SENSOR-BASED ORIENTATION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method for determining movement of an object in six degrees of freedom, the method comprising:
- providing a first linear accelerometer and a second linear accelerometer disposed on an imaginary axis relative to the object, wherein at least one axis of sensitivity of the first linear accelerometer is parallel to at least one axis of sensitivity of the second linear accelerometer;
measuring, with the first linear accelerometer, a first linear movement of the object in relation to an x-y-z coordinate system;
measuring, with the second linear accelerometer, a second linear movement of the object in relation to the x-y-z coordinate system; and
measuring with the first linear accelerometer and the second linear accelerometer an angular rotation of the object in relation to three axes of rotation in the x-y-z coordinate system, wherein the imaginary axis is not parallel with any axes in the x-y-z coordinate system.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for measuring positional changes of an object, including rotation about any or all of three axes, using linear accelerometers. There is disclosed a method of using a linear accelerometer to integrate two 3D linear accelerometers in order to measure and supply for further use six-dimensional information, that is, translation in three dimensions and rotation about three axes. Two linear accelerometer sensors are used to determine all but rotation about an imaginary axis between the accelerometers. Output from a third accelerometer may be used to generate the data needed to determine rotation about the imaginary axis. The need for a gyroscope for detecting changes in heading (i.e., yaw or azimuth) may therefore be avoided.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for determining movement of an object in six degrees of freedom, the method comprising:
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providing a first linear accelerometer and a second linear accelerometer disposed on an imaginary axis relative to the object, wherein at least one axis of sensitivity of the first linear accelerometer is parallel to at least one axis of sensitivity of the second linear accelerometer; measuring, with the first linear accelerometer, a first linear movement of the object in relation to an x-y-z coordinate system; measuring, with the second linear accelerometer, a second linear movement of the object in relation to the x-y-z coordinate system; and measuring with the first linear accelerometer and the second linear accelerometer an angular rotation of the object in relation to three axes of rotation in the x-y-z coordinate system, wherein the imaginary axis is not parallel with any axes in the x-y-z coordinate system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16)
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8. An apparatus for determining movement of an object in six degrees of freedom, comprising:
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a first linear accelerometer having three axes of sensitivity; a second linear accelerometer having three axes of sensitivity and positioned with respect to the first linear accelerometer to define an imaginary axis, wherein at least one axis of sensitivity of the first linear accelerometer is parallel to at least one axis of sensitivity of the second linear accelerometer; means for measuring, with the first linear accelerometer and the second linear accelerometer, the linear movement of the object in relation to an x-y-z coordinate system; and means for measuring, with the first linear accelerometer and the second linear accelerometer, an angular rotation of the object in relation to three axes of rotation in the x-y-z coordinate system, wherein the imaginary axis is not parallel with any axes in the x-y-z coordinate system. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer program product for enabling a computer to determine movement of an object in six degrees of freedom comprising:
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software instructions for enabling the computer to perform predetermined operations; and a computer readable storage medium bearing the software instructions; the predetermined operations including; receiving information from a first linear accelerometer and a second linear accelerometer disposed on an imaginary axis relative to the object, wherein at least one axis of sensitivity of the first linear accelerometer is parallel to at least one axis of sensitivity of the second linear accelerometer; determining, with the information from the first linear accelerometer, a first linear movement of the object in relation to an x-y-z coordinate system; determining, with the information from the second linear accelerometer, a second linear movement of the object in relation to the x-y-z coordinate system; determining with the information from the first linear accelerometer and the second linear accelerometer an angular rotation of the object in relation to three axes of rotation in the x-y-z coordinate system, wherein the imaginary axis is not parallel with any axes in the x-y-z coordinate system; determining, with the first linear movement and the second linear movement, a change in position of the object; and determining, with the angular rotation, a change in orientation of the object, wherein the computer determines changes in orientation of the object in six degrees of freedom.
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Specification