features may include shape, orientation and/or size of the target, although other features may also be used to determine the aimpoint.
In some embodiments, transmitter 310 may be a radio-frequency (RF) transmitter for communicating with tracking vehicles 103 (
Although carrier vehicle 300 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein.
In some embodiments, processing system 406 may determine direction 210 (
In some embodiments, sensor system 404 may comprise a passive optical sensor system. In some embodiments, sensor system 404 may include a passive infrared sensor to receive infrared images of a target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, sensor system 404 may have sufficient resolution to identify the tracking point of a target, but may have insufficient resolution to separately identify the aimpoint of a target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, sensor system 404 may have field-of-view (FOV) 408, which may be directed toward particular one or more targets.
In some embodiments, tracking vehicle 400 may be substantially autonomous after being released from a carrier vehicle. In these embodiments, processing system 406 may revise the offset while navigating toward the aimpoint of a target as a range between the tracking vehicle and the target changes. The offset may need to be revised because the offset may change as the tracking vehicle approaches the target. In some embodiments, processing system 406 may revise the offset based on the target range and/or velocity, which may be provided by the carrier vehicle, although the scope of the invention is not related in this respect.
In some embodiments, tracking vehicle 400 may further comprise receiver 410 and one or more antennas 414 to receive communications from a carrier vehicle including offset 212 (
Although tracking vehicle 400 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein.
Operation 502 comprises identifying one or more targets. In some embodiments, a carrier vehicle may initially identify one or more targets from either a plurality of targets and non-targets, and/or from the background. At this point, the targets may be unresolved and their features may not be distinguishable, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, operation 502 may comprise the carrier vehicle tracking one or more of the identified targets.
Operation 504 comprises generating a high resolution image of a target. In some embodiments, operation 504 comprises generating a three-dimensional (3D) image of the one or more targets with an active laser radar imaging system. The three-dimensional (3D) image may comprise a two-dimensional (2D) image of pixels with ranging information for at least some of the pixels. In some embodiments, operation 504 comprises directing a laser-imaging sensor at a tracked target to generate the high resolution image.
Operation 506 comprises determining a tracking point of a target. In some embodiments, the tracking point may be a centroid and may be determined from low resolution images of the target, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the tracking point of the target may be determined from the high resolution image generated in operation 504.
Operation 508 comprises resolving the high resolution image to determine an aimpoint. In some embodiments, operation 508 comprises extracting features from the high resolution image including shape, orientation and/or size of the target to determine the aimpoint.
Operation 510 comprises generating an offset from the tracking point. The offset may comprise a distance and a direction from the tracking point to the aimpoint.
Operation 512 comprises assigning a tracking vehicle to the target. In some embodiments, a tracking vehicle may be assigned to a target based on its proximity to the target. In some embodiments, operation 512 may be performed at any time after a target is identified in operation 502. In some embodiments, one or more tracking vehicles may be released from the carrier vehicle after a target is identified, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the carrier vehicle may also track the targets after they are identified.
Operation 514 comprises correcting the offset determined in operation 510 for parallax. Operation 514 may correct the offset for parallax based on a position of the carrier vehicle and a position of an assigned tracking vehicle.
Operation 516 comprises sending the parallax-corrected offset to the tracking vehicle. In some embodiments, the parallax-corrected offset may be sent from the carrier vehicle to the tracking vehicle over an RF link.
In operation 518, a tracking vehicle tracks a target's tracking point while it navigates toward the offset. In some embodiments, operation 518 comprises tracking a centroid of the target, which may be the tracking point. In some embodiments, the offset may be updated as the tracking vehicle approaches the target. In some embodiments, the tracking vehicle may update the offset, while in other embodiments; the carrier vehicle may update the offset and send the updated offset to the tracking vehicle.
In some embodiments, operation 502 through operation 516 may be performed by a carrier vehicle, while operation 518 may be performed by a tracking vehicle. Although the individual operations of procedure 500 are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others.
The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims.
In the foregoing detailed description, various features are occasionally grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the subject matter require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, invention lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment.
