Weapons stabilization and compensation system
Disclosed herein are stabilized weapon mount systems that allow a gunner (i.e. operator of a weapon) to mount and operate a standard weapon in a manner similar to a stand-alone weapon while compensating for the motion of the platform. The system includes an aiming gimbal that is movable by an operator during stabilization into an aiming orientation directed toward a target and a stabilization gimbal nested within the aiming gimbal and adapted to securely couple to a weapon. The stabilization gimbal and aiming gimbal are mechanically coupled by a control unit such that the stabilization gimbal is moved by the control unit and the aiming gimbal is not moved by the control unit. A stabilization device automatically commands the control unit to move the stabilization gimbal relative to the aiming gimbal using the motors to correct for the base movement and maintain the aiming orientation directed toward the target.
1. A stabilized weapon mount system, comprising:
a base including at least one motion sensor adapted to sense base movement;
an aiming gimbal moveably mounted to the base comprising an operator interface, a first position sensor, and a second position sensor, wherein the aiming gimbal is movable by an operator during stabilization into an aiming orientation directed toward a target;
a control unit comprising a first motor and a second motor;
a stabilization gimbal nested within the aiming gimbal and adapted to securely couple to a weapon, wherein the stabilization gimbal and aiming gimbal are mechanically coupled by the control unit such that the stabilization gimbal is moved by the control unit and the aiming gimbal is not moved by the control unit; and
a stabilization computational device electrically interfaced with the at least one motion sensor of the base, the first and second position sensors of the aiming gimbal, and the control unit, wherein the stabilization computational device automatically commands the control unit to move the stabilization gimbal relative to the aiming gimbal using one or more of the first motor and the second motor to correct for the base movement sensed by the at least one motion sensor and maintain the aiming orientation directed toward the target.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the base is affixed to a platform of a movable vehicle.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the base movement comprises rotational motion, linear motion or a combination of rotational and linear motion.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first motor comprises an elevation motor and the second motor comprises an azimuth motor.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first position sensor comprises an elevation sensor and the second position sensor comprises an azimuth sensor.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the aiming gimbal has two degrees of freedom relative to the base comprising azimuth and elevation.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the stabilization gimbal has two degrees of freedom relative to the aiming gimbal comprising azimuth and elevation.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the aiming gimbal is coupled to at least a third motor for remote operation.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the aiming gimbal is manually moved by the operator.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one motion sensor comprises a plurality of axis motion sensors comprising a gyroscope, an accelerometer or a combination thereof.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of axis motion sensors detect motion in at least one of six degrees of freedom comprising pitch, roll, yaw, x, y, or Z.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operator interface is adapted to operate the weapon like a stand-alone weapon.
13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a target sensor adapted to adjust for motion, range and speed of the target.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the target sensor comprises a manual user input device.
15. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a safety switch coupled to the operator interface that disables the control unit when released by the operator.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one motion sensor is adapted to detect sudden base movement and activate at least one of a pan assist and a tilt assist coupled to the aiming gimbal to limit motion of the aiming gimbal relative to the base and prevent operator-induced error.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is adapted to be controlled remotely.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the aiming gimbal remains substantially stationary when the control unit moves the stabilization gimbal.
19. A stabilizing weapon mount system, comprising: a base including at least one motion sensor adapted to sense base movement in at least one of six degrees of freedom;
an aiming gimbal moveably mounted to the base in two degrees of freedom, the aiming gimbal having an aiming orientation directed toward a target;
a first sensor positioned on the aiming gimbal, the first sensor adapted to detect elevation data of the aiming gimbal;
a second sensor positioned on the aiming gimbal, the second sensor adapted to detect azimuth data of the aiming gimbal;
a control unit comprising an elevation motor and an azimuth motor;
a stabilization gimbal nested within the aiming gimbal in two degrees of freedom and adapted to securely couple to a weapon, wherein the stabilization gimbal and the aiming gimbal are mechanically coupled by the control unit such that the stabilization gimbal is moved by the control unit and the aiming gimbal is not moved by the control unit; and
a stabilization computational device electrically interfaced with the at least one motion sensor of the base, the first and second sensors of the aiming gimbal, and the control unit, wherein the stabilization computational device automatically corrects for the base movement sensed by the at least one motion sensor by commanding the control unit to move the stabilization gimbal using one or more of the first motor and the second motor to maintain the aiming orientation directed toward the target while the aiming gimbal remains substantially stationary.
20. A method of stabilizing a weapon coupled to a moving vehicle, comprising:
detecting aiming orientation of an aiming gimbal directed toward a target, the aiming gimbal moveably mounted in two degrees of freedom to a base having at least one motion sensor, the base coupled to the moving vehicle;
detecting elevation of the aiming gimbal with a first sensor on the aiming gimbal;
detecting azimuth of the aiming gimbal with a second sensor on the aiming gimbal;
reporting elevation and azimuth data of the aiming gimbal to a stabilization computational device to calculate a first vector of the aiming gimbal;
detecting base motion with the at least one motion sensor in one of six degrees of freedom;
reporting base motion data to the stabilization computational device to calculate a second vector;
calculating the difference in azimuth and elevation between the first vector and the second vector to generate a correction command;
transmitting the correction command to a control unit comprising a first motor and a second motor, wherein the stabilization gimbal and the aiming gimbal are mechanically coupled by the control unit such that stabilization gimbal is nested within the aiming gimbal and moved by the control unit; and
automatically correcting for the difference in one or more of azimuth and elevation with the control unit by moving the stabilization gimbal relative to the aiming gimbal using one or more of the first motor and the second motor to maintain the aiming orientation while the aiming gimbal remains substantially stationary.