SPACE SENSOR APPARATUS, MOBILE CARRIER, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20100250020A1
• Filed: 08/27/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Chin-Lung, Kuo, Chia-Lin, Tseng, Kuo-Shih
• Application Number:
  US12/548,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20100250020A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/302
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/46 Indirect determination of position data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/468 by Triangulation, i.e. two antennas or two sensors determine separately the bearing, direction or angle to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, the position data of the target is determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2015/465 by Trilateration, i.e. two transducers determine separately the distance to a target, whereby with the knowledge of the baseline length, i.e. the distance between the transducers, the position data of the target is determined

Abstract

A space sensor apparatus suitable for a mobile carrier is provided. The space sensor apparatus includes a posture angle calculation module, a position calculation module, and a processing system. The posture angle calculation module calculates the current posture angles of the mobile carrier corresponding to different direction axes in a space according to signals input by one or multiple sensors. The position calculation module calculates the current position of the mobile carrier in the space according to the posture angles and an acceleration parameter and outputs a positioning information to the processing system. The processing system further obtains an environment information through a mechanical wave transceiver. After that, the processing system generates a real-time calculation information for controlling the movement track of the mobile carrier in the space according to the positioning information and the environment information.

Claims

1. A mobile carrier, comprising:

a sensor module, for detecting a directional movement of the mobile carrier in a space and outputting at least one spatial parameter;

a positioning system, coupled to the sensor module, for positioning the mobile carrier according to the spatial parameter and outputting a positioning information;

a mechanical wave transceiver, for emitting a mechanical wave into the space, and when the mechanical wave is reflected by an object, receiving the reflected mechanical wave and generating an environment information;

a processing system, coupled to the positioning system and the mechanical wave transceiver, for generating a real-time calculation information according to the positioning information and the environment information; and

a control system, coupled to the processing system, for controlling the directional movement of the mobile carrier in the space according to the real-time calculation information.

2. The mobile carrier according to claim 1, wherein the sensor module comprises:

an angular velocity sensor, for sensing angular velocities of the mobile carrier in the space and generating a plurality of angular velocity parameters for the positioning system; and

an acceleration sensor, for sensing an acceleration of the mobile carrier on each axis in the space and generating a plurality of acceleration parameters for the positioning system.

3. The mobile carrier according to claim 2, wherein the positioning system comprises:

a quaternion calculation unit, coupled to the angular velocity sensor, for receiving the angular velocity parameters and converting the angular velocity parameters into a plurality of real-time quaternion operators according to a first feedback data;

a direction cosine calculation unit, coupled to the quaternion calculation unit, for calculating current posture angles of the mobile carrier in the space corresponding to different axes according to the real-time quaternion operators and the first feedback data;

an acceleration calculation unit, coupled to the direction cosine calculation unit, for extracting a gravity factor out of the acceleration parameters according to the posture angles and calculating gravity components of the mobile carrier in different directions;

an acceleration integrator, coupled to the acceleration calculation unit, for receiving the angular velocity parameters, integrating the gravity components according to a second feedback data, and obtaining velocity components of the mobile carrier in different directions;

a velocity integrator, coupled to the acceleration integrator, for integrating the velocity components according to the second feedback data and obtaining displacement values of the mobile carrier in different directions;

a coordinate conversion unit, coupled to the velocity integrator, for calculating local environment coordinate position of the mobile carrier in the space according to the displacement values and transmitting these values as the positioning information to the processing system; and

a correction unit, coupled to the processing system, for determining whether or not to correct the local environment coordinate position according to the real-time calculation information so as to generate the first feedback data and the second feedback data.

4. The mobile carrier according to claim 3, wherein the first feedback data comprises the quaternion operators and the posture angles obtained during a previous unit time, and the second feedback data comprises the velocity components, the local environment coordinate position, and the displacement values of the mobile carrier relative to body-fixed coordinate in different directions obtained in the previous unit time.

5. The mobile carrier according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical wave is a sonar wave.

6. The mobile carrier according to claim 1, wherein the processing system comprises:

a map association module, coupled to the positioning system, having a map model of the space in which the mobile carrier is located, for generating a map coordinate data according to the positioning information; and

a data association module, coupled to the map association module, the mechanical wave transceiver, and the control system, for comparing the map coordinate data with the environment information and generating a comparison value.

