Methods and apparatus for subterranean marker guidance
Methods and apparatus for subterranean guidance are disclosed. A disclosed apparatus to guide a vehicle includes interface circuitry communicatively coupled to a ground penetrating sensor supported by the vehicle, machine-readable instructions, and at least one processor circuit to be programmed by the machine-readable instructions to calculate, based on output from the ground penetrating sensor, a position of the vehicle relative to a subterranean marker, and guide movement of the vehicle at least partially based on the position of the vehicle relative to the subterranean marker.
1 . An apparatus to guide a vehicle an aircraft, the apparatus comprising:
interface circuitry communicatively coupled to a ground penetrating sensor supported by the aircraft;
machine-readable instructions; and
at least one programmable circuitry to be programmed by the machine-readable instructions to:
calculate, based on output from the ground penetrating sensor, a position of the aircraft relative to a subterranean marker, and
cause movement of the aircraft at least partially based on the position of the aircraft relative to the subterranean marker.
2 . The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the subterranean marker is a first subterranean marker and the position is a first position, and wherein one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry is to calculate a second position of the aircraft relative to a second subterranean marker.
3 . The apparatus as defined in claim 2 , wherein one or more of the at least one is to identify a pattern based on the first and second subterranean markers, and wherein the movement of the aircraft is guided based on the pattern.
4 . The apparatus as defined in claim 2 , wherein the position of the aircraft relative to a location is calculated based on a known spatial relationship between the first and second subterranean markers.
5 . The apparatus as defined in claim 4 , wherein one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry is to identify an area of ground based on the known spatial relationship.
6 . The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry is to calculate at least one of an attitude of the aircraft or an alignment of the aircraft.
7 . The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry is to calculate the position of the aircraft relative to the subterranean marker in response to a GNSS signal guiding the aircraft to a threshold distance from a destination area being lost or interrupted.
8 . The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the aircraft is controlled for landing or takeoff based on the position of the aircraft relative to the subterranean marker.
9 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause at least one programmable circuitry to at least:
calculate, based on output from a ground penetrating sensor carried by an aircraft, a position of the aircraft relative to a subterranean marker, and
control movement of the aircraft or perform an autonomous action based on the position of the aircraft relative to the subterranean marker.
10 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the subterranean marker is a first subterranean marker and the position is a first position, and wherein the instructions cause one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry to calculate a second position of the aircraft relative to a second subterranean marker.
11 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry to identify a pattern based on the first and second subterranean markers, and wherein the movement of the aircraft is guided based on the pattern.
12 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 9 , wherein the pattern defines a pathway of the aircraft.
13 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry to calculate the position of the aircraft based on a known spatial relationship between the first and second subterranean markers.
14 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry to calculate at least one of an attitude of the aircraft or an alignment of the aircraft.
15 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry to calculate the position further based on a GNSS signal.
16 . A method comprising:
calculating, by executing instructions with at least one programmable circuitry, a position of an aircraft relative to a subterranean marker based on output from a ground penetrating sensor carried by an aircraft, and
guiding, by executing instructions with one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry, movement of the aircraft based on the position of the aircraft relative to the subterranean marker.
17 . The method as defined in claim 14 , wherein the subterranean marker is a first subterranean marker and the position is a first position, and further including calculating, by executing instructions with one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry, a second position of the aircraft relative to a second subterranean marker.
18 . The method as defined in claim 15 , further including identifying, by executing instructions with one or more of the at least one programmable circuitry, a pattern based on the first and second subterranean markers, and wherein the movement of the aircraft is guided based on the pattern.
19 . The method as defined in claim 16 , wherein the pattern defines a pathway of the aircraft.
20 . The method as defined in claim 15 , further including calculating a position of the aircraft based on a known spatial relationship between the first and second subterranean markers.