160 results about "True north" patented technology

A system and methods for the automated display of a borderless sun glare block area and sunshield in a windshield, which can be made of electrochromatic glass, in a motor vehicle driven at any time and at any location on earth is presented. The first method, which accurately calculates the precise position of the sun glare block area, is based on the apparent solar position, the direction of travel relative to the true North, the slope of the road, the windshield tilt angle, and the dynamic position of the driver's eyes. It uses sets of different formulas depending on the position of the sun glare on the windshield and the slope of the road. The second method calculates the changing opacities of the borderless sun glare block area, whose opacity decreases from its center to its edge and matches that of the sunshield, based on the ambient light intensity.

A system and method for controlling the scale of an image is disclosed, which comprises an image object in a graphical user interface. A ruler object provides a ruler display for distance measurement in the image. A button object comprising the ruler detects a cursor event that is sent to the image object for processing changes in the scale of the image responsive to the cursor event. Further disclosed is a system and method to provide directional orientation in an electronic map. Data is stored that indicates local perceptions of north, south, east and west for regions on the map. When each region is displayed, the system provides a toggle for switching between displaying the region with true north at an angle of 0 degrees orientation, or displaying the region at an angle with the local perception of north at an angle of 0 degrees orientation.

The invention relates to an attitude testing apparatus and method based on an autocollimator. The apparatus mainly comprises the autocollimator, an optical hexahedron, a double-shaft electronic level meter and a pedestal with a leveling function. The method comprises the following steps: putting the attitude testing apparatus on a firm base, allowing the autocollimator to collimate a reflecting surface of an object, then collimating the optical hexahedron with an autocollimation gyro theodolite and measuring the included angle between the apparatus and a true north azimuth reference; starting the autocollimator for recording and retrieving of continuous data of the attitude of the reflecting surface of the object and starting the double-shaft electronic level meter for recording and retrieving of continuous data of horizontal attitude; and after completion of recording and retrieving of the data, processing the data of the autocollimator and the double-shaft electronic level meter by using a data processing method for the attitude testing apparatus so as to eventually obtain continuous changes of the attitude of the reflecting surface of the object in a geographic coordinate system, thereby meeting demands of continuous absolute measurement.

The invention belongs to a calibration method of an error which is measured by a multi-position strapdown north seeking device, in particular to a calibration method of orientation effect of a multi-position strapdown north seeking device. A true north prism, two theodolites and a mechanical dividing rotating platform are used as auxiliary testing tools, the multi-position strapdown north seeking device is fixed on the mechanical dividing rotating platform, and is divided according to one circle equipartition point, an angle of a benchmark prism of a strapdown north seeking system and the true north direction is defined through rotating an equipartition angle value at one time by the mechanical rotating platform and through the true north prism system in an initial rotating position of the north seeking system, and then the angle is compared with a north-oriented value which is measured by the strapdown north seeking system, the error is calculated, and an azimuthal effect of a gyroscope which is simulated according to the characteristic of the error is marked. The invention effectively eliminates measuring error which is caused by the azimuthal effect, thereby improves the measuring accuracy of the multi-position strapdown north seeking system.

The invention discloses a satellite orientation based azimuth calibration method and device. According to the method, true north azimuths of two satellite antenna represented base lines are calibrated according to a high-precision relative positioning principle based on carrier phase ambiguity-resolving; the azimuths of the base lines are derived with angle measuring instruments such as a theodolite or a total station; the true north information of each azimuth to be measured is measured. According to the satellite orientation based azimuth calibration method and device, high-precision satellite orientation is used as an azimuth reference, and the theodolite is used to derive the true north azimuth of the azimuth reference for azimuth calibration. The satellite orientation based azimuth calibration method and device has the advantages that the ways of using traditional fixing marker post and the like are replaced by the use of a movably erectable GNSS (global navigation satellite system) antenna, no satellite differential station is required, azimuth calibration flexibility is greatly improved, and the azimuth calibration range is greatly widened.

The present invention is directed to a passive solar greenhouse for controlling the greenhouse's interior environment and maximizing photosynthetic metabolism within the plants grown therein through regulation of sunlight, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels and methods optimizing plant growth conditions by using passive solar greenhouse of the present invention. Generally the greenhouse has a sloped glazed face which faces substantially true south in the Northern hemisphere and substantially true north in the Southern hemisphere with a predetermined slope angle designed to maximize incident solar radiation (insolation) and increase the interior temperature during the colder months of the year while reducing overheating during the warmer months of the year.

