Patent ID: 9214022
Filing Date: 2015-12-15
Classification: B64C,B64F,G06T

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a tether termination mount system comprising a tether termination unit configured for rotation about a first axis of rotation and a second axis of rotation, the first and second axes of rotation being oriented at an angle to one another; a tether configured for coupling an aerial vehicle to the tether termination mount system, the tether having a proximal end emanating from the tether termination unit along a pointing axis of the tether termination unit and distal end attached to the aerial vehicle, wherein the pointing axis is configured for tracking angular motion of the proximal end of the tether induced by flight motion of the aerial vehicle; an imaging device attached to the tether termination unit and having an image plane oriented at a fixed angle with respect to the pointing axis, and a reference point in the image plane corresponding to the pointing axis direction in a field-of-view (FOV) of the image plane; and a vehicle tracking subsystem configured for tracking a location of the aerial vehicle with respect to the tether termination mount system during tethered flight of the aerial vehicle by (i) determining the pointing axis direction as a function of measured rotation angles of the tether termination unit about the first and second axes of rotation, (ii) determining an angular offset between an image of the aerial vehicle in the image plane and the reference point in the image plane, and (iii) applying the determined angular offset as a correction to the determined pointing axis direction.