MAGNETIC PROCESS FOR DETERMINING A TRAJECTORY FOR FINDING A MAGNETIC OBJECT AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE PROCESS

Magnetic process for determining the trajectory of a moving vehicle for finding a fixed or moving magnetic object and apparatus for performing the process. The apparatus comprises magnetometers for measuring at least p independent components of the gradient of the local magnetic field, in which p is an integer equal to the number of dimensions of the space in which the moving vehicle is displaced, a circuit for storing a scalar criterion which is a function of at least one of the components of the measured gradient, a circuit for calculating the direction (.theta., .psi.) maximizing the criterion as a function of the measured gradient and a display, for use in guiding the vehicle.