US 11,920,899 B2
Collaborative coordination of target engagement
Guy Squillace, Prior Lake, MN (US); Gary Willenbring, Waconia, MN (US); and Todd A. Ell, Savage, MN (US)
Assigned to Rosemount Aerospace Inc., Burnsville, MN (US)
Filed by Rosemount Aerospace Inc., Burnsville, MN (US)
Filed on Jan. 18, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/578,322.
Prior Publication US 2023/0228527 A1, Jul. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. F41G 7/22 (2006.01); G01C 21/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01)
CPC F41G 7/2253 (2013.01) [F41G 7/2233 (2013.01); F41G 7/2293 (2013.01); G01C 21/005 (2013.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for collaboration of a plurality of nodes travelling in a group to a target destination having one or more targets, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes is provided with a datalink communication system to communicate with other nodes of the plurality of nodes, the method comprising:
determining at each node (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) SLAM data for the node, the SLAM data including estimated position of features or targets observed by the node and processed by the node using SLAM algorithms and covariance associated with the estimated positions;
communicating at each node the node's SLAM data to the other nodes via each nodes' datalink communication system;
receiving at each node SLAM data communicated from the other nodes via each node's datalink communication system;
combining at each node the node's SLAM data and the SLAM data received from the other nodes based on one or more features or targets included in SLAM data from two or more nodes of the other nodes;
refining at each node estimated positions of features or targets based on results of the combining; and
navigating each node to a target at the target destination as a function of at least one of the refined estimated positions.