Close range fault tolerant noncontacting position sensor
First Claim
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1. A system for determining instantaneously, the half space three dimensional spatial coordinates of a moving or stationary emitter source, comprising:
- (a) receiver means for receiving a radiated energy signal, said receiver means being comprised of a plurality of reception elements established in a planar configuration, each reception element being located at a known element position;
(b) converter means in communication with said receiving means for converting the energy signal received by each reception element into a magnitude signal proportional to the energy signal received by each reception element;
(c) position processing means in communication with said converter means for calculating in real time the half space three dimensional position of the emitter source based upon a closed form solution of a set of linear equations derived from a vector loop relationship established for each reception element, said vector loop relationship comprising the magnitude of vectors formed from the emitter source to each reception element, from each reception element to a wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point back to the emitter source.
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Abstract
A method and system for locating the three dimensional coordinates of a moving or stationary object in real time. The three dimensional coordinates of an object in half space or full space are determined based upon the time of arrival or phase of the wave front measured by a plurality of receiver elements and an established vector magnitudes proportional to the measured time of arrival or phase at each receiver element. The coordinates of the object are calculated by solving a matrix equation or a set of closed form algebraic equations.
17 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A system for determining instantaneously, the half space three dimensional spatial coordinates of a moving or stationary emitter source, comprising:
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(a) receiver means for receiving a radiated energy signal, said receiver means being comprised of a plurality of reception elements established in a planar configuration, each reception element being located at a known element position; (b) converter means in communication with said receiving means for converting the energy signal received by each reception element into a magnitude signal proportional to the energy signal received by each reception element; (c) position processing means in communication with said converter means for calculating in real time the half space three dimensional position of the emitter source based upon a closed form solution of a set of linear equations derived from a vector loop relationship established for each reception element, said vector loop relationship comprising the magnitude of vectors formed from the emitter source to each reception element, from each reception element to a wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point back to the emitter source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for determining instantaneously, the full space three dimensional spatial coordinates of a moving or stationary emitter source, comprising:
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(a) receiver means for receiving a radiated energy signal, said receiver means being comprised of a plurality of reception elements, said reception elements being aligned in a non-planar configuration and located at a known element position; (b) converter means in communication with said receiving means for converting the energy signal received by each reception element into a magnitude signal proportional to the energy signal received by each reception element; (c) position processing means in communication with said converter means for calculating in real time the full space three dimensional position of the emitter source based upon solving a closed form solution of a set of linear equations derived from vector loop relationship established for each reception element, said vector loop relationship comprising the magnitude of vectors formed from the emitter source to each reception element, from each reception element to a wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point back to the emitter source. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for locating in real time, the half space three dimensional spatial coordinates of a moving or stationary object, the steps comprising:
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(a) establishing a plurality of receiver elements in planar configuration, each element being spaced from an adjacent element by a fixed distance parameter; (b) receiving a radiated energy signal by the plurality of receiver elements; (c) calculating for each receiver element a magnitude signal proportional to the energy signal received by the receiver element; (d) determining in real time the half space three dimensional position of the emitter source based upon a closed form solution of a set of linear equations derived from a vector loop relationship established for each reception element, said vector loop relationship comprising the magnitude of vectors formed from the emitter source to each reception element, from each reception element to a wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point back to the emitter source. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for locating in real time, the full space three dimensional spatial coordinates of a moving or stationary object, the steps comprising:
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(a) establishing an plurality of receiver elements in a non-planar configuration, each element being spaced from an adjacent element by a fixed distance parameter; (b) receiving energy signals by the plurality of receiver elements; (c) calculating a plurality of distance oriented signals, said distance oriented signals being proportional to the energy signals received by the receiver elements; (d) determining in real time the full space three dimensional position of the emitter source based upon solving a closed form solution of a set of linear equations derived from vector loop relationship established for each reception element, said vector loop relationship comprising the magnitude of vectors formed from the emitter source to each reception element, from each reception element to a wave front tangency point and from the wave front tangency point back to the emitter source. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification