Remote object position locater
First Claim
1. Apparatus for determining position coordinate of an object, constrained to move in a plane, relative to a reference coordinate frame and remote from said reference coordinate frame comprising:
- two radiating means having orthogonal components centered about the origin of said reference coordinate frame;
means for applying to said two radiating means electrical signals which are multiplexed with respect to one another for producing two electromagnetic fields radiated in response to said electrical signals, said two electromagnetic fields being distinguishable from one another and containing information characterizing the polarity of the electromagnetic radiation;
two receiving means having orthogonal components for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromagnetic fields; and
analyzing means coupled to said receiving means for converting said electromagnetic field components into remote object position coordinates relative to said reference coordinate frame, said analyzing means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means and including computation means for determining the separation distance between said radiating means and said receiving means by comparing the total transmitted magnetic moment to the total received magnetic moment.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Three mutually orthogonal radiating antennas each transmit electromagnetic radiation to three mutually orthogonal receiving antennas. The transmitted electromagnetic radiation carries data characterizing the phase of the electromagnetic radiation. Measurement of the three transmitted signals as received by the set of three orthogonal receiving antennas produces nine parameters which, in combination with one known position or orientation parameter, are sufficient to determine the position and orientation parameters of the receiving antennas with respect to the position and orientation of the radiating antennas.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. Apparatus for determining position coordinate of an object, constrained to move in a plane, relative to a reference coordinate frame and remote from said reference coordinate frame comprising:
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two radiating means having orthogonal components centered about the origin of said reference coordinate frame; means for applying to said two radiating means electrical signals which are multiplexed with respect to one another for producing two electromagnetic fields radiated in response to said electrical signals, said two electromagnetic fields being distinguishable from one another and containing information characterizing the polarity of the electromagnetic radiation; two receiving means having orthogonal components for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromagnetic fields; and analyzing means coupled to said receiving means for converting said electromagnetic field components into remote object position coordinates relative to said reference coordinate frame, said analyzing means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means and including computation means for determining the separation distance between said radiating means and said receiving means by comparing the total transmitted magnetic moment to the total received magnetic moment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. Apparatus for determining the position of a remote object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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three radiating means having orthogonal components centered about the origin of said reference coordinate frame; means for applying to said three radiating means electrical signals which are multiplexed with respect to one another and, additionally, carry information for characterizing the polarity of said three electromagnetic fields radiated in response to said electrical signals, said three electromagnetic fields being distinguishable from one another; three receiving means having orthogonal components for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromagnetic fields; and analyzing means coupled to said receiving means for converting said electromagnetic field components into remote object position relative to said reference coordinate frame with at most one ambiguous combination of orientation and position, said analyzing means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means and including computation means for determining the separation distance between said radiating means and said receiving means by comparing the total transmitted magnetic moment to the total received magnetic moment. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for determining the position and orientation of an object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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three radiating means having orthogonal components located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating an electromagnetic field; means for applying to said radiating means electrical signals which differ from one another thereby creating electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means, said electrical signals including spatial component data characterizing the magnetic moment and polarity of said electromagnetic fields; means for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromgnetic fields; and means for converting said electromagnetic field components into object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame, said means for converting operating open loop with respect to said radiating means. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for determining the position and orientation of an object with respect to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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three orthogonal, conductive loop radiating means located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating an electromagnetic field; means for applying to said radiating means three sinusoidal, coherent, frequency multiplexed electrical signals which differ from one another thereby creating distinguishable electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means, said electrical signals including data characterizing the magnetic moment and phase of said electromagnetic fields; three orthogonal, conductive loop receiving means mounted to said object for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromagnetic fields, said spatial components including nine characteristic signals, each of said three receiving means having a characterisitc signal associated with each of said three radiating means; and means for converting said electromagnetic field components into object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame, said converting means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means including means for determining the total magnetic moment radiated from said radiating means, means for determining the total magnetic moment received by said receiving means, and means for determining the distance of said object from said radiating means by comparing said total magnetic moment radiated to said total magnetic moment received, said distance being limited so said electromagnetic field has a near-field component substantially greater than a far-field component of said electromagnetic field. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. Apparatus for determining the orientation of an object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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three radiating means having orthogonal components located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating an electromagnetic field; means for applying to said radiating means electrical signals which differ from one another thereby creating electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means, said electrical signals including spatial component data characterizing the magnetic moment and polarity of said electromagnetic fields; means for detecting and measuring the spatial components of said electromagnetic fields; and means for converting said electromagnetic field components into object orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame, said means for converting operating open loop with respect to said radiating means.
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Specification