Positioning system using triangulation positioning based on three pixel positions, a focal length and the two-dimensional coordinates
First Claim
1. A positioning system for positioning a device that is movable on or above a floor surface, said positioning system comprising:
- a plurality of physical reference objects configured to be disposed at respective positions, each of said physical reference objects being configured to provide individual unique feature information that is associated with a two-dimensional coordinate of a location of the physical reference object with respect to a coordinate system associated with the floor surface; and
a positioning device mounted on the device, said positioning device includingan image capturing unit configured to obtain image data of at least three of said physical reference objects during a predetermined time period, the image data containing the feature information provided by said at least three of said physical reference objects, anda processor coupled to said image capturing unit for receiving the image data therefrom, said processor being configured toobtain, based on the image data, at least three pixel positions that correspond respectively to said at least three of said physical reference objects in the image data,obtain the two-dimensional coordinates of the locations of said at least three of said physical reference objects according to the feature information in the image data, andestimate, using a triangulation positioning method, a positioning coordinate of a location of the device with respect to the coordinate system based on the at least three pixel positions, a focal length of said image capturing unit used for obtaining the image data, and the two-dimensional coordinates,wherein said processor is further configured tocalculate, based on the three pixel positions and the focal length,a first angle formed between a first imaginary line, which passes through a position of a first one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and a position of said image capturing unit, and a second imaginary line, which passes through a position of a second one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and the position of said image capturing unit, anda second angle formed between a third imaginary line, which passes through a position of a third one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and the position of said image capturing unit, and one of the first and second imaginary lines, andestimate the positioning coordinate of the location of the device with respect to the coordinate system based further on the first and second angles,wherein the positioning coordinate (p, q) of the location of the device with respect to the coordinate system is obtained from the following simultaneous equations;
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Accused Products
Abstract
A positioning system for positioning a to-be-positioned device includes three or more reference objects each providing individual unique feature information associated with a two-dimensional coordinate. A positioning device includes an image capturing unit obtaining image data of three of the reference objects, and a processing unit obtaining, based on the image data, three pixel positions corresponding respectively to the three reference objects in the image data, obtaining the two-dimensional coordinate of the location of the three reference objects, and estimating a positioning coordinate of the to-be-positioned device using a triangulation positioning method based on the three pixel positions, a focal length used for obtaining the image data and the two-dimensional coordinates.
14 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A positioning system for positioning a device that is movable on or above a floor surface, said positioning system comprising:
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a plurality of physical reference objects configured to be disposed at respective positions, each of said physical reference objects being configured to provide individual unique feature information that is associated with a two-dimensional coordinate of a location of the physical reference object with respect to a coordinate system associated with the floor surface; and a positioning device mounted on the device, said positioning device including an image capturing unit configured to obtain image data of at least three of said physical reference objects during a predetermined time period, the image data containing the feature information provided by said at least three of said physical reference objects, and a processor coupled to said image capturing unit for receiving the image data therefrom, said processor being configured to obtain, based on the image data, at least three pixel positions that correspond respectively to said at least three of said physical reference objects in the image data, obtain the two-dimensional coordinates of the locations of said at least three of said physical reference objects according to the feature information in the image data, and estimate, using a triangulation positioning method, a positioning coordinate of a location of the device with respect to the coordinate system based on the at least three pixel positions, a focal length of said image capturing unit used for obtaining the image data, and the two-dimensional coordinates, wherein said processor is further configured to calculate, based on the three pixel positions and the focal length, a first angle formed between a first imaginary line, which passes through a position of a first one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and a position of said image capturing unit, and a second imaginary line, which passes through a position of a second one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and the position of said image capturing unit, and a second angle formed between a third imaginary line, which passes through a position of a third one of said at least three of said physical reference objects and the position of said image capturing unit, and one of the first and second imaginary lines, and estimate the positioning coordinate of the location of the device with respect to the coordinate system based further on the first and second angles, wherein the positioning coordinate (p, q) of the location of the device with respect to the coordinate system is obtained from the following simultaneous equations; - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification