Patent Document ID: 7697748
Application ID: 10886079
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of imaging a three-dimensional scene having one or more objects, comprising: providing a camera, wherein the camera includes an inertial guidance system and an array of optical detectors; transmitting a first optical pulse so that a portion of the first optical pulse is reflected from the scene as a first reflected pulse; detecting arrival of the first reflected pulse at the array of detectors; forming a first scene image from data corresponding to the first reflected pulse arriving at the array of detectors; moving the camera relative to objects in the scene; monitoring angular velocity and acceleration via the inertial guidance system; transmitting a second optical pulse so that a portion of the second optical pulse is reflected from the scene as a second reflected pulse; detecting arrival of the second reflected pulse at the array of detectors; forming a second scene image from data corresponding to the second reflected pulse arriving at the array of detectors; determining a range estimate of camera position as a function of registration of the first and second range images; determining camera position and trajectory as a function of the range estimate, the angular velocity measured by the inertial guidance system and the acceleration measured by the inertial guidance system, wherein determining includes combining the range estimate with the angular velocity measured by the inertial guidance system and the acceleration measured by the inertial guidance system to arrive at a composite camera position and a composite camera trajectory that minimizes sensor measurement errors and image alignment errors; and forming a composite image of the three-dimensional scene as a function of the first and second scene images, the composite camera position, and the composite camera trajectory.