Remote Aerial Vehicle Target Designation via Delay Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional man-in-the-loop (MITL) control systems for remote aerial vehicles suffer from time delays in data links, leading to unstable control loops and incorrect target designation due to overshooting and destabilization, and require high operator skill due to flickering video images.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows continuous transmission of a single video image from the remote aerial vehicle to the control center, enabling the operator to designate a target without time delays by updating pointing commands based on stored flight parameters, and allowing selection of specific target features beyond the centroid, with image stabilization for improved accuracy and user-friendliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional MITL control transmits sequential video images at low bandwidth frequencies, then data transmission is efficient, but the control loop becomes unstable due to time delays causing overshooting
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores flight parameters (position, velocity, attitude) and sensor orientation data in advance before target designation is needed. When the operator designates a target, the system uses these pre-stored parameters to calculate compensated pointing commands that account for the time delay, eliminating the instability caused by lag without requiring high-bandwidth continuous transmission
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the operator's target designation is combined with stored flight parameter data to generate corrected pointing commands. The system continuously monitors and adjusts for the time delay by comparing the stored historical state with the current operator input, creating a stable closed-loop control system that works effectively at low bandwidth frequencies
2Stability of the object's composition
If the system continuously transmits sequential video images at high frame rates, then the control loop stability improves, but data transmission bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and stores only the essential flight parameters (position, velocity, attitude) and sensor orientation data at the moment of target designation, rather than transmitting continuous high-rate video data. This extraction of critical information allows the system to maintain stability while dramatically reducing bandwidth requirements, as only minimal parameter updates are needed instead of continuous video streams
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a snapshot copy of the relevant flight state data at the time of target designation and uses this copied information for calculating pointing commands. This copying approach eliminates the need for continuous high-bandwidth video transmission, as the system works with static parameter copies that can be processed offline, maintaining stability without increasing bandwidth usage
3Extent of automation
If the terminal sensor continuously tracks the centroid of the target area, then automatic target tracking is achieved, but the missile may be guided to incorrect features other than the designated target
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary processing step between the operator's target designation and the terminal sensor tracking. The operator designates a specific feature on the video display, and the system uses stored flight parameters to calculate the precise pointing commands needed to reach that specific feature, rather than automatically tracking the centroid. This intermediary calculation layer ensures the missile is guided to the exact feature the operator intends, not just the center of the target area
4Loss of energy
If video images are transmitted at low frame rates to reduce bandwidth usage, then data transmission efficiency improves, but image flickering increases requiring higher operator skill
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary storage of flight parameters and sensor orientation data before the operator needs to designate a target. This pre-prepared information allows the system to compensate for low frame rate flickering by providing stable, calculated pointing commands based on historical data, reducing the operator's burden and skill requirements despite the low bandwidth transmission
Data Source
AI summary
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.