Unmanned aerial vehicle angular reorientation
View Patent ↗A system comprising an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having wing elements and tail elements configured to roll to angularly orient the UAV by rolling so as to align a longitudinal plane of the UAV, in its late terminal phase, with a target. A method of UAV body re-orientation comprising: (a) determining by a processor a boresight angle error correction value bases on distance between a target point and a boresight point of a body-fixed frame; and (b) effecting a UAV maneuver comprising an angular role rate component translating the target point to a re-oriented target point in the body-fixed frame, to maintain the offset angle via the offset angle correction value.
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
determine a body roll angle error based on a target location in a body reference frame and an orientation of the UAV in the body reference frame; and
determine one or more aileron actuator commands based on the determined body roll angle error;
wherein the processor of the UAV is further configured to bank-to-turn, and to transition to reorient in attitude based on an estimated range-to-go and an angular position of the target relative to the UAV.
2. The UAV of claim 1 where the body roll angle error is further based on at least one of: a GPS location of the UAV, a crosswind estimation, and a crosswind measurement.
3. The UAV of claim 1 where the target location is determined by a guidance sensor suite.
4. The UAV of claim 3 where the guidance sensor suite comprises at least one of: a passive radar subsystem, an active radar subsystem, an infrared detection subsystem, an infrared imaging subsystem, a visible light imaging subsystem, and an ultraviolet light detection subsystem.
5. The UAV of claim 1 where the target location is received, by an antenna of the UAV, post-launch of the UAV by a third-party.
6. The UAV of claim 1 where the target location is modified, by an antenna of the UAV, post-launch of the UAV by a third-party.
7. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
determine a body roll angle error based on a target location in a body reference frame and an orientation of the UAV in the body reference frame; and
determine one or more aileron actuator commands based on the determined body roll angle error;
wherein the processor of the UAV is further configured to skid-to-turn, and to transition to reorient in attitude based on an estimated range-to-go and an angular position of the target relative to the UAV.
8. The UAV of claim 7 where the body roll angle error is further based on at least one of: a GPS location of the UAV, a crosswind estimation, and a crosswind measurement.
9. The UAV of claim 7 where the target location is determined by a guidance sensor suite.
10. The UAV of claim 9 where the guidance sensor suite comprises at least one of: a passive radar subsystem, an active radar subsystem, an infrared detection subsystem, an infrared imaging subsystem, a visible light imaging subsystem, and an ultraviolet light detection subsystem.
11. The UAV of claim 7 where the target location is received, by an antenna of the UAV, post-launch of the UAV by a third-party.
12. The UAV of claim 7 where the target location is modified, by an antenna of the UAV, post-launch of the UAV by a third-party.
13. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to:
determine a body roll angle error based on a target location in a body reference frame and an orientation of the UAV in the body reference frame; and
determine one or more aileron actuator commands based on the determined body roll angle error;
wherein the processor of the UAV is further configured to:
receive, by an antenna, a mode control signal, wherein the mode control signal is configured to effect a transition of a current mode to a new mode, wherein
if the current mode is a terminal homing mode then the new mode is a target search mode,
else the new mode is a terminal homing mode.
14. The UAV of claim 13 where the body roll angle error is further based on at least one of: a GPS location of the UAV, a crosswind estimation, and a crosswind measurement.
15. The UAV of claim 13 where the target location is determined by a guidance sensor suite.
16. The UAV of claim 15 where the guidance sensor suite comprises at least one of: a passive radar subsystem, an active radar subsystem, an infrared detection subsystem, an infrared imaging subsystem, a visible light imaging subsystem, and an ultraviolet light detection subsystem.
17. The UAV of claim 13 where the target location is received, by an antenna of the UAV, post-launch of the UAV by a third-party.