Rockwell Collins, Inc.

William J Croghan

John G Bendickson

Mitchell A Riley

A dead reckoning system for dismounted users is disclosed. The system uses a laser emitter to heat fixed points near the user. The points are ranged via LIDAR and imaged via thermal or IR imagers co-aligned with the laser emitter and LIDAR assembly (e.g., as a wearable personal system or a vehicle-based system). The system includes inertial sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyrometers) to monitor attitude and motion trends of the system. Thermal images incorporating the heated points are captured at new user positions. The dead reckoning system includes a microcontroller for tracking distance and directional changes from one user position to the next by analyzing successive thermal images to determine changes in the position of the fixed heated points relative to the user.

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Center Point, IA, United States of America

William J Croghan