Projectile Guidance System with Remote Fire Control Offset Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional projectile guidance systems are complex and expensive due to the need for high-performance processors and numerous components, limiting their ability to accurately and efficiently guide projectiles to moving targets, especially in battlefield scenarios where target locations may change during flight.
Innovation Solution
A targeting system that integrates an optical seeker and guidance control system on the projectile with a remote fire control system, allowing for continuous visual tracking and updating of target locations using a reference image, enabling mid-course corrections and precise guidance of projectiles to moving targets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-performance processors and numerous components are used in the guidance system, then measurement precision and guidance accuracy are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the guidance functionality into two segments: a simple onboard seeker/guidance control system on the projectile that handles basic optical detection and guidance, and a remote fire control system that performs complex target tracking and coordinate calculation. This segmentation allows the projectile to carry minimal equipment while maintaining high precision through the remote system's processing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary communication link between the remote fire control system and the onboard guidance system. The remote system acts as an intermediary that processes complex data and sends simplified guidance commands to the projectile, reducing the computational burden on the projectile's onboard systems while maintaining high measurement precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex seeker and guidance control systems are mounted on the projectile, then guidance accuracy is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable projectile with a simplified, low-cost onboard guidance system that carries basic optical sensors and guidance components. The complex processing and expensive components are located in the reusable remote fire control system, allowing the projectile itself to be manufactured at lower cost while maintaining high guidance accuracy through the remote system's capabilities.
3Measurement precision
If the guidance system continuously processes large amounts of optical data on the projectile, then target acquisition accuracy is improved, but use of energy and computational resources increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the energy-intensive data processing functions from the projectile's onboard systems and relocates them to the remote fire control system. The onboard seeker only performs basic optical detection and transmits minimal data, while the remote system handles the complex algorithms and large-scale data processing required for high-precision target acquisition, dramatically reducing energy consumption on the moving projectile.
Data Source
AI summary
A targeting system for guidance correction of a projectile along a flight path toward a target. The targeting system includes seeker/guidance system mounted on the projectile which controls guidance of the projectile along the flight path toward the target. A remote fire control system receives and displays a survey image of a battlefield and enables an operator to mark location coordinates of the target in the survey image. Based on the location coordinates, the fire control system defines a reference image and transmits the reference image and location coordinates to the seeker/guidance system for use in guiding the projectile toward the target. If the target moves as the projectile travels toward the target, the remote fire control system enables the operator to update the location coordinates and transmit only an offset of the coordinates to the seeker/guidance system which then adjusts or corrects the flight path of the projectile.