Optical system for determining the roll orientation of a remote unit relative to a base unit
First Claim
1. A system for determining the pointing orientation of a remote unit relative to a base unit, the system comprising:
- a fixed base unit comprising at least one light source for emitting at least one light beam which light beam is polarized in at least one particular orientation;
a movable remote unit comprising photodetector means for detecting light emitted by said light source means of the fixed base unit, said photodetector means comprising means responsive to receipt of said polarized light beam for determining pitch, yaw and roll of the remote unit relative to the base unit; and
means for transmitting signals related to the pitch, yaw and roll of the remote unit relative to the base unit to the base unit.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for determining the pointing orientation of a remote unit relative to a base unit. The fixed base unit comprises at least one light source for emitting at least one light beam, and a polarizer for polarizing light emitted by said light source in at least one particular predetermined orientation. The movable remote unit comprises a photodetector for detecting light emitted by said light source means of the fixed base unit and determining components of pitch, yaw and roll of the remote unit relative to the base unit. The remote unit transmits signals related to the pitch, yaw and roll to the base unit. Either the base unit or the remote unit may compute corrected pitch and yaw of the remote unit on the basis of the roll of the remote unit. The roll information may be used alone to rotate an icon in a graphical user interface on a television or computer screen.
333 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system for determining the pointing orientation of a remote unit relative to a base unit, the system comprising:
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a fixed base unit comprising at least one light source for emitting at least one light beam which light beam is polarized in at least one particular orientation; a movable remote unit comprising photodetector means for detecting light emitted by said light source means of the fixed base unit, said photodetector means comprising means responsive to receipt of said polarized light beam for determining pitch, yaw and roll of the remote unit relative to the base unit; and means for transmitting signals related to the pitch, yaw and roll of the remote unit relative to the base unit to the base unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for remotely controlling the position of an icon or graphical object representation on a screen, the system comprising:
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means for emitting at least one light beam from a position proximate the screen; movable remote unit means for detecting the light beam and comprising means for determining at least a relative roll angle between the remote unit and the screen on the basis of the light beam, and generating signals representative of the roll angle, said movable remote means comprising transmitting means for transmitting the signals representative of the roll angle from the remote unit; means for receiving the signals representative of the roll angle transmitted by the remote unit; and means for controlling the position of the icon or graphical object representation to rotate the icon or graphical object representation in response to the signals representative of the roll angle transmitted by the remote unit. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A method for rotating a cursor or icon on a screen comprising the steps of:
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emitting at least one light beam from a position proximate the screen; detecting the light beam in a movable remote unit to determine at least a relative roll angle between the remote unit and the screen on the basis of the light beam, and generating signals representative of the roll angle; transmitting the signals representative of the roll angle from the remote unit; receiving the signals representative of the roll angle transmitted by the remote unit; and controlling the position of the icon to rotate the icon in response to the signals representative of the roll angle transmitted by the remote unit. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification