OBJECT POSITION ESTIMATION
First Claim
1. A device (20) for determining the position of an object (8) in a space (10) defined by surfaces (11, 12), the device being arranged for cooperating with an acoustic transducer unit so as to detect acoustic signals transmitted between the object and the transducer unit including their reflections, and for deducing the position of the object from the detected acoustic signals and their reflections,wherein the acoustic transducer unit comprises at least a first transducer (1) and a second transducer (2) arranged at a mutual spacing (D), andwherein the device (20) is further arranged for determining the times of arrival of the detected acoustic signals and their reflections, and for associating reflections with surfaces (11, 12) on the basis of the order of the times of arrival of the reflections and the correspondence of said times of arrival with the respective transducers (1, 2) so as to derive position information from said order.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for determining the position of an object (8) in a space (10) defined by surfaces (11, 12) comprises at least a first transducer (1), a second transducer (2) and a processing device. The transducers are arranged at a mutual spacing (D). The processing device is arranged for determining the times of arrival of both acoustic signals transmitted between the object and each of the transducers (1, 2) and their reflections. On the basis of the difference in the times of arrival of clusters of acoustic signals and the associated reflections the processing device can determine which surface (11, 12) the indirect acoustic signals were reflected by, thus providing additional position information.
26 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A device (20) for determining the position of an object (8) in a space (10) defined by surfaces (11, 12), the device being arranged for cooperating with an acoustic transducer unit so as to detect acoustic signals transmitted between the object and the transducer unit including their reflections, and for deducing the position of the object from the detected acoustic signals and their reflections,
wherein the acoustic transducer unit comprises at least a first transducer (1) and a second transducer (2) arranged at a mutual spacing (D), and wherein the device (20) is further arranged for determining the times of arrival of the detected acoustic signals and their reflections, and for associating reflections with surfaces (11, 12) on the basis of the order of the times of arrival of the reflections and the correspondence of said times of arrival with the respective transducers (1, 2) so as to derive position information from said order.
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12. A method of determining the position of an object (8) in a space (10) defined by surfaces (11, 12) using an acoustic transducer unit, the method comprising the steps of detecting acoustic signals transmitted between the object and the transducer unit including their reflections, and deducing the position of the object from the detected acoustic signals and their reflections,
wherein the acoustic transducer unit comprises at least a first transducer (1) and a second transducer (2) arranged at a mutual spacing (D), and wherein the times of arrival of the detected acoustic signals and their reflections are determined, and reflections are associated with surfaces (11, 12) on the basis of the order of the times of arrival of the reflections and the correspondence of said times of arrival with the respective transducers (1, 2) so as to derive position information from said order.
Specification