Radio Frequency Motion Tracking System and Mehod.
First Claim
1. A motion capture system comprising:
- at least four stationary radio frequency receivers around a defined area;
a first radio frequency transmitter disposed at a determinable position relative to the receivers;
a plurality of radio frequency transmitters affixed to at least one movable object within the vicinity of the defined area;
the receivers receiving radio frequency signals transmitted by the transmitters; and
a processing system for processing the signals received by the transmitters to determine positional information regarding the movable object within the vicinity of the defined area, the processing system using signals received from the first transmitter as a reference for determining positions of the transmitters affixed to the movable object.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A radio frequency (RF) motion capture system includes stationary sensor receivers, one or more transmitter marker tags on one or more objects to be tracked within a capture zone, at least one stationary reference tag transmitter, and a processing system for processing the received signals. The individual tags transmit burst of spread-spectrum RF signals. The transmitted signals include a common sync code, and a tag identification code that is unique to each tag. By computing double differences of pseudoranges, clock terms are cancelled out allowing the processing system to precisely determine the location of each tag as it moves through the capture zone without the need to synchronize clocks between sensors and tags. The system can be used for RF match moving.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A motion capture system comprising:
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at least four stationary radio frequency receivers around a defined area;
a first radio frequency transmitter disposed at a determinable position relative to the receivers;
a plurality of radio frequency transmitters affixed to at least one movable object within the vicinity of the defined area;
the receivers receiving radio frequency signals transmitted by the transmitters; and
a processing system for processing the signals received by the transmitters to determine positional information regarding the movable object within the vicinity of the defined area, the processing system using signals received from the first transmitter as a reference for determining positions of the transmitters affixed to the movable object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of tracking movement of at least one object, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of radio frequency receivers defining sensors;
providing a first radio frequency transmitter, the first radio frequency transmitter defining a reference tag;
providing a plurality of radio frequency transmitters on the at least one object, the transmitters defining marker tags;
determining a position of the reference tag to define a reference tag known position; and
processing the known position of the reference tag and the radio frequency signals received at the sensors from the marker tags and from the reference tag to determine respective positions of the marker tags. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of tracking movement of an object comprising:
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placing at least one transmitter on at least one object, the transmitter transmitting a radio frequency signal;
receiving the signal at a plurality of radio frequency receivers;
wherein neither the transmission of the signal nor the receiving of the signal at a given receiver is controlled in time with respect to any of the other receivers;
processing timings of the signal received at the receivers to track movement of the object. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of tracking movement of an object comprising:
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placing a plurality of radio frequency sensors about a capture zone;
placing at least one reference radio frequency transmitter defining a reference tag within the capture zone;
determining a location of the marker tag with respect to the sensors;
placing a plurality of radio frequency transmitters defining marker tags on the object;
receiving at the sensors signals transmitted by the reference tag and the marker tags; and
processing the signals transmitted by the reference tag and the marker tags to determine positions of the object as the object moves through the capture zone. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A method of tracking movement of an object comprising:
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disposing radio frequency transmitters defining respective marker tags at each of a plurality of separate positions on the object, wherein each transmitter transmits a respective waveform corresponding at least in part to a unique marker tag identification code;
receiving the transmitted waveforms, the received versions of the transmitted waveforms defining received waveforms;
associating the respective received waveforms with the respective marker tags that transmitted those waveforms without demodulating the waveforms to respective bit patterns; and
processing the respective waveforms to determine locations of the respective marker tags. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of tracking movement of an object comprising:
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placing a plurality of transmitters on the object, each of the transmitters transmitting signals at a transmission rate that is an integer multiple of both 24 transmissions per second and 30 transmissions per second; and
processing the transmitted signals to track movement of the object. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A radio frequency transmission device comprising:
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a backing layer;
circuitry affixed to the backing layer for generating a radio frequency waveform;
an antenna for transmitting the waveform;
an adhesive applied to the backing layer;
a removable portion applied to the adhesive;
a sensor for detecting when the removable portion is removed; and
a transmitter controller for enabling the device to begin transmitting the radio frequency waveform when the sensor detects that the removable portion has been removed. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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47. A radio frequency transmission device comprising:
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a transmitter;
a power source for powering the transmitter;
a memory for storing data corresponding to a waveform to be transmitted;
a protective cover disposed over at least a portion of the device; and
means for automatically activating the device upon removal of the protective cover. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method comprising:
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providing at least three wireless transmitters affixed to a camera to define camera transmitters; and
processing signals received from the camera transmitters to determine movement of the camera. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A system for recording a motion picture image for later processing comprising:
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a movable motion picture camera;
a plurality of radio frequency transmitters affixed to the camera;
a reference transmitter not affixed to the camera;
a first processing section for receiving signals transmitted by the transmitters and determining movement of the camera therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (62, 64, 65)
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63. The system of 62 wherein the transmitters affixed to the camera do not transmit any inertial sensor data.
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66. A motion capture system comprising:
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a plurality of wireless transmitters;
a plurality of wireless receivers;
means for determining positions of the wireless transmitters based upon timings of signals received from the transmitters by the receivers without requiring timing clocks of either the transmitters or the receivers to be synchronized. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification