Virtual positioning media control system
First Claim
1. A control system for variably operable apparatus in response to movement of an object over a large area characterized in that it comprises:
- a fixed frame of reference (10) for said large area (10A), comprising at least four calibration points (1,2,3,4) any three of which are not collinear;
a further reference point of origin establishing X, Y and Z coordinates of each of said calibration points, the X, Y and Z coordinates being calculable;
a tracking head, having pan and tilt controls for tracking the movement of an object in the large area and measuring pan and tilt angles of the tracking head for each of said calibration points;
a variably operable system and means to establish control positions of the variably operable system for each of said calibration points;
computer means to calculate in real time from said X, Y and Z coordinates and from said pan and tilt angles, a series of pan and tilt angles for the variably operable system, a series of the X, Y, Z position and/or the pan, tilt and rotation angle offsets of the tracking head and the variably operable system; and
means to set in real time the variably operable system into conformity with calculated pan and tilt angle offsets therefor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for variably operable devices, such as spotlight systems (16) to follow the movements of a performer (12) over an area, derives control data from a tracking head (14) which follows the movements of the performer (12). The tracking head (14) may be operated manually to follow the performer. A frame of reference (10) is set up over the area (10A), the frame of reference including at least four calibration points (1, 2, 3, 4), any three of which are not collinear. The frame of reference (10) also includes a reference point of origin (C). Prom the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the tracking head with respect to the calibration points and from the pan and tilt angles of the tracking head, control commands for the variably operable apparatus are computed in real time.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A control system for variably operable apparatus in response to movement of an object over a large area characterized in that it comprises:
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a fixed frame of reference (10) for said large area (10A), comprising at least four calibration points (1,2,3,4) any three of which are not collinear;
a further reference point of origin establishing X, Y and Z coordinates of each of said calibration points, the X, Y and Z coordinates being calculable;
a tracking head, having pan and tilt controls for tracking the movement of an object in the large area and measuring pan and tilt angles of the tracking head for each of said calibration points;
a variably operable system and means to establish control positions of the variably operable system for each of said calibration points;
computer means to calculate in real time from said X, Y and Z coordinates and from said pan and tilt angles, a series of pan and tilt angles for the variably operable system, a series of the X, Y, Z position and/or the pan, tilt and rotation angle offsets of the tracking head and the variably operable system; and
means to set in real time the variably operable system into conformity with calculated pan and tilt angle offsets therefor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of controlling variably operable apparatus in response to movement of an object over a large area characterized in that it comprises:
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establishing a fixed frame of reference for said large area, comprising at least four calibration points any three of which are not collinear;
establishing a further reference point of origin establishing X, Y and Z coordinates of each of said calibration points and calculating the X, Y and Z coordinates;
tracking the movement of an object in the large area using a tracking head, having pan and tilt controls and measuring pan and tilt angles of the tracking head for each of said calibration points;
establishing control positions of the variably operable system for each of said calibration points;
calculating in real time using computer means and algorithms, from said X, Y and Z coordinates and from said pan and tilt angles, a series of pan and tilt angles for the variably operable system, and a series of the X, Y, Z positions and of the pan, tilt and rotation angle offsets of the tracking head and the variably operable system; and
setting in real time the variably operable system into conformity with calculated pan and tilt angle offsets therefor. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A control system for a variably operable apparatus responsive to movement of an object over a large area, comprising:
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a fixed frame of reference relative to said large area;
a tracking head at a known position and orientation relative to said frame of reference, said tracking head being pan and tilt rotatable relative to said frame of reference for line-of-sight tracking of the object as it moves over the large area, said tracking head having sensors for measuring pan and tilt angles of said tracking head;
a variably operable system at a known position and orientation relative to said frame of reference and remote from said tracking head;
computer means coupled to said sensors for determining the position of the object relative to said frame of reference based upon said pan and tilt angles and for calculating in real-time a control setting in response to the position of the object; and
control means coupled to said computer means and said variably operable system, for controlling, in real-time, said variably operable system in response to the calculated control setting. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of controlling a variably operable apparatus in response to movement of an object over a large area, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) establishing a frame of reference relative to the large area;
(b) tracking, by line-of-sight, the movement of the object using a tracking head at a known position and orientation relative to the frame of reference, the tracking head being pan and tilt rotatable relative to the frame of reference and having sensors for measuring pan and tilt angles of the tracking head;
(c) determining the position of the object relative to the frame of reference in response to the measurements of the sensors;
(d) calculating in real-time a control setting for a variably operable system in response to the position of the object, the variably operable system being at a known position and orientation relative to the frame of reference; and
(e) controlling, in real-time, the variably operable system in response to the calculated control setting. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification