Granted Patent B2

US 8,960,542 · App. 12/792,174 · Granted Feb 24, 2015

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. An aiming system for indicating a point of impact of a projectile fired from a gun having a first barrel configured to file a first projectile and a second barrel configured to fire a second projectile, the aiming system comprising:

a dynamic aiming device mounted to at least one of the first and second barrels, the dynamic aiming device including a camera, having a front lens which has a center point and a range finder configured to be pointed at a target, wherein a lens surface of the front lens of the camera is positioned at a first camera to barrel distance from an end of the first and second barrels, and a center point of the lens is positioned at a second and a third camera to barrel distance from a center opening of the first and second barrels, respectively;

a display device coupled to the camera for displaying an image of the target; and

processing circuitry for superimposing first and second crosshair images on the displayed image of the target corresponding to respective points of impact of the projectiles fired from the first and second barrels,

wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a distance from the dynamic aiming device to the target using the range finder and to adjust respective positions of the first and second crosshair images, the position of the crosshair images being adjusted relative to the determined distance and to the first, second and third camera to barrel distances for indicating the point of impact of the respective projectiles fired from the first and second barrels.

2. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the rangefinder is positioned in the dynamic aiming device to determine the distance from the front lens of the camera to the target.

3. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the processing circuitry is configured to calculate an overall size of a scene in the image, and a corresponding size of the pixels in the scene based on the determined distance and a field of view of the camera, and

the processing circuitry is configured to calculate a deviation of the crosshair image from a centerline in the target image based on the pixel size, and position the crosshair image at that deviation.

4. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the processing circuitry includes:

a microcontroller configured to determine the position of the crosshair image, and

a video overlay unit configured to overlay the crosshair image on the target image at the position determined by the microcontroller.

5. The aiming system of claim 1 , including:

an accelerometer mounted in the dynamic aiming system for determining a vertical angle of the barrel with respect to the earth.

6. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first barrel is a top barrel configured to fire a top projectile and the second barrel is a bottom barrel configured to fire a bottom projectile;

the dynamic aiming device is mounted to the bottom barrel such that a lens surface of the camera is positioned at the first camera to barrel distance, being a distance from an end of the top and bottom barrel, and the second and third camera to barrel distances, being respective distances from center point of the lens from a center opening of the top and bottom barrel respectively; and

a processor is configured to determine a size of the scene in the target image and a corresponding size of each pixel in the scene based on the determined distance to the target and the camera field of view, and the processor places the crosshair image at a pixel deviation from a centerline in the target image based on the size of the pixels in the scene.

7. The aiming system of claim 6 , including:

a top laser aiming device mounted to the top barrel and a bottom laser aiming device mounted to the bottom barrel,

wherein the top laser aiming device and bottom laser aiming device each include two line lasers positioned to intersect at respective points of impact of the top and bottom projectiles respectively.

8. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the gun is a bomb disarming disruptor configured to fire the projectile at a bomb.

9. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein:

the projectile is a water charge produced by injecting water into the barrel of the gun.

10. The aiming system of claim 1 , wherein the gun includes between two and eight barrels and the aiming system is configured to superimpose respective crosshair images on the displayed image of the target corresponding to respective points of impact of the projectiles fired by respective ones of the barrels.

11. An aiming system for indicating a point of impact of a projectile fired from a barrel of a gun comprising:

a laser aiming device mounted to the barrel, the laser aiming device including two line lasers configured to produce projected laser lines on a target,

wherein the line lasers are positioned on the barrel such that an intersection point between the two laser lines indicates the point of impact of the projectile fired from the barrel.

12. The aiming system of claim 11 , wherein:

the line lasers have an optical fan angle for projecting the laser lines, the length of the projected laser lines defined based on the optical fan angle and a distance between the line lasers and the target, and

the line lasers are oriented with respect to each other so that the laser lines intersect at the point of impact regardless of the distance between the line lasers and the target.

13. The aiming system of claim 12 , wherein:

the optical fan angle of the laser is 15 degrees and a power of the line lasers is 10 mW.

14. The aiming system of claim 11 , including:

a gun having a top barrel configured to fire a top projectile and a bottom barrel configured to fire a bottom projectile,

wherein a top laser aiming device is mounted to the top barrel and a bottom laser aiming device is mounted to the bottom barrel, the top and bottom laser aiming devices providing indications of respective points of impact for the top and bottom barrels respectively.

15. The aiming system of claim 11 , including:

a housing for protecting the lasers from shrapnel produced by the target upon being hit by the projectile,

wherein the housing also protects the lasers from vibrations from the barrel.

16. The aiming system of claim 11 , wherein the lasers are positioned on the barrel such that the intersection point between the two laser lines indicates the same point of impact of the projectile on the target irrespective of a distance between the barrel of the gun and the target.

Assignments (12)