Collision avoidance system which compares relative velocity vector magnitude with range between two craft

Claim 2

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector, a receiver means on the second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals to determine the magnitude of a relative velocity vector, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said second craft connected to said receiver means and to said first computing means for comparing the magnitude of the relative velocity vector determined by said receiver means to the range determined by said first computer means to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft, said second computer means requiring no other inputs to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft.

Claim 3

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector and its altitude, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector and its altitude, a receiver means on the second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals to determine the magnitude of a relative velocity vector, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said craft connected to said receiver means and to said first computing means for comparing the magnitude of the relative velocity vector determined by said receiver means to the range determined by said first computer means and for comparing said altitude signals to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft, said second computer means requiring no other inputs to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft.

Claim 4

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector and its altitude, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector and its altitude, a receiver means on the second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals to determine the magnitude of a relative velocity vector, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said craft connected to said receiver means and to said first computing means for comparing the magnitude of the relative velocity vector determined by said receiver means to the range determined by said first computer means and for comparing said altitude signals to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft, said second computer means requiring no other inputs to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft.

Claim 5

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector and its altitude, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector and its altitude, a directional receiver on a second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals to determine an approximate relative bearing of said first craft from said second craft to determine the magnitude of the relative velocity vector, said directional receiver requiring no other inputs to calculate the approximate relative bearing of said first craft from said second craft, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said second craft connected to said directional receiver and to said first computing mEans for comparing the magnitude of the relative velocity vector determined by said directional receiver to the range determined by said first computer means and for comparing said signals indicative of the first and second craft altitudes to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft, said second computer means requiring no other inputs to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft.

Claim 6

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector and its altitude, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector and its altitude, a directional receiver on a second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals to determine an approximate relative bearing of said first craft from said second craft to determine the magnitude of the relative velocity vector, said directional receiver requiring no other inputs to calculate the approximate relative bearing of said first craft from said second craft, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said second craft connected to said directional receiver and to said first computing mEans for comparing the magnitude of the relative velocity vector determined by said directional receiver to the range determined by said first computer means and for comparing said signals indicative of the first and second craft altitudes to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft, said second computer means requiring no other inputs to determine whether a hazardous relationship exists between said first and second craft.

Claim 7

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector, a receiver means on the second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals by squaring their individual values and adding the squares together to obtain the square of the magnitude of a relative velocity vector, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said second craft connected to said receiver means and to said first computing means to divide the square of the relative velocity vector by a square of the range determined by said first computing means and to determine whether the resultant quotient is less than a predetermined value.

Claim 8

A collision avoidance system comprising: a transmitter on a first craft for generating signals indicative of a first craft velocity vector, means on a second craft for generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector, a receiver means on the second craft for receiving said signals indicative of the first craft velocity vector, said receiver connected to said means of generating signals indicative of a second craft velocity vector for combining said signals by squaring their individual values and adding the squares together to obtain the square of the magnitude of a relative velocity vector, a first computing means on said second craft for determining a range between said first and second craft, and a second computing means on said second craft connected to said receiver means and to said first computing means to divide the square of the relative velocity vector by a square of the range determined by said first computing means and to determine whether the resultant quotient is less than a predetermined value.

Claim 9

In a collision avoidance system, the combination of: a transmitter generating signals indicative of the rectangular components of a first craft velocity vector, a receiver means receiving said signals indicative of rectangular components of the first craft velocity vector, means on said second craft for generating signals indicative of the rectangular components of the second craft velocity vector, and computing means connected to said receiver means and to said second craft signal generating means for combining the magnitudes of corresponding components indicative of the first and second craft velocity vectors to determine whether each said craft is a possible hazard to the other said craft, said computer means receiving no other inputs to determine whether each said craft is a possible hazard to the other craft whenever the altitude of the two craft are within a predetermined relative range of each other.

Claim 10

In a collision avoidance system, the combination of: a transmitter generating signals indicative of the rectangular components of a first craft velocity vector, a receiver means receiving said signals indicative of rectangular components of the first craft velocity vector, means on said second craft for generating signals indicative of the rectangular components of the second craft velocity vector, and computing means connected to said receiver means and to said second craft signal generating means for combining the magnitudes of corresponding components indicative of the first and second craft velocity vectors to determine whether each said craft is a possible hazard to the other said craft, said computer means receiving no other inputs to determine whether each said craft is a possible hazard to the other craft whenever the altitude of the two craft are within a predetermined relative range of each other.

Claim 15

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component relative to two fixed orthogonal datum lines of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component relative to said fixed orthogonal datum lines of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, and fourth means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, said fourth means requiring no other inputs to obtain the value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.

Claim 16

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component relative to two fixed orthogonal datum lines of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component relative to said fixed orthogonal datum lines of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, and fourth means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, said fourth means requiring no other inputs to obtain the value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.

Claim 17

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, fourth means for obtaining a signal representative of the range between the first and second craft, and fifth means connected to said third and fourth means for combining said relative velocity vector magnitude and said range to determine whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other, said fifth means requiring no other inputs to determine whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other.

