Abstract: A high-altitude aerial vehicle, in particular an aerial vehicle for the stratosphere that is designed as a non-rigid aerial vehicle with a hull, that has an at least partially inflated envelope with a buoyant gas other than air, which is lighter than air, in particular hydrogen. The hull is provided with at least a first chamber for the buoyant gas and at least a second chamber that can be inflated with air. Between the first and second chambers a flexible partition wall is provided that is preferably formed by a flexible membrane. Inflating of the second chamber, preferably with hot air depending on the flight altitude, can be controlled or regulated in such a way that the envelope of hull is always tautly inflated.

Abstract: An electrical power supply apparatus supplied with radiant energy is equipped with at least one electrical generator converting radiant energy into electrical power. The electrical power generator can be a photovoltaic solar generator that converts the impinging radiant energy into electrical power. A hydrogen generator produces hydrogen from water and a water reservoir is connected through a first water line to the hydrogen generator. A hydrogen reservoir is connected through a first hydrogen line to the hydrogen generator. A fuel cell or a hydrogen combustion engine is connected to a second electrical power generator, which fuel cell or engine is connected through a second hydrogen line to the hydrogen reservoir and is connected through a second water line to the water reservoir. A control unit is electrically connected to the electrical power generator, hydrogen generator, and fuel cell or hydrogen combustion engine.

Abstract: In a method for identifying and classifying an object, an object is detected by at least one physical detector tuned for it, the object is evaluated from the output signal of the detector and by an evaluation unit, and the object is identified and/or classified on the basis of predefinable properties from the output signal. A number of different physical features of the object are derived from the output signal, and the object is assigned to one of N predetermined basic classes on the basis of the derived physical features. The N basic classes are arranged in a predetermined order to form an N-dimensional vector V, which is assigned to the object, such that the elements v1, . . . , vN of the vector V indicate that the object belongs to the respective basic class. The object is then assigned to a derived class, which is taken from a reference data base, as a function of the vector V.

Abstract: In a method for determining object edge curves in a recorded image of a multispectral camera, the image recorded is converted into a false color image, hue value from the HSV color space is assigned to each pixel in the false color image such that the hue value corresponds to a hue angle on a predetermined color circle, and the pixels are classified as object pixels and background pixels, such that those pixels with hue values that are within a predetermined value range are defined as the object pixels. An entropy profile is then determined by way of a displaceable evaluation window, such that the entropy of mixing S is calculated for each pixel from the object pixels and background pixels according to the equation: S = - k ? ( n A ? ln ? n A n A + n B + n B ? ln ? n B n A + n B ) where nA denotes the number of object pixels within the evaluation window, nB denotes the number of background pixels within the evaluation window and k is a proportionality factor.

Abstract: A method for the identification of objects in a predetermined target area involves recording a first and a second height profile of the target area, wherein the two height profiles are recorded at a predeterminable time interval. A height difference profile is determined from the first and the second height profile. The height difference profile is subdivided in equidistant horizontal height sections. The positions of the centroids of the surface areas enclosed by the respective contour lines of the horizontal height sections are calculated and the determined height difference profile and the calculated centroids of the surface areas are supplied to a system for classifying objects.

Abstract: A procedure and system are provided for automatically landing an aircraft, particularly an unmanned aircraft on a moving, particularly floating landing platform, for example, on an aircraft carrier, the aircraft being equipped with an automatic navigation device and an automatic landing control device. The procedure includes detecting the position of an intended landing spot, detecting motion data of the landing platform, determining at least one imminent point in time at which the landing spot takes up a reference position, transmitting the point in time and the reference position of the landing spot to the landing control device of the aircraft, and controlling the aircraft such that it reaches the landing spot at the point in time.

Abstract: A method for recognizing an object that has a plurality of expressions of abstract object characteristics, and is associated with an object characteristic class of a hierarchical system of object characteristic classes stored in a first memory.

Abstract: A missile weapons system with a homing head optical system and an alignment processor, in which the visual field of the homing head is adjusted to the size of the target by handing over the target marking frame size to the homing head, which is equipped with a zoom lens, and the effect of parallax on the correlation is eliminated.