Patent ID: 7148974

Claim:
A method for mapping the movement and position of a mobile agent using stand-off optical detection comprising: transmitting a pulse of light at a first known time; interacting said pulse of transmitted light with a mobile agent to generate a pulse of interacted light; receiving said pulse of interacted light with a receiver optical system at an at least one later known time; measuring an intensity of said pulse of interacted light with at least one photodetection system in a manner suitable for electronic data storage; measuring a time interval between the transmitting of said pulse of transmitted light and the receiving of said pulse of interacted light; storing measurements of said intensity and said time interval between the transmitting and the receiving as data; repeating said interacting, receiving, measuring, and storing steps a plurality of times; and comparing said data by means of at least one change detection algorithm to map a location of said mobile agent in time and space.