Claim 18

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, fourth means for obtaining a signal representative of the range between the first and second craft, and fifth means connected to said third and fourth means for combining said relative velocity vector magnitude and said range to determine whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other, said fifth means requiring no other inputs to determine whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other.

Claim 19

A computer comprising: first means for combining a signal representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of a first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, fourth means connected to said third means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, fifth means for combining a signal indicative of the altitude of said first craft with a signal indicative of the altitude of said second craft to determine whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other, and sixth means connected to said fourth and fifth means for determining whether said first and second craft are a hazard to each other, said sixth means requiring no other inputs to determine whether said first and second craft are a hazard to each other.

Claim 20

A computer comprising: first means for combining a signal representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of a first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components, fourth means connected to said third means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, fifth means for combining a signal indicative of the altitude of said first craft with a signal indicative of the altitude of said second craft to determine whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other, and sixth means connected to said fourth and fifth means for determining whether said first and second craft are a hazard to each other, said sixth means requiring no other inputs to determine whether said first and second craft are a hazard to each other.

Claim 21

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a direction and a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for combining the signal representative of said first relative velocity vector component with the signal representative of said second relative velocity vector component to obtain a signal representative of the relative velocity vector direction and a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude, fourth means for obtaining a signal representative of the range between the first and second craft, fifth means connected to said third and fourth means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with said signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, said fifth means requiring no other inputs to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, sixth means for combining a signal indicative of the altitude of said first craft with a signal indicative of the altitude of said second craft to determine whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other, and seventh means for determining whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other responsive to said fifth means for obtaining a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach and responsive to said sixth means for determining whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other.

Claim 22

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a direction and a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for combining the signal representative of said first relative velocity vector component with the signal representative of said second relative velocity vector component to obtain a signal representative of the relative velocity vector direction and a signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude, fourth means for obtaining a signal representative of the range between the first and second craft, fifth means connected to said third and fourth means for combining said signal representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude with said signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, said fifth means requiring no other inputs to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, sixth means for combining a signal indicative of the altitude of said first craft with a signal indicative of the altitude of said second craft to determine whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other, and seventh means for determining whether each craft is a potential hazard to the other responsive to said fifth means for obtaining a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach and responsive to said sixth means for determining whether said craft are within a predetermined altitude range of each other.

Claim 23

A computer comprising: first means for combining a signal representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a first relative velocity vector having a magnitude and a first component of a second relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the first relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude from said signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components of said first relative velocity vector, fourth means connected to said third means for combining said signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, fifth means for combining a signal representative of a third component of said first craft''s velocity vectoR which is perpendicular to said first and second components to a signal representative of a parallel third component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the second relative velocity vector, sixth means connected to said first and fifth means for obtaining a value representative of the second relative velocity vector magnitude from said signals representative of said first and third relative velocity vector components, and seventh means connected to said sixth means for combining said signal representative of the second relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain another signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.

Claim 24

A computer comprising: first means for combining a signal representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a first relative velocity vector having a magnitude and a first component of a second relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining a signal representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the first relative velocity vector, third means connected to said first and second means for obtaining a signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude from said signals representative of said first and second relative velocity vector components of said first relative velocity vector, fourth means connected to said third means for combining said signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft, fifth means for combining a signal representative of a third component of said first craft''s velocity vectoR which is perpendicular to said first and second components to a signal representative of a parallel third component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the second relative velocity vector, sixth means connected to said first and fifth means for obtaining a value representative of the second relative velocity vector magnitude from said signals representative of said first and third relative velocity vector components, and seventh means connected to said sixth means for combining said signal representative of the second relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain another signal representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.

Claim 25

In combination with the computer specified in claim 12, an eighth means connected to said fourth and seventh means for determining whether the time to a point of closest approach derived from said signal representative of said first relative velocity vector and the time to a point of closest approach derived from said signal representative of said second relative velocity vector are less than a predetermined interval of time.

Claim 26

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means for combining signals representative of a third component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first and second components and a parallel third component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a third component of the relative velocity vector, fourth means connected to said first, second and third means for obtaining a value representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first, second, and third relative velocity vector components, and fifth means connected to said fourth means for combining said signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.

Claim 27

A computer comprising: first means for combining signals representative of a first component of a first craft''s velocity vector and a parallel first component of a second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a first component of a relative velocity vector having a magnitude, second means for combining signals representative of a second component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first component and a parallel second component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a second component of the relative velocity vector, third means for combining signals representative of a third component of said first craft''s velocity vector which is perpendicular to said first and second components and a parallel third component of said second craft''s velocity vector to obtain a signal representative of a third component of the relative velocity vector, fourth means connected to said first, second and third means for obtaining a value representative of the relative velocity vector magnitude from the signals representative of said first, second, and third relative velocity vector components, and fifth means connected to said fourth means for combining said signal representative of the first relative velocity vector magnitude with a signal representative of the range between said first and second craft to obtain a value representative of the time to a point of closest approach between said first and second craft.