The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

James Donna

Juha-Pekka J Laine

Gregory P Blasche

Paul A Bohn

Evan M Lally

Matthew T Reaves

Brad D Gaynor

Sandra M Klute

Matthew S Bottkol

Marc W McConley

Michael Ricard

Emily H Templeton

Bruce Dow

Systems and methods for determining the shape and/or position of an object are described. A fiber optic shape sensor (FOSS) may be used in combination with one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs) to mutually cross-correct for errors in the sensors' measurements of position and/or orientation. The IMU(s) may be attached to the FOSS's optical fiber, such that each IMU measures the orientation of a corresponding portion of the optical fiber. The position and shape of the optical fiber can then be determined based on the measurements obtained from the IMU(s) and the measurements obtained from the FOSS. For example, the FOSS measurements and the IMU measurements can be provided to a state estimation unit (e.g., a Kalman filter), which can estimate the position and/or shape of the optical fiber based on those measurements. In some embodiments, the estimates of position are used for navigation of tethered mobile devices.

Navigation systems and methods using fiber optic shape sensors and localized position sensors

The invention relates to real-time processing of GPS signals, including correlation of the received signals with stored satellite C/A codes, including the accumulation of coherent data before a correlation score is calculated.

Method and apparatus for real-time digital processing of satellite positional signals for fast acquisition and low SNR tracking

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Watertown, MA, United States of America

James Donna