A device for controlling a satellite tracking antenna. An azimuth drive is configured to impart an azimuthal rotational motion to the antenna about an azimuth axis. An elevation axis drive is configured to impart a rotational motion to the antenna about an elevation axis orthogonal to the azimuth axis. A tilt axis drive is configured to impart a rotational motion to the antenna about a tilt axis. The tilt axis is connected to the elevation axis in such a way that the rotational freedom of motion of the antenna about the tilt axis is dependent on the elevation angle such that: at an elevation angle of 0° the rotational freedom of motion of the antenna about the tilt axis corresponds to the azimuthal rotational motion; at an increasing elevation angle the rotational freedom of motion about the antenna successively transcends into a roll rotation; and at an elevation angle of 90° the rotational freedom of motion of the antenna about the tilt axis corresponds to a roll rotation about a roll axis orthogonal to the azimuth axis and to the elevation axis. A control controls the operation of the azimuth axis drive, the elevation axis drive, and the tilt axis drive. The control includes a true north seeking gyro for tracking position, orientation, direction and speed of movement of the device. The control further includes an additional gyro comprising an elevation gyro axis arranged to sense the elevation movement and a tilt gyro axis arranged to sense the tilt movement, so as to minimize the angular velocity of the antenna pointing vector. A method for controlling a satellite tracking antenna, and a vessel including the device.

Disclosed is a technique to estimate at least a portion of an attitude, such as an azimuth angle from true North, based on beam angles from a controlled reception pattern antenna (CRPA) to space vehicle locations. Other attitude information such as roll and / or pitch can also be estimated. The at least portion of the attitude can be provided with or without an additional sensor, such as a compass or magnetometer, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), or the like. An attitude estimate can be useful because oftentimes the attitude of an object can vary from its track or velocity direction.

A mobile device is described. The mobile device includes an electronic compass that generates compass data corresponding to an orientation of the mobile device relative to true north. A global positioning system (GPS) module receives a GPS signal from multiple satellites. The GPS module determines a heading direction of a vehicle transporting the mobile device relative to true north based on the position data when the vehicle is moving above a threshold velocity. A motion sensor generates motion data corresponding to a motion of the mobile device when the mobile device is moved. A processor adjusts the heading direction of the vehicle relative to true north based on the compass data when the vehicle is moving below the threshold velocity.

The invention provides a ground testing method of a star sensor. The method comprises the following steps of: adjusting the star sensor by using a theodolite so that the Z axis of the star sensor points to true north and the Y axis of the star sensor vertically faces towards zenith; receiving a quaternion of the star sensor under an inertial coordinate system; converting the posture of the star sensor into a quaternion under a WGS84 coordinate system; converting the quaternion under the WGS84 coordinate system of the star sensor into a three-axis Euler angle; continuously operating the star sensor for 30 minutes, storing the difference between a roll angle and the local longitude and the difference between a drift angle and the local latitude in real time, and counting precisions of the roll angle and the drift angle; and storing the difference between a pitch angle and the local longitude in real time, and counting the precision of the pitch angle. According to the method disclosed by the invention, the testing process is simple; any special equipment is unnecessary; the method is not only used for testing the precision of the three-axis Euler angle of the star sensor but also used for completely testing the three-axis polarity of the star sensor; and in addition, only when the time precision satisfies requirements, the method is also used for testing the absolute longitude of the star sensor.

The invention relates to a crosswind information estimation method based on the unmanned aerial vehicle crabbing method. The crosswind information estimation method based on the unmanned aerial vehicle crabbing method comprises the following steps that test data generated during unmanned aerial vehicle crabbing are obtained; the obtained test data are processed; crosswind information estimation is conducted according to the relation between the yaw angle phi and the track angle phi <s> and the relation between the airspeed Va and the ground speed Vd, wherein crosswind information includes the amplitude of crosswind and the crosswind azimuth angle relative to the geomagnetic true north, and a certain included angle exists between the pointing direction of the head of an unmanned aerial vehicle and the crosswind. According to the crosswind information estimation method based on the unmanned aerial vehicle crabbing method, the requirement for real-time crosswind estimation in an unmanned aerial vehicle flight test can be met, the crosswind applied to the unmanned aerial vehicle when the unmanned aerial vehicle flies flat can be measured quite accurately by analyzing the speed relation existing when the unmanned aerial vehicle crabs, the safety coefficient is increased when the unmanned aerial vehicle flies, and the completeness of information is guaranteed.

