System and method for alignment using a portable inertial device

• US 8,332,181 B1
• Filed: 12/09/2009
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Liu, Yong, Challoner, A. Dorian
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, John H
• Application Number:
  US12/634,529
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 702/94, 702/96, 702/127, 702/138, 702/141, 702/150, 702/188, 735/140.8, 735/141.2, 735/143.2, 345/156, 345/864, 367/96, 382/115, 382/103
• US Class Current: 702/150
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 25/005 initial alignment, calibration or starting-up of inertial devices

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a small size hand-held device for aligning two or more structures by attaching the device to master and slave structures and providing real-time position/orientation data to enable the accurate alignment of the structures. The handheld device includes a sensor box containing at least one inertial sensor, such as for example, a gyroscope (such as a disc resonator gyroscope) or an accelerometer. The handheld device further includes an alignment socket designed to mate with an alignment key that may be fixed to the structures to be aligned, and a display for showing a position data output received from the at least one inertial sensor. The handheld device may further include a processor for processing and outputting data to the display and/or the handheld device may include a transmitter for transmitting the data to a central processing unit.

Claims

1. A method to align a first object with a second object, comprising:

positioning a portable device at a known position within a reference frame by mating an alignment key of a calibration station with an alignment socket of the portable device in a predetermined location on a calibration station, wherein the portable device comprises an inertial sensor;

attaching the portable device to a predetermined location on the first object by mating the alignment key of to the first object with an alignment socket formed on the portable device;

learning a position/orientation of the object relative to a reference frame using the inertial sensor of the portable device;

moving the portable device from the first object to a predetermined location on the second object by mating an alignment key of the second object with the alignment socket of the portable device;

determining relative position data relating the relative position of the second device with respect to the first device using the inertial sensor of the portable device; and

aligning the first object with the second object based on the relative position data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object is a slave structure and the second object is a master structure.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the relative position data to determine a prescribed path for moving the first structure to align the first structure with the second structure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the relative position data is output to a processor which controls a machine for moving the object into the desired configuration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the relative position data is output to a display which shows the position of the object in real-time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object is blindly moved to align the first object with the second object.

7. A handheld device to align a first object with a second object, comprising:

a sensor box containing at least one inertial sensor;

an alignment socket in the handheld device to mate with an alignment key;

a processor coupled to the inertial sensor and configured to;

determine a calibration position of the handheld device within a reference frame when the handheld device is mated to a calibration station;

determine a first position of a first object within the reference frame when the handheld device is moved from the calibration position and mated to the first object;

determine a second position of a second object within the reference frame when the handheld device is moved from the first object and mated to the second object; and

a display for showing a relative position data output received from the at least one inertial sensor.

8. The handheld device of claim 7, wherein the at least one inertial sensor includes a MEMS gyroscope and a MEMS accelerometer.

9. The handheld device of claim 7, wherein the at least one inertial sensor includes a disc resonator gyroscope.

10. The handheld device of claim 7, further comprising a processor and a data storage system.

11. The handheld device of claim 7, further comprising a transmitter for transmitting data to a central processing unit.

12. A system to align a first object with a second object, comprising:

a calibration station comprising an alignment key;

at least one portable device, the portable device having at least one inertial sensor; and

a processor coupled to the inertial sensor and configured to;

determine a calibration position of the portable device within a reference frame when the portable device is mated to the calibration station;

determine a first position of a first object within the reference frame when the handheld device is moved from the calibration position and mated to the first object;

determine a second position of a second object within the reference frame when the handheld device is moved from the first object and mated to the second object.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one inertial sensor includes a gyroscope and an accelerometer.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the portable device further comprises a transmitter for transmitting the data from the inertial sensor to the processor, which is part of a central processing unit.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a machine for moving said slave structure into the desired configuration.