Detection system and method for making contact between the tip of a flying boom and the mouth of a receptacle for aerial refuelling operations with a boom

摘要

The invention relates to a system for detecting the tip of the pole of the flying boom of a tanker and the mouth of the receptacle of a receiver, for semiautomatic or automatic contact for in-flight refuelling with a boom, ensuring that the control system of the boom of the tanker is provided with robust, reliable and simultaneous real-time information from the end of the pole of the tanker and from the mouth of the receptacle of the receiver, at every moment. For this purpose, the system comprises: 1) light emitters mounted on the tip of the pole; 2) light emitters mounted on the edge of the receptacle of the receiver plane; 3) a processing subsystem; and 4) two 3-D cameras, a ToF camera synchronised with a light emitter, and an additional camera together with an emitter of structured light generated with a DoE lens.