Jul 1, 2025

US12345514 - Closed, self-contained ballistic apogee detection module and method

A closed, self-contained ballistic apogee detection module for use in a projectile, such as a rocket, mortar round, or artillery round, fuses data from multiple built-in sensors, such as an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope, and processes the data using a microprocessor through a custom quaternion extended Kalman filter to provide accurate state and orientation information about the projectile so as to accurately predict apogee. The module outputs a signal indicating apogee detection or prediction which they projectile uses to initiate fuze arming, targeting control, airbody transformation, maneuvering, flow effector deployment or activation, payload exposure or deployment, and/or other mission activity. Because the system and method of the invention does not rely on external environmental data to detect apogee, it need not use a pressure sensor and can be completely sealed in and closed without requiring access to air from outside the projectile for barometric readings.

Assignee: Orbital Research Inc.
Inventors: Michael Jankowski, Anthony Opperman, Gerard Skebe
Filing date: 2024-01-03

The patent describes a self-contained ballistic apogee detection module that utilizes various sensors and a microprocessor to accurately predict the apogee of a projectile without relying on external environmental data. This innovation allows the module to initiate critical functions such as fuze arming and payload deployment once the apogee is detected, all while being sealed within the projectile.

Claim 1

A method of arming a ballistic projectile comprising: firing or launching a ballistic projectile having a fuze; a self-contained apogee detection module detecting or predicting the projectile’s ballistic apogee by computing a ballistic trajectory estimate using a plurality of sensors each having a measurement signal associated therewith and a computer processor all within the projectile and without reference to barometric pressure; and at the detected or predicted apogee or at some time related thereto, the apogee detection module transmitting a signal to the fuze that arms the fuze, wherein the self-contained apogee detection module is comprised in a single, modular enclosure within the projectile and is adapted to use only data from the self-contained apogee detection module with no external data or a priori knowledge required. firing or launching a ballistic projectile having a fuze; a self-contained apogee detection module detecting or predicting the projectile’s ballistic apogee by computing a ballistic trajectory estimate using a plurality of sensors each having a measurement signal associated therewith and a computer processor all within the projectile and without reference to barometric pressure; and at the detected or predicted apogee or at some time related thereto, the apogee detection module transmitting a signal to the fuze that arms the fuze, wherein the self-contained apogee detection module is comprised in a single, modular enclosure within the projectile and is adapted to use only data from the self-contained apogee detection module with no external data or a priori knowledge required.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12345514

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12345514