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Positioning apparatus and method

  • US 8,269,624 B2
  • Filed: 11/09/2007
  • Issued: 09/18/2012
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2006
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A positioning method, comprising the steps of:

  • (a) a position detection module detecting a movement of an object and thus generating a corresponding positioning signal, wherein the step of detecting the movement of an object includes the steps of (1) an inertial sensor with an accelerator and a gyroscope detecting and measuring three accelerations of an object'"'"'s movement along three corresponding orthogonal axes of a coordinate system so as to measure variations in the object'"'"'s movement, (2) a magnetometer providing an azimuth angle with respect to an absolute coordinate system for the object, and (3) a global positioning device locating the position of the object with respect to the absolute coordinate system, wherein the position detection module switches locating the position of the object between using the global positioning device and using the inertial sensor and the magnetometer in response to the global positioning device receiving a satellite signal such that the position detection module uses only the inertial sensor and the magnetometer when the global positioning device does not receive a satellite signal;

    (b) a control unit receiving the positioning signal;

    (c) a signal processing device processing the positioning signal from the control unit and generating an angular/displacement signal accordingly;

    (d) a signal transmission device with a wireless transmission module and a receiving unit transmitting the angular/displacement signal, wherein the step of transmitting the angular/displacement signal includes the steps of the wireless transmission module transmitting the angular/displacement signal of the signal processing device in a wireless manner and the receiving unit wirelessly receiving the angular/displacement signal transmitted from the wireless transmission module and then transmitting the received angular/displacement signal, wherein the control unit, the signal processing device and the wireless transmission module are integrated with the position detection module; and

    (e) a monitoring device with a displaying unit receiving the angular/displacement signal from the receiving unit while using the same for tracking the movement of the object, and the displaying unit displaying the movement of the object via the signal transmission device enabling the monitoring device, the monitoring device being integrated with the receiving unit and remotely located from the position detection module so as to be independent from a location and movement of the position detection module.

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