Patent ID: 11865852
Assignee: MACDONALD, DETTWILER AND ASSOCIATES CORPORATION
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A system for applying a livery image to the surface of an object, comprising:
a printing module mounted on a motion platform and configured to apply a plurality of adjacent swaths of a print material to form an image on a surface, the printing module including one or more tanks for storing the print material and a plurality of printing heads for applying the print material;
a local sensing suite configured to acquire one or more images of the surface and to measure the motion of the printing module relative to the surface;
one or more global motion tracking devices configured for measuring the pose of the printing module, the motion platform, and the surface of the object;
a real-time processor being connected to the printing module, the motion platform, the local sensing suite, and the global motion tracking devices, said real-time processor is programmed with instructions for generating a plurality of triggering signals for controlling the timing of applying printing material from the printing module to form a plurality of swaths of a livery image by the steps of:
receiving one or more travel distance measurements from the one or more relative motion sensors in the local sensing suite;
fusing said travel distance measurements from the one or more relative motion sensors into a fused travel distance and fusing said fused travel distance with pose measurements of the printing module from one or more global motion tracking devices;
generating a triggering pulse when said fused travel distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined travel distance; and
sending the triggering pulse to the printing module wherein the triggering signals prompts the printing heads to apply a printing material; and

an executive computer interfaced with the real-time processor.