Methods and apparatus for position estimation using reflected light sources
First Claim
1. A position estimation system for estimating a position of an object in an area defined by a wall having a surface, the system comprising:
- two light sources configured to project two light spots at a substantially fixed location on the surface;
a detector mounted on the object for detecting a reflected light from the two light spots; and
a data processing unit mounted on the object for estimating the position of the object using the reflected light detected by the detector,wherein the two light sources generate lights that have different characteristics from each other, such that the two light spots can be distinguished from each other by the detector and/or the data processing unit, wherein the different characteristics comprise different modulations,wherein the wall having the surface on which the two light spots are projected comprises a ceiling.
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Abstract
The invention is generally related to the estimation of position and orientation of an object with respect to a local or a global coordinate system using reflected light sources. A typical application of the method and apparatus includes estimation and tracking of the position of a mobile autonomous robot. Other applications include estimation and tracking of an object for position-aware, ubiquitous devices. Additional applications include tracking of the positions of people or pets in an indoor environment. The methods and apparatus comprise one or more optical emitters, one or more optical sensors, signal processing circuitry, and signal processing methods to determine the position and orientation of at least one of the optical sensors based at least in part on the detection of the signal of one or more emitted light sources reflected from a surface.
179 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A position estimation system for estimating a position of an object in an area defined by a wall having a surface, the system comprising:
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two light sources configured to project two light spots at a substantially fixed location on the surface; a detector mounted on the object for detecting a reflected light from the two light spots; and a data processing unit mounted on the object for estimating the position of the object using the reflected light detected by the detector, wherein the two light sources generate lights that have different characteristics from each other, such that the two light spots can be distinguished from each other by the detector and/or the data processing unit, wherein the different characteristics comprise different modulations, wherein the wall having the surface on which the two light spots are projected comprises a ceiling. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of estimating a position of an object in an area defined by a wall having a surface, the method comprising:
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projecting two light spots at a substantially fixed location on the surface; detecting a reflected light from the two light spots using a detector mounted on the object; and estimating the position of the object with a data processing unit mounted on the object using the reflected light detected by the detector, wherein the projecting of the two light spots is accomplished by two light sources, wherein the two light sources generate lights that have different characteristics from each other, such that the two light spots can be distinguished from each other by the detector and/or the data processing unit, wherein the different characteristics comprise different modulations. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A position estimation system for estimating a position of an object, the system comprising:
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one or more light sources configured to project at least light spots onto a surface; a detector affixed to the object configured to detect the at least two light spots, wherein the at least two light spots comprise reflected light from the one or more light sources; and a data processing unit configured to determine the position of the object based on the location of the at least two light spots, wherein the at least two light spots comprise two or more light spots that differ with respect to an optical characteristic, and wherein the detector is configured to distinguish the two or more light spots based on the optical characteristic, wherein the optical characteristic is light modulation, and wherein the system is configured to extract a modulation signal using a band-pass filter with lower and upper frequencies. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification