Patent ID: 7642953

Claim:
A system for creating three dimensional images of a target object, the system comprising: a plurality of vehicles having radar systems used to collect radar data about the target object, wherein each in the plurality of vehicles moves in a path to collect a portion of the radar data using a sampling map to coordinate collection of the radar data by the plurality of vehicles and communicates with every other vehicle in the plurality of vehicles to identify uncollected portions of the radar data, and wherein the sampling map comprises a number of three dimensional sinograms that are used to identify the different portions of the radar data needed to create the three dimensional images of the target object; a hypothesis generator that, in response to receiving a number of moving target indicators from the plurality of vehicles, generates a number of different hypotheses, wherein the hypotheses estimate a number of possible positions and orientations of the target object, and wherein the hypotheses are used to update the sinograms; a central node in communication with the plurality of vehicles, wherein the central node receives the radar data from the plurality of vehicles and creates the three dimensional images for the different hypotheses from the radar data received from the plurality of vehicles using a tomographic reconstruction process to construct voxels of the three dimensional image; and an optimization algorithm unit that receives the sinograms and a cue of the target object to generate control instructions, the cue comprising a current location of the target location, and the control instructions being used by a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles for a flight control and a sensor control.