Audio-based position tracking
First Claim
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1. A sound wave-based tracking system comprising:
- a speaker at a fixed location for automatically transmitting a given signal combined with one or more other signals, wherein said given signal has a given frequency above an audible range and said other signals have frequencies in the audible range;
a plurality of microphones mounted upon an object for receiving said given signal; and
a computing device for determining at least one of a position and an orientation of said object from a delay of said given signal received by each of said plurality of microphones, wherein said signal comprises a marker and wherein said delay is determined as a function of a delay of said marker received by each of said plurality of microphones relative to said marker of a reference signal.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide an audio-based position tracking system. The position tracking systems comprises one or more speakers, an array of microphones and a computing device. The speaker is located at a fixed position and transmits an audio signal. The microphone array is mounted upon a moving object and receives the audio signal. The computing device determines a position of the moving object as a function of the delay of the audio signal received by each microphone in the array.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A sound wave-based tracking system comprising:
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a speaker at a fixed location for automatically transmitting a given signal combined with one or more other signals, wherein said given signal has a given frequency above an audible range and said other signals have frequencies in the audible range; a plurality of microphones mounted upon an object for receiving said given signal; and a computing device for determining at least one of a position and an orientation of said object from a delay of said given signal received by each of said plurality of microphones, wherein said signal comprises a marker and wherein said delay is determined as a function of a delay of said marker received by each of said plurality of microphones relative to said marker of a reference signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of tracking comprising:
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transmitting simultaneously a first non-audible signal from a first speaker and a second non-audible signal from a second speaker; transmitting an audible signal from the first speaker substantially simultaneously with the first and second non-audible signals; receiving said first and second non-audible signals at a plurality of microphones; determining a delay for each of said received first and second non-audible signals for each of said plurality of microphones; and determining at least one of a relative position and a relative orientation of said plurality of microphones as a function of said determined delays. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A computing system comprising:
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a plurality of speakers for transmitting one or more sound waves in the audible range, and wherein a first one of the plurality of speakers automatically transmits a first signal at a first frequency above the audible range substantially simultaneously with said one or more sounds in the audible range and a second one of the plurality of speakers automatically transmits a second signal at a second frequency above the audible range substantially simultaneously with the first signal and said one or more sounds in the audible range; a plurality of microphones mounted on an assembly for receiving said first and second signals; and a computing device coupled to control said speakers and coupled to receive said first and second signals from each of said plurality of microphones, said computing device for determining at least one of a relative position and a relative orientation of said assembly based on delay differences of said first and second signals received from each of said plurality of microphones. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A sound wave-based tracking system comprising:
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a speaker at a fixed location for automatically transmitting a given signal combined with one or more other signals, wherein said given signal has a given frequency above an audible range and said other signals have frequencies in the audible range; a plurality of microphones mounted upon an object for receiving said given signal; and a computing device for determining at least one of a position and an orientation of said object from a delay of said given signal received by each of said plurality of microphones, wherein said delay is determined as a function of a time delay of said signal received by each of said plurality of microphones relative to a reference signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification