Remote object position and orientation locater
First Claim
1. Apparatus for determining the position and orientation of a remote object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
- a plurality of radiating means having orthogonal components centered about the origin of said reference coordinate frame;
transmitter means for applying to said plurality of radiating means electrical signals which generate a plurality of electromagnetic fields, said plurality of electromagnetic fields being distinguishable from one another;
a plurality of receiving means having orthogonal components disposed on said remote object for detecting and measuring said electromagnetic fields;
one of said plurality of radiating means and said plurality of receiving means consisting of two orthogonal components and the other consisting of three orthogonal components; and
analyzing means associated with said receiving means for converting the components of said electromagnetic fields received by said plurality of receiving means into remote object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame with at most two ambiguous combinations of orientation and position, said analyzing means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Two mutually orthogonal radiating antennas each transmit electromagnetic radiation to three mutually orthogonal receiving antennas. The transmitted electromagnetic radiation carries data characterizing the phase and magnetic moment of the electromagnetic radiation. Measurement of the two transmitted signals as received by the set of three orthogonal receiving antennas produces information which, in combination with two known position or orientation parameters, is sufficient to determine in a noniterative manner the six position and orientation parameters of the receiving antennas with respect to the radiating antennas. Use of only two radiating antennas increases the speed of the system and simplifies the transmitter. Alternatively, three radiating antennas and two receiving antennas may be provided to simplify the receiver.
546 Citations
31 Claims
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1. Apparatus for determining the position and orientation of a remote object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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a plurality of radiating means having orthogonal components centered about the origin of said reference coordinate frame; transmitter means for applying to said plurality of radiating means electrical signals which generate a plurality of electromagnetic fields, said plurality of electromagnetic fields being distinguishable from one another; a plurality of receiving means having orthogonal components disposed on said remote object for detecting and measuring said electromagnetic fields; one of said plurality of radiating means and said plurality of receiving means consisting of two orthogonal components and the other consisting of three orthogonal components; and analyzing means associated with said receiving means for converting the components of said electromagnetic fields received by said plurality of receiving means into remote object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame with at most two ambiguous combinations of orientation and position, said analyzing means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27)
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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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a plurality of radiating means having orthogonal components located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating an electromagnetic field, each of said radiating means being a magnetic-dipole source; transmitter means for applying to said plurality of radiating means electrical signals which differ from one another thereby creating distinguishable electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means; a plurality of receiving means having orthogonal components disposed on said remote object for detecting and measuring said electromagnetic fields, each of said receiving means comprising a loop antenna; one of said plurality of radiating means and said plurality of receiving means consisting of two orthogonal components and the other consisting of three orthogonal components; and means for converting the components of said electromagnetic fields received by said plurality of receiving means into remote object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame in a non-iterative manner with at most two ambiguous combinations of position and orientation, said means for converting operating open loop with respect to said radiating means. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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18. Apparatus for determining the orientation of an object relative to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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a plurality of radiating means having orthogonal components located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating a plurality of electromagnetic fields; transmitter means for applying to said plurality of radiating means electrical signals which differ from one another thereby creating distinguishable electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means; a plurality of receiving means having orthogonal components disposed on the object for detecting and measuring said electromagnetic fields; one of said plurality of radiating means and said plurality of receiving means consisting of only two orthogonal components and the other consisting of three orthogonal components; and means for converting the components of said electromagnetic fields received by said plurality of receiving means into object orientation in a non-iterative manner relative to said reference coordinate frame, said means for converting operating open loop with respect to said radiating means. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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28. Apparatus for determining the position and orientation of an object with respect to a reference coordinate frame comprising:
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a plurality of mutually orthogonal, conductive loop radiating means located at the origin of said reference coordinate frame for radiating a plurality of electromagnetic fields; transmitter means for applying to each of said radiating means a sinusoidal, coherent, frequency multiplexed electrical signal, a different sinusoidal, coherent, frequency multiplexed electrical signal being applied to each radiating means, thereby creating distinguishable electromagnetic fields associated with each of said radiating means; a plurality of mutually orthogonal, conductive loop receiving means mounted to said object for detecting and measuring components of said electromagnetic fields, each of said plurality of receiving means having a characteristic signal associated with each of said radiating means; one of said plurality of radiating means and said plurality of receiving means consisting of only two orthogonal components and the other consisting of three orthogonal components; and means for converting these components of said electromagnetic fields received by said receiving means into object position and orientation relative to said reference coordinate frame, said orientation being determined in a non-iterative manner, said converting means operating open loop with respect to said radiating means and including means for determining the distance of said object from said radiating means by comparing the strength of transmitted and received electromagnetic fields, said distance being limited to a range within which said electromagnetic fields have near field components substantially greater than far field components. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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Specification