APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AZIMUTH, PITCH AND ROLL

Abstract: Apparatus and method for determining the azimuth (heading), pitch and roll which include a magnetometer-type sensor providing Hx, Hy and Hz related signals, and coil elements wound around the magnetometer which selectively impose specific magnetic fields about the sensor. The Hx, Hy and Hz field components of the magnetic field are measured from the sensor with and without the selective energization of the magnetic coils and stored, from which the azimuth, pitch and roll are calculated. Furthermore, quadrant correction is applied such that a unique reading is produced for all angles through 360° of azimuth, pitch or roll.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of determining the azimuth and pitch relative to a reference frame having first, second and third mutually orthogonal axes, of a structure containing a compass gimballed thereto. In compasses which incorporate magnetometers having two orthogonally disposed flux gate elements which provide signals from which a heading is calculated, the pitch and roll of the vessel or platform to which the compass is attached is also of interest for itself and because it may affect the heading calculations. Therefore, pitch and roll signals are desired as well as the heading signal. However, separately derived signals are not as good as actually measuring the pitch and roll of the gimballed platform. Therefore, according to the invention, the heading is calculated by the steps of measuring the ambient magnetic field as three substantially independent components and providing field component signals Xe, Ye, and Ze, respectively along mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes in a reference frame defined by the compass (block 106); applying a first predetermined magnetic field orthogonal to the Y axis of the reference frame (block 112); measuring the independent components of the magnetic field resulting from the superposition of the ambient magnetic field and the first predetermined magnetic field and providing field component signals Xp, Yp, and Zp (block 114); determining the aximuth (ϑ) according to the arctangent of (Ye/Xe) (block 130); determining the pitch (P) according to the arctangent of [(Xp-Xe)/(Zp-Ze)] (block 118,120); and transmitting signals representing ϑ and P (block 134). The present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description, taken together with the drawing wherein: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1A is a cross section view of the pitch and roll coils surrounding the sensor; and Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the process calculating the azimuth, pitch and roll according to one embodiment of the present invention. A block drawing of one embodiment of the system 50 is shown in Fig. 1 wherein a sensor 52, containing three orthogonal magnetic field sensing elements 52A, 52B and 52C, typically flux gates, are retained within a structure having a pitch coil 54 and a roll coil 56 disposed thereabout to selectively provide a predetermined DC magnetic field for the process described below. The particular proportions of the pitch and roll coils 52 and 54 is shown more clearly in Fig. 1A, wherein the coils 52 and 54 comprise solenoidally wound coils which extend beyond the sensor 52 such that the lines of flux produced by the respective coils are substantially parallel and uniform in through the sensor 52. The three orthogonal magnetic field sensing elements 52A, 52B and 52C of the sensor 52 define a reference frame for the determination of roll about the Y axis and pitch about the X-axis. The signals derived by the individual flux gates in the sensor 52 are measured by elements 60, 62 and 64, and received by and stored in a processor 66. The processor sequentially and selectively energizes the pitch and roll coils 54 and 56 according to control signals applied to energization circuits 68 and 70, respectively. The resulting calculated pitch, roll and azimuth is provided on output leads 72 and/or selectively displayed on a display 74. The embodiment, according to the present invention, includes a processor 66 which comprises typically a microprocessor such as the MCS 48 Series Microprocessor made by Intel Corp., the Motorola 6800 Series Microprocessor made by Motorola Inc or equivalent thereof and is programmed according to the following process according to the present invention by one of skill in the art. The process of the present invention provides a periodic update of the pitch, roll and azimuth signals. One embodiment of the process is shown in the flow chart 100 in Fig. 2 wherein the process begins at step 102, and turns the coils off at step 104 so that the X, Y and Z signals provided by the sensor 52 and measured by elements 60, 62 and 64, noted as Xe, Ye and Ze, correspond only to the ambient magnetic field (of the earth) Hx₁, Hy₁ and Hz₁. The measurement is provided at step 106. Subsequently, the roll coil 56 is energized at step 108 and the three signal orthogonal signals are measured at step 110 for the field components Hx₂, Hy₂ and Hz₂ wherein the signals are noted as Xr, Yr and Zr. Subsequently, the roll coil 56 is de-energized and the pitch coil 54, is energized at step 112. The signals from the sensors are measured at step 114, providing the Xp, Yp and Zp signals, corresponding to Hx₃, Hy₃ and Hz₃ comprising the ambient earth magnetic field and the field imposed by the pitch coil. Preferably, the above steps of measuring the sensor signals with and without energization of the particular roll and pitch coils is accomplished in a short interval, such as 15 milliseconds, in order to provide a "snapshot" of the ambient field conditions. If an extended period of time between the readings exists so that the platform to which the compass is attached changes its relative position, changes in ambient field conditions will cause erroneous calculations of the desired signals. The signals derived when all coils are off (Xe, Ye and Ze) is subtracted from the signals (Xr, Yr and Zr) derived when the roll coil is energized, resulting in difference signals XI, YI and ZI at step 116. Similarly, the signals measured when the coils are not energized are subtracted at step 118 from the signals (Zp, Yp and Zp) derived when the pitch coil is energized providing signals XII, YII and ZII. In step 120, the pitch (P) is calculated according to the arctangent of XII/ZII (arctangent (Hx₂ - Hx₁)/(Hz₂ - Hz₁)). In step 122, a quadrant correction is applied such that if the value of XII (Hx signal) is less than 0, 180° is added to the value of pitch, and if the value XII (Hx) is greater than 0 and the value of ZII (Hy) is less than 0, a value of 360° is added to the calculated value of pitch. Subsequently, at step 124, the value of ZI is multiplied by 1 + sin p where P is the calculated pitch angle. The roll (R) is calculated at step 126 according to the arctangent of YI/ZI (arctangent (Hy₂ - Hy₁)/(Hz₂ - Hz₁)), and is corrected at the optional step 128, which incorporates the quadrant correction according to step 122 as applied to the calculated roll angle. The azimuth (ϑ) is calculated at step 130 according to the arctangent of the initially measured values of Ye/Xe (arctangent Hy₁/Hx₁ ). Quadrant correction is applied at the optional step 132, incorporating the procedure of step 122, discussed above, as applied to the calculated azimuth angle. Finally, the calculated heading, pitch and roll values are transmitted to the external apparatus or to the display 74 at step 134, whereupon the method of determining azimuth, pitch and roll according to the present invention is begun again at step 102.

