System and method for designating a target for a remote aerial vehicle

摘要

A system and method of guiding a remote aerial vehicle toward a designated target includes an imaging sensor which generates sequential video images of the target area from the remote aerial vehicle and transmits the images to a control center via the video portion of a communications data link. The control center receives and displays the plurality of video images on a video display. An image selection signal is generated at the control center and transmitted to the remote aerial vehicle for commanding the imaging sensor to continuously transmit one of the sequential video images. A target designation signal, corresponding to the azimuth and elevation of the desired target on the continuously displayed video image, is generated and transmitted via a command portion of the data link to the remote aerial vehicle. The target designation signal is processed and an updated target position is computed to compensate for time delays. A tracker tracks the updated target position to thereby guide the remote aerial vehicle toward the designated target. The video images and the target designation signal may be transmitted at low bandwidth frequencies to a satellite and relayed to the control center and the remote aerial vehicle respectively.

主权项

1. A combination of a remote aerial vehicle and a control center for guiding the remote aerial vehicle toward a designated target:
said remote aerial vehicle comprising imaging means for generating and transmitting a series of video images of a target area; said control center comprising:
a receiver for receiving the series of video images from the imaging means,a display operatively connected to said receiver for displaying the series of video images,image selection means for signalling said imaging means to generate and transmit one of the series of video images to thereafter be continuously displayed on said display, andtarget designation means for permitting designation of a target on the one video image continuously displayed on said display and for generating and transmitting a target designation signal to said remote aerial vehicle; said remote aerial vehicle further comprising processing means for receiving the target designation signal and for controlling said remote aerial vehicle in response to the target designation signal to thereby guide said remote aerial vehicle toward the designated target, wherein said processing means comprises computing means for updating the target designation signal to compensate for a time delay between generation of the one video image continuously displayed on said display and receipt of the target designation signal by said processing means, wherein the processing means is configured to estimate three-dimensional coordinates of the designated target in order to update the target designations signal based upon a position of the remote aerial vehicle upon generation of the one video image continuously displayed on said display, an azimuth and elevation of the designated target on the one video image continuously displayed on said display and a current position of the remote aerial vehicle, and wherein the remote aerial vehicle is configured to provide updated pointing commands to the imaging means based upon the three-dimensional coordinates estimated for the designated target.