Adaptive Filter for Vehicle Target Pointing Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing target pointing systems on terrestrial vehicles, such as tanks, face challenges in maintaining accurate aiming on moving targets due to vibrations and accidental joystick movements during tracking operations, leading to operator fatigue and increased imprecision.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a pointing aid module with an adaptive filter that adjusts its transfer function based on the operational condition, switching between a one-pole first-order filter for re-phasing and a two-pole second-order filter for tracking, to stabilize the optical pointing axis and reduce the impact of vehicle vibrations, thereby enhancing the system's ability to maintain target lock.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a high-sensitivity automatic control system is used for rapid response to joystick commands, then the re-phasing capability is improved, but the tracking stability deteriorates due to amplified joystick vibrations and accidental movements
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically adjusts the filtering characteristics based on the operational phase. During re-phasing, minimal filtering is applied to maintain rapid response to operator commands. During tracking, stronger filtering is applied to suppress vibrations and accidental movements, thereby stabilizing the optical axis while maintaining target acquisition capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of the control filter according to the operational condition. The transfer function of the pointing aid module is modified between two configurations: one optimized for rapid response during re-phasing, and another optimized for stability during tracking, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and reliability
2Productivity
If the optical unit is made highly sensitive to joystick commands for quick target acquisition, then the re-phasing performance is improved, but the operator fatigue increases during prolonged tracking operations
Solution Approach 1:
The pointing aid module acts as an intermediary between the joystick and the optical unit. It processes the joystick commands through adaptive filtering, smoothing out vibrations and accidental movements during tracking while preserving intentional commands. This reduces the physical effort required by the operator to maintain target tracking, thereby reducing fatigue during prolonged operations
3Measurement precision
If the control system responds rapidly to all joystick movements, then the initial target positioning is improved, but the precision deteriorates due to amplified vibrations during tracking
Solution Approach 1:
The filtering characteristics of the control system are dynamically adjusted based on the operational phase. During re-phasing, the filter allows rapid response for quick target acquisition. During tracking, the filter parameters are changed to suppress vibrations and accidental movements, thereby maintaining high pointing accuracy and tracking precision throughout the operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution improves the system's ability to track moving targets with reduced operator fatigue and increased precision by filtering joystick inputs effectively, ensuring stable aiming even during steady angular motion of the target.
Implementation Method 1
the adjustment module comprises a gyroscopic device firmly fixed to the tank that receives a precession control angle in input indicating the position to make the precession axis of the gyroscope assume and is able to provide an output signal proportional to the relative angular speed between the gyroscope's precession axis and the mirror's optical pointing axis
Data Source
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AI summary
A target pointing system (2) installable on a terrestrial vehicle (1) and equipped with an automatic control system (12) comprising a pointing aid module (22) receiving a displacement command (X(tn),Y(tn)) from a joystick (15) and configured to implement a first adaptive filtering of the displacement command (X(tr),Y(tn)) in order to assign a value proportional to the speed of the manual displacement applied to the joystick (15) to a pointing control quantity when the pointing system (2) is in a re-phasing condition, or alternatively, a second adaptive filtering of the displacement command (X(tn),Y(tn)) in order to assign a value proportional to the acceleration of the manual displacement applied to the joystick (15) when said pointing system (2) is in a tracking condition.