Tracking device having emitter groups with different emitting directions
First Claim
1. A tracking device for use in an optical tracking system to track a position and orientation of an object, said tracking device comprising:
- a tracker housing having a first side and a second side, and comprising means for rigidly fixing the device to the object;
a first face on the first side of said device, said first face comprising a first group of at least three emitters, the first group of emitters operable to emit radiation substantially in a first direction directed away from the first side; and
a second face on the first side of said device, said second face comprising a second group of at least three emitters, the second group of emitters operable to emit radiation in a second direction directed away from the first side; and
wherein the second direction is different from the first direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tracking device for use in an optical tracking system is disclosed. The tracking device has a plurality of faces, each face having at least three markers which can be tracked by the optical tracking system. The markers may be infrared emitting diodes. The tracking system can individually activate the markers on each of the faces and select the markers which can be most accurately tracked by the tracking system. Portions of the faces are adjacent to one another to form clusters of emitters. The clusters of emitters are separated by at least a predetermined distance corresponding to the tolerance of the optical tracking system. The field of view of the tracking device approximates a section of a sphere centered at the device.
229 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A tracking device for use in an optical tracking system to track a position and orientation of an object, said tracking device comprising:
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a tracker housing having a first side and a second side, and comprising means for rigidly fixing the device to the object; a first face on the first side of said device, said first face comprising a first group of at least three emitters, the first group of emitters operable to emit radiation substantially in a first direction directed away from the first side; and a second face on the first side of said device, said second face comprising a second group of at least three emitters, the second group of emitters operable to emit radiation in a second direction directed away from the first side; and wherein the second direction is different from the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In an optical tracking system to track a position and orientation of an object, a tracking device comprising:
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a tracker housing having a first side and a second side, and comprising means for rigidly fixing the device to the object; a first face comprising at least three face portions; a first group of at least three emitters, each emitter in the first group located on a corresponding portion of the first face, the first group of emitters operable to emit radiation substantially in a first direction directed away from the first side; a second face comprising at least three face portions; a second group of at least three emitters, each emitter in the second group located on a corresponding portion of the second face, the second group of emitters operable to emit radiation substantially in a second direction away from the first side and different from the first direction; and wherein each portion of the first face is adjacent a corresponding portion of the second face. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In an optical tracking system to track a position and orientation of an object, a tracking device comprising:
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a tracker housing comprising means for rigidly fixing the tracking device to the object; at least two groups of emitters, each group of emitters having at least three emitters emitting radiation in the same direction, and, each group of emitters emitting radiation in different directions; wherein the optical tracking system can track the position and orientation of the object by tracking any group of emitters; and wherein the emitters are arranged on the housing in at least three clusters, each cluster comprising one emitter from each of the groups. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification