Tracked bullet correction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10401497-B2
Application number	US-201615178475-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Jun 9, 2016
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods for determining a time of flight (TOF) of a first bullet fired from a gun to pass a target plane of a target; determining a location of an aimpoint on the target in an imager field of view (FOV) relative to a disturbed reticle at a time the first bullet is fired by the gun; determining a location of the first bullet relative to the location of the aimpoint on the target at the TOF in the imager FOV; and determining an updated location of the disturbed reticle based on a difference between the location of the first bullet and the location of the aimpoint on the target at the time the first bullet crosses the target plane and a difference between the location of the disturbed reticle and the location of the aimpoint on the target at the time the first bullet was fired.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by a processor having addressable memory, a time of flight (TOF) of a first bullet fired from a gun to pass a target plane of a target, wherein the TOF is based on at least one of: a distance from the gun to the target, a measured pressure, and a measured temperature;
determining, by the processor, a location of an aimpoint on the target in an imager field of view (FOV) relative to a disturbed reticle at a time the first bullet is fired by the gun;
determining, by the processor, a location of the first bullet relative to the location of the aim point on the target at the TOF in the imager FOV; and
determining, by the processor, an updated location of the disturbed reticle based on a difference between the location of the first bullet and the location of the aimpoint on the target at the time the first bullet crosses the target plane and a difference between the location of the disturbed reticle and the location of the aimpoint on the target at the time the first bullet was fired,
wherein determining the distance from the gun to the target comprises:
measuring the distance using a laser;
decreasing a laser divergence;
pulsing the laser; and
receiving the pulsed laser reflected off the target at a laser rangefinder (LRF) receiver.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
selecting, by the processor, the aim point on the target in the imager FOV; and
tracking, by the processor, the location of the aimpoint on the target in the imager FOV.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying the disturbed reticle via a display.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
displaying the windage holdoffs via a display.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the location of the first bullet at the TOF further comprises:
increasing a laser divergence; and
shifting the laser to track the first bullet in a first bullet trajectory.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein determining the location of the first bullet at the TOF further comprises:
decreasing the laser divergence; and
tracking the first bullet at the TOF via laser light reflected by a retroreflector array disposed on an end of the first bullet and captured in the imager FOV.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, by the processor, when the first bullet is fired via a detected recoil of the gun by at least one of: a shock sensor, an accelerometer, a microphone, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, by the processor, a location of the aim point on the target in the imager field of view (FOV) relative to the disturbed reticle at a time a second bullet is fired by the gun; and
determining, by the processor, a location of the second bullet relative to the location of the aim point on the target at the TOF in the imager FOV.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising, if the second bullet does not impact the target:
determining, by the processor, an updated location of the disturbed reticle based on a difference between the location of the second bullet and the location of the aim point on the target at the time the second bullet crosses the target plane and a difference between the location of the disturbed reticle and the location of the aim point on the target at the time the second bullet was fired.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising, if the second bullet impacts the target:
determining, by the processor, a second time of flight (TOF) of a third bullet fired from a gun to pass a second target plane of a second target, wherein the second TOF is based on at least one of: a distance from the gun to the second target, a measured pressure, and a measured temperature;
determining, by the processor, a location of an aimpoint on the second target in the imager FOV relative to the disturbed reticle at a time the third bullet is fired by the gun;
determining, by the processor, a location of the third bullet relative to the location of the aim point on the second target at the second TOF in the imager FOV;
determining, by the processor, an updated location of the disturbed reticle based on a difference between the location of the third bullet and the location of the aimpoint on the second target at the time the third bullet crosses the target plane and a difference between the location of the disturbed reticle and the location of the aim point on the second target at the time the third bullet was fired.

11. A system comprising:
a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
determine a time of flight (TOF) of a first bullet fired from a gun to pass a target plane of a target, wherein the TOF is based on at least one of: a distance from the gun to the target, a measured pressure, and a measured temperature;
determine a location of an aim point on the target in an imager field of view (FOV) relative to a disturbed reticle at a time the first bullet is fired by the gun;
determine a location of the first bullet relative to the location of the aim point on the target at the TOF in the imager FOV; and
determine an updated location of the disturbed reticle based on a difference between the location of the first bullet and the location of the aimpoint on the target at the time the first bullet crosses the target plane and a difference between the location of the disturbed reticle and the location of the aim point on the target at the time the first bullet was fired,
wherein the processor is further configured to:
measure the distance from the gun to the target using a laser;
decrease a laser divergence;
pulse the laser; and
receive the pulsed laser reflected off the target at a laser rangefinder (LRF) receiver.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a bullet tracking imager in communication with the processor, wherein the bullet tracking imager comprises a narrowband laser filter.

13. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a target tracking imager in communication with the processor, wherein the target tracking imager comprises a broadband spectral response.

14. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a display in communication with the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to:
display the disturbed reticle and windage holdoffs prior to firing the first bullet; and
display the updated disturbed reticle and windage holdoffs after firing the first bullet.

15. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a sensor comprising at least one of: a shock sensor, an accelerometer, a microphone, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in communication with the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine when the first bullet is fired via a signal from the sensor.

16. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in communication with the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine when the first bullet is fired via a detected recoil;
determine an inclination of the gun; and
determine a cant of the gun;
wherein the updated location of the disturbed reticle is dynamically updated based on at least one of: a difference between the determined inclination of the gun at the time the gun was fired and the determined current inclination of the gun, and a difference between the determined cant of the gun at the time the gun was fired and the determined current cant of the gun.

17. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a pressure sensor configured to transmit the measured pressure

Assignees

• Teledyne Scient & Imaging Llc

Inventors

• Winker Bruce Kevin
• Gregory Brian Wesley
• Mahajan Milind

Classifications

• G01S17/86

  Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders · CPC title

• G01S17/10

  using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves (determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32) · CPC title

• F42B12/387 Primary

  Passive tracers, e.g. using a reflector mounted on the projectile · CPC title

• F41J5/00

  Target indicating systems; Target-hit or score detecting systems {(for shooting or hurling games A63F9/0204; devices for measuring projectile velocity using optical means G01P3/685)} · CPC title

• F41G3/165

  using a TV-monitor · CPC title