Claims: A method of determining the azimuth and pitch relative to a reference frame having first, second and third mutually orthogonal axes, of a structure containing a compass gimballed thereto, characterized by the steps of measuring the ambient magnetic field as three substantially independent components and providing field component signals Xe, Ye, and Ze, respectively along mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes in a reference frame defined by the compass (block 106); applying a first predetermined magnetic field orthogonal to the Y axis of the reference frame (block 112); measuring the independent components of the magnetic field resulting from the superposition of the ambient magnetic field and the first predetermined magnetic field and providing field component signals Xp, Yp, and Zp (block 114); determining the azimuth (ϑ) according to the arctangent of ( Ye/Xe ) (block 130); determining the pitch (P) according to the arctangent of [(Xp-Xe)/(Zp-Ze)] (block 118,120); and transmitting signals representing azimuth and pitch (block 134). The method of claim 1, characterized by the steps of removing said first predetermined magnetic field and applying a second predetermined magnetic field orthogonal to the direction of the first predetermined magnetic field (block 112); measuring the independent components of the magnetic field resulting from the superposition of the ambient field and the second predetermined magnetic field and providing field component signals Xr, Yr, and Zr (block 110); determining the roll (R) according to the arctangent of {(Yr-Ye)/[(Zr-Ze) (1 + sin P)]} (block 116,124,126); and transmitting signals representing roll (block 134). A method of determining the azimuth and roll, relative to a reference frame having first, second and third mutually orthogonal axes of a structure containing a compass gimballed thereto, characterized by the steps of measuring the ambient magnetic field as three substantially independent components and providing field component signals Xe, Ye, and Ze, respectively along the mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes in said reference frame defined by the compass (block 106); applying a predetermined magnetic field orthogonal to the X axis of the reference frame (block 108); measuring the independent components of the magnetic field resulting from the superposition of the ambient field and the predetermined magnetic field and providing field component signals Xr, Yr, and Zr (block 110); determining the azimuth (ϑ) according to the arctangent of (Ye/Xe) (block 130); determining the roll (R) according to the arctangent of [(Yr-Ye)/(Zr-Ze)] (block 116,126); and transmitting signals representing azimuth and roll (block 134). Apparatus for determining azimuth and pitch of a structure, according to the method of claim 1, characterized by a magnetometer (52,60,62,64) contained in the structure and having three mutually orthogonal sensing elements defining said reference frame comprising said X, Y, and Z axes, said magnetometer being moveable with respect to the structure about the X axis in roll and the Y axis in pitch and providing output signals Xe, Ye, and Ze, representing orthogonal components of the ambient magnetic field in the reference frame; means (54) for applying a first substantially uniform magnetic field about said magnetometer orthogonal to the Y axis of the reference frame according to a first control signal (68), said magnetometer providing signals Xp, Yp, and Zp representing orthogonal components of the superposition of the ambient field and the first uniform magnetic field in the reference frame; means (66) for determining the pitch of the structure with respect to the magnetometer according to the arctangent of [(Xp-Xe)/(Zp-Ze)] ; means (66) for determining the azimuth of the structure according to the arctangent of (Ye/Xe) ; and output means for providing output signals corresponding to the determined pitch and azimuth (72). The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized by means (56) for providing a second substantially uniform magnetic field about said magnetometer (52,60,62,64) orthogonal to the first substantially uniform magnetic field according to a second control signal (70), said magnetometer providing magnetometer output signals Xr, Yr, and Zr representing orthogonal components of the superposition of the ambient field and the second uniform magnetic field in the reference frame; and means (66) for determining the roll of the structure according to the arctangent of {(Yr-Ye)/[(Zr-Ze)(1 + sin P)]} , wherein said output means further provides an output signal corresponding to the determined roll (72). Apparatus for determining the azimuth and roll of a structure in an ambient magnetic field, according to the method of claim 3, characterized by a magnetometer (52,60,62,64) contained in the structure and having three mutually orthogonal sensing elements, defining a reference frame comprising said X, Y, and Z axes, said magnetometer being moveable with respect to the structure about the X axis in roll and the Y axis in pitch and providing output signals Xe, Ye, and Ze representing orthogonal components of the ambient magnetic field in the reference frame; means (56) for providing a substantially uniform magnetic field about said magnetometer substantially orthogonal to the X axis of the reference frame according to a control signal (70), said magnetometer providing output signals Xr, Yr, and Zr representing orthogonal components of the superposition of the ambient field and the substantially uniform magnetic field in the reference frame; means (66) for determining the roll of the structure according to the arctangent of [(Yr-Ye)/(Zr-Ze)] ; means (66) for determining the azimuth of the structure according to the arctangent of (Ye/Xe) ; and output means for providing output signals corresponding to the determined roll and azimuth (72).

Inventors: FOWLER, JOHN T.
Applicants: DIGICOURSE, INC.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: G01R1
IPC codes: G05D1, G01C17, G01R33