Patents by Inventor Peter M. Meenan

Peter M. Meenan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Augmented reality maintenance system with flight planner
    Patent number: 5550758
    Abstract: An enhanced reality maintenance system for operating in a hazardous or inaccessible environment employs an environment modeler which is supplied with spatial parameters of a given environment and creates a computer model of the environment. An environment renderer creates a plurality of images, each corresponding to a viewing location and orientation, `viewpoint`. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) attached to a base unit by a tether cord or radio link navigates in the environment. The ROV has a spatial imaging device, such as a video camera, and actuators which propel it through the environment. Its position and orientation are determined by a position and attitude (P&A) sensing unit, and are passed to an ROV renderer which creates an image of a prestored model of the ROV having the same location and orientation as the ROV and viewed from a specified viewpoint. The viewpoints may be predetermined, provided to the system or may be interactively determined as an offset from the ROV position and orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 27, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Nelson R. Corby, Jr., Peter M. Meenan, Claude H. Solanas, III, David C. Vickerman
  • Augmented reality maintenance system with archive and comparison device
    Patent number: 5412569
    Abstract: An enhanced reality maintenance system for operating in a hazardous or inaccessible environment employs an environment modeler which is supplied with spatial parameters of a given environment and creates a computer model of the environment. An environment renderer creates a plurality of images, each corresponding to a viewing location and orientation, `viewpoint`. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) attached to a base unit by a tether cord or radio link navigates in the environment. The ROV has a spatial imaging device, such as a video camera, and actuators which propel it through the environment. Its position and orientation are determined by a position and attitude (P&A) sensing unit, and are passed to an ROV renderer which creates an image of a prestored model of the ROV having the same location and orientation as the ROV and viewed from a specified viewpoint. The viewpoints may be predetermined, provided to the system or may be interactively determined as an offset from the ROV position and orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 2, 1995
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Nelson R. Corby, Jr., Peter M. Meenan, Claude H. Solanas, III, David C. Vickerman, Christopher A. Nafis