The invention provides a method for constructing a geographic coordinate system with a laser tracker. A level of the laser tracker is aligned with the geoid, so that the horizontal of the place where the tracker is located is found, a high-precision theodolite is then utilized to find the direction of the true north, the adjusted theodolite is used for measuring the horizontal angles between fourtarget balls placed according to certain requirement, the tracker measures and projects the four target balls into a horizontal plane, so that the mutual positional relation among the four points in the horizontal plane is obtained, and by means of calculation, the horizontal included angle between the connecting line of the projected points of the corresponding target balls and the direction of the true north can be obtained. Finally, tracker software is used for establishing a coordinate system (the origin is given according to the requirement) with the direction of the connecting line of the projected points of the corresponding target balls and the direction of the normal vector of the horizontal plane as axes and rotating the coordinate system around the direction of the normal vector of the horizontal plane for the horizontal included angle, and thereby the needed geographic coordinate system is obtained. The method enables laser tracker to have the function of establishing the geographic coordinate system, and can also be applied to other cases needing the establishment of geographic coordinate systems.

The invention relates to an indoor positioning method for a smartphone user based on terrestrial magnetism-corrected inertial navigation. The method comprises the following steps: dividing a to-be-positioned area into small grids according to a plane map of a building; allowing the smartphone user to acquire the intensity data of terrestrial magnetism at the center of each grid for a period of time by using a smartphone with a built-in magnetometer; averaging the intensity data of terrestrial magnetism acquired in each grid and constructing and storing an off-line terrestrial magnetism fingerprint database; allowing the user to start to walk with the smartphone, detecting steps and estimating step length by processing the data of an accelerometer of the smartphone, and acquiring an included angle between a movement direction and a true north direction and current intensity of terrestrial magnetism by processing the data of a gyroscope; acquiring a predicted value of a current state; calculating a covariance matrix and Kalman gain in a prediction phase; calculating observation and measurement results; and updating a state. The method provided by the invention can realize high indoor positioning precision only by using the smartphone.

The invention discloses a high-accuracy detection and calibration device and method of inertial orientating equipment. The device comprises a positioning and orientating resolving processing system, a display control terminal, a mobile station bracket and a reference station bracket, wherein the positioning and orientating resolving processing system consists of a GPS (Globe Positioning System) mobile station and a GPS reference station; the display control terminal is connected with the positioning and orientating resolving processing system in a wireless way; the upper end of the mobile station bracket is provided with a mobile station aiming tool connected with the GPS mobile station; and the upper end of the reference station bracket is provided with a reference station aiming tool connected with the GPS reference station. By adopting the high-accuracy detection and calibration device and method of the inertial orientating equipment, calibration of the inertial orientating equipment is realized by adopting a satellite orientating technology, and limits on the detection and calibration of the inertial orientating equipment due to adoption of a true north or indirect true north finding reference method are complemented; a static relative positioning and orientating method is adopted, so that limits of regions and environments are eliminated and flexible movement is realized; and the device and the method have the advantages of high positioning accuracy, high cost performance, easiness of operation, convenience of using and the like.

The most accurate method of finding the true north is through astronomical observations, for example, by observing the position of the sun. However, the procedure is complicated. The instantaneous position of the sun must be calculated from astronomical data for each instance of observation, and the operator must wait for the predetermined time to come. Elaborate manual adjustments are required. The present invention discloses an automatic solar compass comprising a cylindrical omni-directional lens, a detection means, and a servomechanism. It is as easy to use as the magnetic compass, but much more accurate and reliable than the magnetic compass.

