Drs Sustainment Systems, Inc.

Engineered Support Systems, Inc.

Drs Systems and Electronics

Bruce E Exely

Michael Thomas Fox

Thomas D Linton

Michael C Mareschal

Thomas Linton

Robert Talir

Jeffrey S Folmer

Jeffery P Bertram

John P Buck, Jr

Thomas W Ellington

Kenneth A Roseman

Peter M Ellis

Russell R Moning

William S Lambros

James R Marshall

Methods, computer-readable media, and systems are disclosed for controlling a turret assembly with two or more gimbaled, swivel assembly sub-systems, such as a gimbaled gun and a gimbaled electro-optical sensor. The turret can be automatically slewed in response to one of the swivel assemblies rotating. A user can switch turret modes reflecting a priority between the gimbaled sub-systems system so that one takes priority over the other(s) during a mission.

Operational control logic for harmonized turret with gimbaled sub-systems

Methods, devices, and systems are presented for compensating for gyroscopic drift in a stabilized gimbal system mounted on a vehicle. When the vehicle is parked and the gimbal is not being commanded to move by an operator, encoders or resolvers of the gimbal stabilized system are read and periodically read thereafter. When the vehicle begins to move or the gimbal is commanded to move, the last periodic reading of the resolvers is used to determine the amount that the gimbal has moved during the rest period. A gyroscopic drift rate is computed by dividing the amount of angular movement by the time period between the readings, and the gyroscopic drift rate is used for corrections while the vehicle is moving or gimbal is commanded to move. Each time the vehicle stops, the gyroscopic drift rate is re-computed and updated. The gyroscope can be heated until the drift rate is constant with respect to temperature, further helping the calibration.

Gyro drift cancelation

Multiple independently gimbaled devices, such as an electro-optical sensor and machine gun, are mounted to a rotating platform on a vehicle. The platform can rotate to prevent one device from blocking the other while aiming at an off-board location. A control system can harmonize the rotation of the device gimbals and rotating platform so that they remain pointed at the same location. The platform can be rotated to place a firing weapon downwind of a sensor or otherwise compensate for effects of one on the other.

Harmonized turret with multiple gimbaled sub-systems

Methods are disclosed for controlling a turret assembly with two or more gimbaled, swivel assembly sub-systems, such as a gimbaled gun and a gimbaled electro-optical sensor. The turret can be automatically slewed in response to one of the swivel assemblies rotating. A user can switch turret modes reflecting a priority between the gimbaled sub-systems system so that one takes priority over the other(s) during a mission.

An active damping system for damping the rotation of an object to an extent dependent upon the angular velocity of the object utilizes a feedback mechanism and provides a robust method for rotational damping. The active damping system comprises a torque controller, a speed measuring device connected to said torque controller for measuring a speed correlated with the rotation to be damped, and a torque generating device for producing the damping torque, which is controlled by the torque controller. Where the torque controller is a microprocessor, various defined relationships between the rotation to be damped and the damping torque can be programmed into the torque controller, which can also perform diagnostics on the active damping system. Both the programmability and the ability to perform diagnostics allow the active damping system to respond reproducibly over a range of environmental conditions.

Electronically programmable actively damped sensor mount

Stabilized common gimbal

Growing community of inventors

St. Louis, MO, United States of America

Bruce E Exely