SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESOLVING SPATIAL ORIENTATION USING INTELLIGENT OPTICAL SELECTIVITY

• US 20110293182A1
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marcus Krieter
• Original Assignee: Marcus Krieter
• Inventors: KRIETER, MARCUS
• Granted Patent: US 8,428,394 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/181
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/163 Determination of attitude using inertial means G01C9/00; control of attitude G05D1/49

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for resolving complete free space orientation of an active receiving device at high speed using simple optics, trigonometry, simple circuitry, and using minimal processing power. The rapid triangulation of distance from the emitters, as well as resolution of rotational orientation, are determined by changing the contrast level in an infrared spectrum and by using wide angle lenses with greater than 180 degree hemispherical viewing angles. Furthermore, the system consists of an optional accelerometer, resident on the receiver, to dynamically adjust the image sensor frame rate.

Claims

1. A method for resolving spatial orientation information of an active receiving device, the method comprising:

transmitting a command from a host to a base;

illuminating an emitter configured on the base upon receiving the command from the host;

transmitting a pixel coordinate of an emitter pattern from the emitter to a receiver;

translating optical rays incident on at least one fisheye lens configured on the receiver onto a first location on a image sensor;

decoding the pixel coordinate of the emitter pattern by a receiver micro-controller unit;

reporting the decoded pixel coordinate to the base;

extinguishing the emitter on receipt of at least one decoded pixel coordinate from the receiver;

resolving an optical reference points by the host from the decoded pixel coordinate; and

calculating, based on the optical reference points, the distance and the spatial orientation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the base includes a Universal Serial Bus, a base micro-controller unit, a driver, the emitter, and a transmitter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the Universal Serial Bus is configured to communicably couple the host and the base micro-controller unit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiver includes the at least one fisheye lens, the image sensor, the receiver micro-controller unit, a battery, and a transmitter.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of filtering out unwanted visual data by the receiver.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitter includes an antenna, and a radio transceiver configured to transmit a radio frequency link.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the emitter is configured on a triangle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the base includes three emitters configured on vertices of an equilateral triangle.

9. A method for resolving spatial orientation information of an active receiving device, the method comprising:

requesting, at a host device, a coordinate of an emitter;

transmitting a command related to the coordinate from the host device to a base device via a first communication link;

illuminating, at the base device, the emitter;

transmitting the command from the base device to a receiver via a second communication link;

triggering, at the receiver, a frame scan to determine a visible emitter coordinate;

transmitting a response and the visible emitter coordinate from the receiver to the base device via the second communication link;

disabling at the base device, the emitter;

transmitting the response and the visible emitter coordinate from the base device to the host device via the first communication link; and

processing, at the host device, the visible emitter coordinate.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first communication link is a Universal Serial Bus link.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second communication link is a radio-frequency link.

12. A system for resolving spatial orientation using optical selectivity, comprising:

a host;

a base communicatively coupled to the host;

at least one emitter mounted on the base, the emitter configured to report a coordinate of an emitter pattern from the base to a receiver;

a data link between the base and the receiver;

at least one image sensor mounted on the receiver;

at least one lens configured to focus energy from the emitter onto the image sensor; and

a microcontroller configured to initiate a single-frame capture from the image sensor.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the host is communicatively coupled to the base via a Universal Serial Bus link.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the base includes a Universal Serial Bus, the micro-controller unit, a driver, the emitter, and a transmitter.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the data link is a full duplex data link.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the receiver includes a wide-angle fish eye lens, the image sensor, a receiver microcontroller unit, and a power source.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising two ultra-wide angle fisheye lenses configured to provide a spherical angle of detection without blind spots.

19. The system of claim 12, further comprising at least one fisheye lens having a greater than 180 degree hemispherical viewing angle.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the fisheye lens is configured to focus energy from the emitter onto the image sensor.

15. The system of claim 15, wherein the transmitter includes an antenna and a radio transceiver.