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. 09, 2015
Filed:
Oct. 29, 2012
Bruce K. Winker, Ventura, CA (US);
Jian MA, San Diego, CA (US);
Bruce K. Winker, Ventura, CA (US);
Jian Ma, San Diego, CA (US);
Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for determining the spatial orientation of a movable apparatus includes at least one optical angle-of-arrival (OAOA) sensor array, each of which comprises multiple OAOA sensors arranged to provide a 360° field-of-view (FOV). At least one sensor array is mounted on and has a known spatial relationship to a movable apparatus, the spatial orientation of which is to be determined. Point sources are located at one or more stationary positions within the FOV of at least one of the mounted arrays. An initial-north-finding/initial-vertical-finding (INF/INV) system determines the spatial orientation of at least one of the point sources. Processing circuitry coupled to the INF/INV system and the sensor arrays derives the spatial orientation of the mounted arrays—and thereby the spatial orientation of the apparatus—based on the angular positions of the stationary point sources detected by the mounted arrays.