Aircraft Pointing Logic for Accurate UAV Aiming During Maneuvers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aiming/pointing systems, such as drone engagement devices (DEDs), fail to accurately account for roll and pitch angular rates, angles, and momentary motion, leading to aiming errors when maneuvering UAVs like quadcopters.
Innovation Solution
The system determines the position and orientation of a target and an aircraft, calculates aiming points based on the orientation and movement range of the aiming device, and adjusts the aircraft or device's movement to accurately orient the aiming device towards the target, considering yaw, pitch, and roll angles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional gimbal-based aiming systems are used to point the aiming device at the target, then the system can achieve basic aiming capability, but aiming accuracy deteriorates when the UAV maneuvers with non-zero pitch and roll angles
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms the aiming problem from gimbal angle space to aircraft attitude space by changing the control parameters. Instead of controlling the gimbal directly to point at the target, the system calculates required aircraft pitch and roll angles that will naturally orient the aiming device at the target, accounting for the device's fixed offset from the aircraft's center of rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary calculation step that determines aircraft attitude commands as a mediator between the target position and the aiming device orientation. The aiming points are calculated based on aircraft orientation and device movement range, serving as an intermediate reference that resolves the geometric relationship between aircraft attitude and device pointing direction.
2Ease of manufacture
If the aiming device is mounted with fixed offset from the aircraft center, then the device can be physically installed, but aiming errors occur when the aircraft has non-zero pitch and roll angles
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation of aiming points that compensate for the fixed offset before the aiming action occurs. By pre-calculating the required aircraft attitude based on the known offset parameters and target position, the system proactively eliminates the aiming error that would otherwise occur during maneuvering.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control approach from directly controlling gimbal angles to controlling aircraft attitude parameters (pitch and roll angles). This parameter transformation accounts for the fixed mounting offset by working in the aircraft's reference frame where the offset is naturally compensated through proper attitude selection.
3Measurement precision
If the system calculates aiming points based on aircraft orientation and device movement range, then aiming accuracy during maneuvering is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical gimbal control mechanisms with computational geometry calculations. Instead of using multiple degrees of freedom in the gimbal to achieve pointing, the system uses mathematical calculations to determine the single aircraft attitude configuration that will orient the fixed-offset device at the target, substituting mechanical complexity with computational logic.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for pointing logic in aircraft are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus to aim an aiming device carried by an aircraft includes at least one memory, machine readable instructions, and processor circuitry. The processor is to at least one of instantiate or execute the machine readable instructions to determine a position of a target, determine an orientation of the aircraft, determine aiming points based on the orientation and a movement range of the aiming device, and determine a movement of at least one of the aircraft or the aiming device based on the aiming points and the position to orient the aiming device toward the target.