Portable position detector and position management system

• US 6,132,391 A
• Filed: 12/29/1998
• Issued: 10/17/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Transtechnology Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Jatco Limited (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Onari, Mikihiko, Matsuoka, Yoshio, Aoyama, Akihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Hindenburg, Max
• Assistant Examiner(s): WINGOOD, PAMELA LYNN
• Application Number:
  US09/221,606
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 600/587, 600/595, 364/364, 364/449, 364/561
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 Pedometers

Abstract

A portable position detector and a position management system that are capable of accurately detecting the direction of a walking body even when GPS signals cannot be received (or without reception) and thereby enhancing the accuracy of the dead reckoned position of the walking body.

The portable position detector is equipped with a pedometer and a geomagnetic sensor. With the pedometer, the moved distance of a walker is detected by a calculation of "the number of steps×the length of a step". The moved direction is detected with the geomagnetic sensor. With this, the moved position of the walker is accurately detected by the self-contained navigation system. Particularly, even in the case where the position detector is located in a forest or between buildings where a signal cannot be received from a global positioning system (GPS) due to high buildings, banks, and forests, the position detector with a portable size and weight applicable to a walker can know with a practically sufficient degree of accuracy the position of a person carrying this portable detector by the self-contained navigation system.

Claims

1. A portable position detector for detecting a moved position of a walking body, comprising:

walking-motion detection means for measuring a value related to a walking motion caused by movement of said walking body;

moved-distance estimation means for estimating a moved distance, based on an output of said walking-motion detection means;

moved-direction detection means for detecting a direction of said walking body or a direction-movement caused by movement of said walking body;

moved-direction determination means for detecting points at which the body of said walking body arrives at substantially a highest position and/or lands by walking, based on said value measured by said walking-motion detection means, and also for determining a moved direction at a specific point as a specific moved direction, the specific point being related to at least one of said detected two points and also being specified in a range in which said body is between said highest-position arrival point and a highest-position arrival point that is obtained by the next walking step; and

moved-position estimation means for estimating a position of said walking body after movement, based on said moved distance of said walking body estimated by said moved-distance estimation means and said specific moved direction determined by said moved-direction determination means.

2. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said moved-distance estimation means counts the number of steps, based on a vertical acceleration of said walking body detected by said walking-motion detection means, and also estimates a moved distance from a relation of the counted number of steps and the length of a step.

3. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said moved-distance estimation means counts the number of steps on the basis of a vertical geomagnetic change caused by walking of said walking body, detected by said walking-motion detection means, and also estimates a moved distance from a relation of the counted number of steps and the length of a step.

4. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said moved-direction determination means judges and detects said highest-position arrival point and/or said landed point from a vertical acceleration change caused by walking of said walking body, and also determines a moved direction of said walking body at a specific point as a specific moved direction, the specific point being at least one of said two points, or being a point delayed from said one point by a predetermined time period.

5. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said moved-direction determination means judges and detects said highest-position arrival point and/or said landed point from said vertical geomagnetic change caused by walking of said walking body, and also determines a moved direction of said walking body at a specific point as a specific moved direction, the specific point being at least one of said two points, or being a point delayed from said one point by a predetermined time period.

6. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 4, wherein said predetermined time period that is delayed by said moved-direction determination means is determined as a proportional portion of a walking step period from a walking cycle.

7. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 4, wherein said predetermined time period that is delayed by said moved-direction determination means is set to a time period during which said specific point goes to a state in which a landed foot and the next foot are positioned side by side.

8. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 2, wherein said moved-distance estimation means detects changing environment from acceleration change or geomagnetic change caused by movement of said body, also changes said length of a step, based on the detected changing environment, and calculates said estimated distance.

9. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 8, wherein correction of said step length is performed by making said step length shorter than a step length during a walk on a level path, when it is judged by the detection of said changing environment that a walking path has a slope greater than a predetermined value.

10. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a unit for receiving radio waves from global positioning system (GPS) satellites and measuring the current position of said walking body; and

position correction means for correcting the current position estimated by said position estimation means, when the current position is measured with said unit.

11. The portable position detector as set forth in claim 10, wherein

when the moved direction detected by said moved-direction detection means or said specific moved direction determined by said moved-direction determination means is within a predetermined direction width and also when it is judged by the detection of said changing environment that the cumulated number of steps or the cumulated moved-distance, in which a vertical amount of movement is within a predetermined width, is a straight-advance walk on a level path which continues for a predetermined Lime period or more, the correction of the length of a step in said moved-distance estimation means is performed by a value obtained by dividing a calculated distance by said cumulated number of steps, the calculated distance being calculated from both a starting point of said straight-advance walk on a level path and the current position at an end point of said walk measured by said unit.

12. A position management system comprising:

a portable position detector for detecting a moved position of a walking body, the portable position detector including (1) walking-motion detection means for measuring a value related to a walking motion caused by movement of said walking body, (2) moved-distance estimation means for estimating a moved distance, based on an output of said walking-motion detection means, (3) moved-direction detection means for detecting a direction of said walking body or a direction of said movement caused by movement of walking of said walking body, (4) moved-direction determination means for detecting points at which the body of said walking body arrives at substantially a highest position and/or lands by walking based on said value measured by said walking-motion detection means, and also for determining a moved direction at a specific point as a specific moved direction, the specific point being related to at least one of said detected two points and also being specified in a range in which said body is between said highest-position arrival point and a highest-position arrival point that is obtained by the next walking step, (5) moved-position estimation means for estimating a position of said walking body after movement, based on said moved distance of said walking body estimated by said moved-distance estimation means and said specific moved direction determined by said moved-direction determination means, and (6) transmission means for transmitting at least one piece of information of output information from said walking-motion detection means, from said moved-distance estimation means, from said moved-direction determination means, and from said moved-position estimation means; and

a base station including (1) reception means for receiving the output information transmitted by said transmission means of said portable position detector and (2) display means for displaying a moved position of said portable position detector, based on the information from said reception means.

13. The position management system as set forth in claim 12, wherein

at least a portion of information necessary for a process of calculating a position of said portable position detector on the basis of a GPS signal received by said portable position detector is transmitted from said portable position detector to said base station;

said base station receives said portion of information and calculates said position; and

in said portable position detector, a calculation process is shared with said portable position detector and said base station so that said base station executes processes other than said position calculation process.