Integrated image transfer for remote target location

Claim 1

A handheld system for accurately determining the location of an object by an observer that is spaced apart from the object, the system comprising: viewer means having a boresight and image viewer, for allowing an observer to view a designated object that is spaced apart from the observer along a line of sight from the observer to the object and for issuing an output image signal containing the visual image of the object sensed by the viewer means; position determination means, attached to the viewer means, for determining the angular orientation of a selected line in a selected plane containing the position determination means and for determining the location of a selected point in the selected plane, the position determination means comprising: at least three SATPS signal antennas, numbered 1, 2, 3 and arranged non-collinearly in the selected plane, to each receive SATPS signals from three or more SATPS satellites and to issue these signals as antenna output signals, where antenna i is located at a selected positive distance L(i,j) from antenna j (i≠j; i,j=1, 2, 3) and L(i,j) does not exceed one half meter; and an SATPS signal receiver/processor that receives and processes the SATPS signals received by the SATPS antennas, that determines location coordinates of each SATPS antenna, that determines an azimuthal angle φ and a polar angle θ of the observer-object line of sight relative to the selected plane and the selected line, that receives the viewer means output image signal, that determines location coordinates of the object, and that issues the object location coordinates as an output location signal; wherein the object is located on a known, single-valued two-dimensional surface that is approximately represented locally in a Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z) by a first relation z=h(x,y) in the receiver/processor, wherein location coordinates for the observer in this local Cartesian coordinate system are known and are given by (x r , y r , z r ), wherein location coordinates (x O , y O , z O ) of the object are determined by simultaneously solving this first relation and the three relations given by (x.sub.O -x.sub.r)/(sin φ)(sin θ)=S, (y.sub.O -y.sub.r)/(cos φ)(sin θ)=S, (z.sub.O -z.sub.r)/(cos θ)=(h(x.sub.O, y.sub.O)-z.sub.r)(cos θ)=S, for the values of the variables x O , y O , z O and s, wherein the quantity s represents a calculated distance between the viewer means and the object; and display means for receiving the output image signal and the output location signal and for displaying a visual image of the object sensed by the viewer means, with at least one of the set of object location coordinates and the set of viewer means location coordinates being superimposed on this visual image.