7. The mobile carrier according to claim 6, wherein the control system comprises:

a calculation unit, coupled to the data association module, for outputting a calculation result according to the comparison value; and

a control unit, coupled to the calculation unit, for controlling the directional movement of the mobile carrier in the space according to the calculation result.

8. The mobile carrier according to claim 1 further comprising a display module, for displaying a state of the control system.

9. The mobile carrier according to claim 8, wherein the display module comprises a light emitting diode (LED) or a liquid crystal display (LCD).

10. A space sensor apparatus, suitable for positioning a mobile carrier moving in a space, the space sensor apparatus comprising:

a posture angle calculation module, for calculating current posture angles of the mobile carrier in the space corresponding to different axes according to a plurality of angular velocity parameters generated when the mobile carrier moves in the space and a first feedback data; and

a position calculation module, coupled to the posture angle calculation module, for calculating current local environment coordinate position of the mobile carrier in the space according to the posture angles, a plurality of acceleration parameters, and a second feedback data and outputting the current local environment coordinate position as a positioning information, wherein the angular velocity parameters are angular velocities of the mobile carrier on different axes when the mobile carrier moves in the space.

11. The space sensor apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the posture angle calculation module comprises:

a quaternion calculation unit, for receiving the angular velocity parameters and the first feedback data and converting the angular velocity parameters into a plurality of real-time quaternion operators; and

a direction cosine calculation unit, coupled to the quaternion calculation unit, for calculating the posture angles according to the real-time quaternion operators and the first feedback data.

12. The space sensor apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the position calculation module comprises:

an acceleration calculation unit, coupled to the posture angle calculation module, for extracting a gravity factor from the acceleration parameters according to the posture angles and calculating acceleration components of the mobile carrier in different directions;

an acceleration integrator, coupled to the acceleration calculation unit, for receiving the angular velocity parameters, integrating the gravity components according to the second feedback data, and obtaining the acceleration components of the mobile carrier in different directions;

a velocity integrator, coupled to the acceleration integrator, for integrating the velocity components according to the second feedback data and obtaining displacement values of the mobile carrier in different directions; and

a coordinate conversion unit, coupled to the velocity integrator, for calculating local environment coordinate position of the mobile carrier in the space according to the displacement values and outputting these values as the positioning information.

13. The space sensor apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the mobile carrier has a sonar apparatus for emitting a sonar wave, and when the sonar wave is reflected by an object, receiving the reflected sonar wave, so as to obtain an environment information.

14. The space sensor apparatus according to claim 13 further comprising a processing system coupled to the position calculation module and the sonar apparatus, wherein the processing system generates a real-time calculation information according to the local environment coordinate position and the environment information.

15. The space sensor apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the processing system comprises:

a map association module, coupled to the position calculation module, having a map model of the space in which the mobile carrier is located, for generating a map coordinate data according to the positioning information; and

a data association module, coupled to the map association module, the mechanical wave transceiver, and the control system, for associating the map coordinate data with the environment information and generating a comparison value.

16. A method for controlling a mobile carrier in a space, comprising:

detecting a directional movement of the mobile carrier in the space, positioning the mobile carrier according to the detection result, and generating a positioning information;

emitting a mechanical wave from the mobile carrier into the space, and receiving the mechanical wave reflected by an object to obtain an environment information; and

controlling the directional movement of the mobile carrier in the space according to the positioning information and the environment information.

17. The control method according to claim 16, wherein the step of generating the positioning information comprises:

detecting an angular velocity of the mobile carrier on each axis in the space, and obtaining current posture angles of the mobile carrier in the space according to a first feedback data;

detecting an acceleration of the mobile carrier on each axis in the space, and generating a plurality of acceleration parameters;

extracting a gravity factor out of the acceleration parameters according to the posture angles, and calculating acceleration components of the mobile carrier on different axes in the space;

integrating the acceleration components according to the angular velocity parameters and a second feedback data, so as to obtain velocity components of the mobile carrier in different directions in the space;

integrating the velocity components according to the second feedback data, and obtaining displacement values of the mobile carrier in different directions in the space; and

calculating local environment coordinate position of the mobile carrier in the space according to the displacement values, and outputting these values as the positioning information.

18. The control method according to claim 16, wherein the mechanical wave is a sonar wave.