Patent ID: 7335116

Claim:
A system for locating and tracking a path of an object traveling in space comprising: a) first and second sets of two member linear sensor arrays operating in the visible or near-infrared spectrum and having respective lenses therein, each set of two member sensor arrays being separated from the other set by a known baseline; b) each member sensor array within each set having a plurality of directed pixel sensors positioned to provide individual pixel fields of view which collectively provide a planar field of view for each such member sensor array, said planar field of view being defined by the respective lens; c) the respective sets of sensor arrays being mounted so that the individual planar field of view of each member of the first set of sensor arrays substantially overlaps with the planar field of view of a respective member of the second set of sensor arrays to provide two shared, substantially common planar fields of view, each common planar field of view having a known angle of inclination in space; d) signal generation means associated with each of the members of each set of sensor arrays to generate signals corresponding with the detected presence of the object passing through the planar field of view of each such member sensor array; e) electronic processing means connected to receive signals from said signal generation means for calculating the positions of the object as it passes through the respective common fields of view, and being provided with means for calculating a calculated extended path for the object based upon the path in the region between the common planar fields of view being a generally parabolic path to thereby determine the calculated extended path in space of the object as it passes immediately beyond the respective, common planar fields of view; and f) display means connected to the processing means to provide a display based upon the calculated extended path.