The invention belongs to the field of inertial navigation system performance assessment and relates to a co-base installation-based transfer alignment accuracy quantitative evaluation method aiming at strapdown inertial navitation system transfer alignment accuracy. The method comprises installing slave and main inertial navigation devices sharing a base on an aluminum plate, constructing slave and main inertial navigation device orientation installation misalignment angles, putting the aluminum plate with the slave and main inertial navigation devices on a high precision rotary table, guiding the y axis of the main inertial navigation device to point to the true north direction through an optical sighting telescope, measuring slave and main inertial navigation device y axis orientation installation error angles as orientation installation error angle reference values through a laser tracker and starting the main inertial navigation device to carry out autocollimation. The method can acquire alignment accuracy evaluation reference before transfer alignment and through comparison between the reference value and the evaluation value, alignment accuracy quantitative evaluation is realized. The method is free of slave inertial navigation device navigation calculation and smooth calculation after alignment, greatly reduces computation complexity and data storage demands and realizes repeated tests in short time.

An imaging system includes a processor, a detection assembly configured to collect survey data characterizing a respective height and location of physical features of a geographic region, a receiver assembly configured to provide location data characterizing a geolocation of the geographic region, a tilt sensor configured to provide tilt data characterizing an inclination of the detection assembly with respect to gravity, and a magnetic-field sensor configured to provide field data characterizing a magnetic field associated with the geographic region. The processor is configured to perform processing of the survey data and tilt data to yield a first corrected data set, obtain magnetic-deviation data associated with the geographic region, determine an indication of true north, and process the first corrected data set and true-north indication to yield a second corrected data set comprising the first corrected data set oriented to true north.

A system and method for more accurately and robustly determining the heading of a vehicle by taking measurements of angle rates using rate sensors mounted on a movable mechanical assembly. In a quasi-static state of the vehicle, the mechanical assembly is rotated around axes perpendicular to the tangent plane of the Earth, and angle rates are measured by the rate sensors at different rotational angles of the mechanical assembly. The measurements of the angle rates are then computed to determine the initial heading of the vehicle relative to the true north of the Earth in the quasi-static state of the vehicle. After determining the initial heading, navigation state propagation is performed to determine the heading of the vehicle in non-quasi-static state of the vehicle. By taking measurements of the rate sensors at different rotation angles and performing computation, the heading of the vehicle relative to the Earth's true north can be determined using less accurate angle sensors.

The invention relates to a wind cup type fiber Bragg grating wind speed and direction sensor, which belongs to the technical field of photoelectron measurement. Three wind cups are arranged in a way of forming included angles of 120 degrees together with one another; the central axis of a 1# wind cup is vertical to a true north direction; grooves are formed in the lateral edges of the three wind cups to the centers of the wind cups, and are connected with the free ends of three equal-strength cantilever beams respectively in the centers of the wind cups; the three equal-strength cantilever beams are fixedly arranged on the upper half part of a boss in a helical rising way; every two gratings are symmetrically stuck to the central axes of the front face and the back face of each equal-strength cantilever beam respectively after being coupled; six fiber Bragg gratings are coupled in a boss base through input and output fibers; and the input and output fibers are connected to a fiber grating signal demodulator. A fiber grating information material has the special physical properties of small size, electromagnetic interference resistance, long service life and the like, so that real-time online monitoring of the wind speed and wind direction of a wind load alarm control unit is realized, and high interference resistance and high accuracy are realized.

An apparatus and method, for determining an instrument boresight heading. The apparatus comprises an instrument having a boresight, an elevation positioner for positioning the elevation of the instrument boresight having an elevation axis, an azimuth positioner for positioning the azimuth of the instrument boresight having an azimuth axis and a sensor including a gyro having a sensitive axis. The method comprises recording a first output of a gyro of an azimuth positioner having an instrument boresight azimuth heading in a first position, rotating the azimuth positioner to a second position, recording a second output of the gyro and rotating the azimuth positioner to a third position, recording a third output of the gyro and determining the azimuth heading relative to true north from the first, second and third output.

An attitude determination system provided with North-finding capability, comprises: a) a stage consisting of a rotating platform provided with a high precision positioning controller; b) an Inertial Navigation System (INS) comprising inertial sensors, wherein said inertial sensors comprise gyroscopes and accelerometers, and wherein at least one gyroscope is of a precision suitable to find the direction of true North; and, c) a control unit for controlling input signals and output signals of the stage and the INS and combining the signals in order to provide attitude data of the system.

