POSITIONING MODULE

• US 20130046463A1
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Published: 02/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon Company (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Bengtson, William T., Hayata, Keith T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,786 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/500
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1654 with electromagnetic compass
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/00 Measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, persons, animals or other moving solid bodies, e.g. using odometers, using pedometers

Abstract

A positioning device includes a magnetometer configured to detect and provide heading information, a motion sensor configured to detect and provide motion information, a microcontroller coupled to the magnetometer and the motion sensor and configured to generate position data based on the heading information and the motion information, a transmitter coupled to the microcontroller and configured to wireles sly transmit a signal including the position data, and a piezoelectric power source configured to supply power to at least one of the microcontroller, the magnetometer, the motion sensor and the transmitter.

Claims

1. A positioning device, comprising:

a magnetometer configured to detect and provide heading information;

a motion sensor configured to detect and provide motion information;

a microcontroller coupled to the magnetometer and the motion sensor and configured to generate position data based on the heading information and the motion information;

a transmitter coupled to the microcontroller and configured to wireles sly transmit a signal including the position data; and

a piezoelectric power source configured to supply power to at least one of the microcontroller, the magnetometer, the motion sensor and the transmitter.

2. The positioning device of claim 1, wherein the motion sensor is further configured to detect motion of the positioning device along at least two orthogonal axes with respect to an external reference point.

3. The positioning device of claim 2, wherein the motion sensor includes an accelerometer.

4. The positioning device of claim 2, wherein the motion sensor includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

5. The positioning device of claim 4, wherein the IMU is implemented in a microelectricalmechanical (MEMS) device.

6. The positioning device of claim 1, further comprising an integrated housing, the microcontroller, the magnetometer, the motion sensor, the transmitter, and the piezoelectric power source disposed within the integrated housing.

7. The positioning device of claim 6, wherein the integrated housing is configured to be coupled to an article of footwear.

8. The positioning device of claim 7, wherein the piezoelectric power source is configured to accumulate an electrical charge in response to a mechanical force to be applied to the piezoelectric power source through the article of footwear.

9. The positioning device of claim 1, wherein the positioning device is configured to be wirelessly coupled to a navigation system, and wherein the transmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit the signal including the position data to the navigation system.

10. The positioning device of claim 9, wherein the navigation system is a Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system, and wherein the navigation system is configured to use the position data to provide supplemental position information in a GPS-denied environment.

11. The positioning device of claim 1, wherein the position data includes a unique identification number associated with the positioning device.

12. The positioning device of claim 11, wherein an external navigation system is logically paired with the positioning device based on the unique identification number, the external navigation system being configured to receive the position data.

13. A method of determining a position of a positioning device, the method comprising:

providing electric power from a piezoelectric power source to at least one of a microcontroller, a magnetometer, a motion sensor, and a transmitter;

detecting motion of the motion sensor;

obtaining motion information using the motion sensor in response to detecting the motion of the motion sensor;

obtaining heading information using the magnetometer in response to detecting the motion of the motion sensor;

generating position information based on the heading information and the motion information using the microcontroller; and

wirelessly transmitting a signal including the position information using the transmitter.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein generating the position information includes determining a quantity representing a change in geographic position with respect to a prior geographic position.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the quantity includes at least one of a distance traveled from the prior geographic position and a direction traveled from the prior geographic position.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a geographic position based at least in part on the position information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the geographic position includes calculating a current geographic position using the position information and a previously known geographic position.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein generating the position information further includes providing a unique identification number associated with the positioning device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising logically pairing the positioning device with an external navigation system using the unique identification number.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the piezoelectric power source is coupled to an article of footwear, and wherein the method further comprises accumulating an electrical charge in response to a mechanical force to be applied to the piezoelectric power source via the article of footwear.

21. A positioning device, comprising:

a piezoelectric power source;

means coupled to the piezoelectric power source for determining a relative change in geographic position of the positioning device; and

a transmitter coupled to the piezoelectric power source and configured to transmit a signal including data representing the relative change in geographic position.

22. The positioning device of claim 21, wherein the positioning device is included in an article of footwear, and wherein the piezoelectric power source is configured to accumulate an electrical charge in response to a mechanical force to be applied to the positioning device via the article of footwear.