The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 22, 1985
Filed:
Sep. 20, 1982
Edgar A Hirzel, Granada Hills, CA (US);
Crane Co., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A system for determining the ground velocity of an aircraft is disclosed. The system includes a CCD linear optical image sensor carried by the aircraft for forming a first and second substantially instantaneous light intensity contour of the optical image of the surface of the earth lying below the aircraft. The two contours are delayed in time with respect to each other. A computer, included in the system, compares the two contours to determine the relative position shift between the two contours by utilizing cross-correlation techniques. The computer then corrects the contour position shift for the aircraft altitude and divides the corrected position shift by the time delay between the two contours to obtain the aircraft ground velocity. A signal indicative of the aircraft ground velocity is output by the system.