Patent · US Expired

Method and system for automatically determining the position and orientation of an object in 3-D space

US4942539A · kind A · utility

204Cited by
5References
41Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 21, 1988
Grant dateJul 17, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 21, 2008

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T7/80
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system for automatically determining the position and orientation of an object by utilizing as few as a single digital image generated by as few as a single camera without the use of a structured light. The digital image contains at least three non-colinear geometric features of the object. The three features may be either coplanar or non-coplanar. The features or targets are viewed such that perspective information is present in the digital image. In a single camera system the geometric features are points, and in a multi-camera system, the features are typically combinations of points and lines. The location of the features are determined and processed within a programmed computer together with reference data and camera calibration data to provide at least three non-parallel 3-D lines. The 3-D lines are utilized by an iterative algorithm to obtain data relating to the position and orientation of the object in 3-D space. The resultant data is subsequently utilized to calculate an offset of the object from the camera. The offset is then transformed into the coordinate system or frame of a peripheral device such as a robot, programmable controller, numerically controlle…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.