An apparatus and method, for determining an instrument boresight heading. The apparatus comprises an instrument having a boresight, an elevation positioner for positioning the elevation of the instrument boresight having an elevation axis, an azimuth positioner for positioning the azimuth of the instrument boresight having an azimuth axis and a sensor including a gyro having a sensitive axis. The method comprises recording a first output of a gyro of an azimuth positioner having an instrument boresight azimuth heading in a first position, rotating the azimuth positioner to a second position, recording a second output of the gyro and rotating the azimuth positioner to a third position, recording a third output of the gyro and determining the azimuth heading relative to true north from the first, second and third output.

The invention discloses a method for evaluating the stability of a north orientation benchmark for inertial measurement unit calibration. The method comprises the following steps: (1) measuring polaris orientation by utilizing a theodolite to acquire a true north direction, leading the true north direction to a prism on a pillar position, namely the mirror surface of a north orientation benchmark prism, and collimating; and fixing the north orientation benchmark prism on the pillar position after being collimated to serve as the north orientation benchmark; (2) leading the north orientation benchmark determined by the north orientation benchmark prism to a prism, namely a north orientation location prism, on a rotary table of inertial measurement calibration equipment by using the theodolite, and collimating the theodolite and the mirror surface of the north orientation positioning prism to take the north orientation location prism as location north orientation of the inertial measurement equipment; and (3) acquiring north orientation benchmark data for many times according to the location north orientation by using the inertial measurement equipment, and processing the data to acquire a stability evaluation test result of the north orientation benchmark. According to the method, the problem of stability monitoring of the north orientation benchmark is solved, and the technical support is effectively provide for inertial systems; the testing method is safe and reliable to carry out, and test curves are visual and accurate.

The invention discloses a place cell bionic robot navigation algorithm which comprises the steps of: A1, firstly, capturing a panoramic photo by a robot wide angle camera, converting the panoramic photo into a gradient image, then filtering the gradient image by using a Gaussian difference filter, detecting characteristic points, carrying out log polar transformation on a local region near the characteristic points, wherein the characteristic points correspond to special road signs; A2, obtaining angle of each road sign relative to the true north direction as an azimuth angle, wherein the true north direction is provided by a compass and the azimuth angles and the road signs jointly determine a position cell of the current time; A3, jointly determining a transfer matrix by the position cell of the current time and a position cell of the former time, when a robot explores in an unknown environment, continuously forming transfer matrixes, forming a cognitive map by the transfer matrixes; and A4, jointly determining a movement transformation matrix by the transfer matrixes and the cognitive map, wherein the movement transformation matrix is in charge of sending a movement command. The invention can be applied to an intelligent ground-cleaning robot, a battlefield searching and rescuing robot, and the like.

The invention relates to a gyro compass multifunction automatic orientation north-searching device, the technical proposal is that: when a rotary table is arranged in an orientation position, a controller calculates the error between a predetermined rotary table orientation position and the output angle value of an encoder; correct controlling quantity is thus calculated according to the error value and width-adjusting wave is output to drive a motor to lead the rotary table to rotate to next orientation position; the device which detects an included angle between the encoder null position and the true north receives, on a plurality of orientation positions in a scope of one cycle, the data of northbound component of a gyro and the angle value which is output by the encoder, fits the curve relationship between the north component and the corresponding dislocation of the encoder angle value, and calculates precisely the angle between the null position of the encoder and the true north. The invention has a short north-searching time and high precision of north-searching.

The invention discloses a quick and autonomous orientation method of a photoelectric theodolite and belongs to the technical field of celestial navigation. The method comprises the following steps of: shooting a star map through the photoelectric theodolite, and identifying at least three fixed stars in a view field by using a star map identification algorithm; adjusting the photoelectric theodolite to ensure that the image of one identified fixed star is formed on a visual axis of the photoelectric theodolite, and computing the view position of the fixed star at this time; computing a theoretical azimuth angle and a theoretical angular altitude of the fixed star relative to the true north by combining an astronomical coordinate of the photoelectric theodolite; selecting other fixed stars to obtain a coder average value of the true north; and introducing the photoelectric theodolite to the measured true north direction, and clearing a direction encoder to finish quick and autonomous orientation of the photoelectric theodolite. The method is high in precision and high in speed, and the advantages of the photoelectric theodolite are realized. By the means of star map identification, the photoelectric theodolite can orient autonomously without initial direction, so that the limit of only observing the Polaris in the conventional astronomical orientation method is broken through, and the photoelectric theodolite can orient in any directions by virtue of any fixed stars.

