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:
Jun. 14, 2011
Filed:
May. 11, 2009
Ronald P. Earhart, Westminster, CO (US);
Rex M. Craig, Niwot, CO (US);
Christian J. Grund, Boulder, CO (US);
Ian J. Gravseth, Longmont, CO (US);
Xiaopei Huang, Lafayette, CO (US);
Carl S. Weimer, Boulder, CO (US);
Ronald P. Earhart, Westminster, CO (US);
Rex M. Craig, Niwot, CO (US);
Christian J. Grund, Boulder, CO (US);
Ian J. Gravseth, Longmont, CO (US);
Xiaopei Huang, Lafayette, CO (US);
Carl S. Weimer, Boulder, CO (US);
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, CO (US);
Abstract
The present invention pertains in general to a single, integrated flash LADAR system and method. The system includes data processing hardware and software, a passive two-dimensional camera, a three-dimensional camera, a light source, and a common optical path. One or more star trackers can also be included. In addition, auxiliary components, such as an inertial measurement unit and a global positioning system receiver can be included. The system can be closely integrated with a critical algorithm suite that operates in multiple modes, in real-time to enable landing, docking, and navigation functions, such as Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), Altimetry, Velocimetry, Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN), Hazard Detection and Avoidance (HDA), and dust penetration.