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U.S. Department of Energy
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System and method for bullet tracking and shooter localization

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1019084

A system and method of processing infrared imagery to determine projectile trajectories and the locations of shooters with a high degree of accuracy. The method includes image processing infrared image data to reduce noise and identify streak-shaped image features, using a Kalman filter to estimate optimal projectile trajectories, updating the Kalman filter with new image data, determining projectile source locations by solving a combinatorial least-squares solution for all optimal projectile trajectories, and displaying all of the projectile source locations. Such a shooter-localization system is of great interest for military and law enforcement applications to determine sniper locations, especially in urban combat scenarios.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
Assignee:
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (Livermore, CA)
Patent Number(s):
7,965,868
Application Number:
US Patent Application 11/880,180
OSTI ID:
1019084
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English