The invention relates to an automatic latitude measuring and calculating and automatic precision compensating method of a pendulum gyro north seeker. The method is characterized in that the geographic latitude is resolved by utilizing the pendulum period measured by an alidade of the pendulum gyro north seeker under a non-tracking state, and the directive coefficient is calculated, so that the precision compensation of deviation brought about by torsion zero deviating from true north is completed, and the method comprises the four steps of calibrating the relationship coefficient of the period and the latitude, starting a north seeking process, measuring the period under the non-tracking state, resolving the latitude by the non-tracking period, and correcting the torsion zero deviation automatically. Compared with the prior art, the automatic latitude measuring and calculating and automatic precision compensating method of the pendulum gyro north seeker has the advantages that in actual applications, the latitude is not required to be input before measurement, and the directive coefficient is also not required to be calibrated and calculated; through the constant coefficient relationship of the period and the latitude, which is calculated in advance in a calibrating site, the latitude at the site can be resolved only by measuring the non-tracking pendulum period of a measured site, and further a measurement result is corrected. The method can be widely applied to the fields of aviation, aerospace, geodetic measurement, guided missile aiming and the like.

The invention discloses a geography true north direction gauge which comprises a solar altitude angle gauge and a solar azimuth gauge. The solar azimuth angle gauge comprises a second shell body, a second motor, a second small gear shaft, a second small gear, a second large gear shaft, a second large gear, a second turn angle detecting unit and a second signal processing and displaying unit for converting detected signals by the second turn angle detecting unit to a solar azimuth angle value. The upper end of the second large gear shaft penetrates through the upper portion of a second shell body. The solar altitude angle gauge comprises a first shell body fixedly arranged on the second large gear shaft, a first motor, a first small gear shaft, a first gear, a first large gear shaft, a solar photovoltaic board, a first turn angle detecting unit and a first signal processing and displaying unit. The geography true north direction gauge is simple in structure, convenient to install and arrange, low in cost, convenient to operate, high in testing precision, and capable of effectively solving the problems that a traditional geography position orientational testing device is complex in whole structure, high in cost, not capable of storing data when measurement is performed in outage and the like.

The invention belongs to the technical field of directional north seeking of a gyroscope, and relates to a fast strapdown north seeking method for two arbitrary positions. The fast strapdown north seeking method includes the following five steps: "energizing of a north finder and coarse leveling of a system"; " acquisition of output signals of a gyroscope and an accelerometer at position 2"; compensation of constant drift of the gyroscope and zero offset of the accelerometer"; and "calculation of true north azimuth". Compared with traditional strapdown north seeking methods in the prior art, in the fast strapdown north seeking method for two arbitrary positions, data acquisition positions of the gyroscope only comprises two positions, data acquisition amount is greatly decreased, data measurement may not be required to perform at positions with fixed phase differences (such as data acquisition of two positions with the phase difference of 180 degrees and four positions with the phase difference of 90 degrees) by the gyroscope, and tedious operation processes due to too many measuring positions, too large phase differences and accurate positioning can be reduced and the orientation time of the strapdown north seeking system is greatly reduced.

The invention relates to a device for realizing coarse north searching of gyroscope using electric compass, belonging to the technical filed of position and orientation of gyroscopic theodolite. The inventive method can realize automatic north searching, and improve the response speed and north searching precision of gyroscopic theodolite. The device comprises an electric compass, a digital signal processor, a complex programmable logic device, a motor driving module, a stepping motor, a junction box, a retarder, and a rotary platform, wherein the above components are sequentially connected, the digital signal processor can determine the direction of the stepping motor in accordance with the deviation between the north direction reflected by the angle value outputted from the electric compass and true north direction, and determine the operating speed of the stepping motor through the complex programmable logic device, and the digital signal processor is also connected with the gyroscopic theodolite via a gyroscope landing device. The invention is mainly used for manufacturing the device for realizing coarse north searching of gyroscope using electric compass.