TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative local position and orientation coordinate referencing system for establishing a referencing system for target designation, for use by fixed and mobile weapon platforms, for guidance and control of smart and guided projectiles, and for other applications in which GPS is currently being used. DESCRIPTION: For many reasons, including the loss of the signal, the signal not being available along the full path of the flight, jamming and the like, it is highly desirable to develop an alternative local coordinate referencing system to GPS that could cover the battlefield. Such a GPS-independent local coordinate referencing system can then be used by fixed and mobile platforms as well as soldier handheld devices, for guidance and control of smart and guided projectiles, for target designation, and for other applications in which GPS is currently used. Such local coordinate referencing systems are highly desirable to use methods and devices that allow them to be networked with adjacent local coordinate referencing systems as well as being adaptive to accommodate input from multiple sources and those provided on UAVs, UGVs, forward observer, and other land and air platforms. It is also highly desirable that the local coordinate referencing system provide full orientation as well as full position information onboard a moving or fixed object. The establishment of such a full position and orientation referencing system is highly advantageous since it can enable smart munitions, weapon platforms, vehicles and warfighter to have a common accurate, reliable and secure position as well as orientation referencing system, and since static or dynamic target position and heading is also indicated in the same referencing system, the target intercept error is also minimized. The proposed local coordinate referencing system must be robust, relatively small and low power, rugged, and capable of being deployed very quickly and automatically network all the provided referencing sources. Each proposed system must be capable of providing a local coordinate referencing system over a 30 km and preferably 50 km range with the capability of being networked with adjacent systems to extend the range. The system must be capable of providing full position (which includes elevation) accuracy of better than 2 m and sub-degree full orientation accuracy. The proposals must address issues related to reducing the probability of detection and jamming of the system referencing sources. PHASE I: Design an innovative non-GPS local position and orientation coordinate referencing system for establishing a referencing system for target designation, for use by fixed and mobile weapon platforms, for guidance and control of smart and guided projectiles, and for other applications requiring position and/or orientation referencing. Using realistic modeling and simulation, determine the potential performance of the system, including its position and orientation measurement accuracy, range, power requirement, and line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight performance. PHASE II: Develop the local position and orientation coordinate referencing system with the system requirements to be formulated based on the results of the Phase I feasibility studies. Develop detailed and realistic computer models to simulate the performance of the system and for the purpose of optimal selection of its parameters. Design and fabricate a prototype of the developed non-GPS local position and orientation coordinate referencing system for laboratory and range testing. Demonstrate the performance of the developed non-GPS local position and orientation coordinate referencing system in controlled field tests. PHASE III: The development of a non-GPS local full position and orientation coordinate referencing system has a wide range of military, homeland security and commercial applications. In the military related areas, the developed position and orientation referencing system enable smart munitions, weapon platforms, vehicles, forward observer and warfighter to have a common accurate, reliable and secure position as well as orientation referencing system. The referencing system can then be used for guidance and control of all smart munitions, missiles and guided bombs as well ground and airborne weapon platforms with minimal error due to the use of a single position and orientation referencing system. The developed position and orientation referencing system also has homeland security and commercial applications for guidance and control systems of various, robotic systems, particularly those used for remote operation in hazardous environments, which may be encountered in homeland defense, and for almost all mobile robotic applications used in the industry for materials handling and other similar applications. Commercial applications also include material handling equipment such as cranes; loading equipment, particularly in the sea; and industrial equipment used in assembly, welding, inspection, and other similar operations. REFERENCES: 1: Sensory Systems and Communication for the Detection of Rotational and Translational Position of Objects in Flight, Carlos M. Pereira, TACOM-ARDEC publication.2: Intelligent Sensing and Wireless Communications in Harsh Environments, Carlos M. Pereira, Michael Mattice, Robert C. Testa, Presented at the Smart Materials and MEMS Symposium, Newport Beach, California, March 2000.3: Chatfield, A. B., 1997, Fundamentals of High Accuracy Inertial Navigation, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.4: Grewal, M. S., Weill, L. R., and Andrews, A. P., 2000, Global Positioning Systems, Inertial Navigation, and Integration, John Wiley & Sons.5: Lawrence, A., 1998, Modern Inertial Technology: Navigation, Guidance, and Control, Mechanical Engineering Series, 2nd edition, Springer Verlag.6: Balanis, C. A., 1989, Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.7: Wehner, D. R., and Barnes, B., 1994, High-Resolution Radar, Artech House.KEYWORDS: Coordinate Referencing Systems; Position And Orientation Referencing Systems; Position And Orientation Sensors; Guided Munitions; Smart Munitions; Guidance And Control Systems CONTACT(S): Dr. Carlos Pereira (973) 724-1542 carlos.m.pereira1.civ@mail.mil
