System for determining spatial position and/or orientation of one or more objects

US6288785A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Northern Digital Inc. · CA

Inventors

• Donald Dieter Frantz · Kitchener, CA
• Stephen Eldon Leis · Waterloo, CA
• Stefan Kirsch · Heidesheim, DE
• Christian Schilling · Brugg, CH

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 28, 1999
• Grant date: Sep 11, 2001
• Expiry date: Oct 28, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S5/16
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A system for determining spatial position and/or orientation of one or more objects. The system includes an optical subsystem and a non-optical subsystem. The optical subsystem includes optical subsystem light sources mounted to one or more of the objects and an optical subsystem sensor adapted to detect energy from the optical subsystem light sources. The optical subsystem has an optical subsystem coordinate system in a fixed relationship with the optical subsystem sensor. The optical subsystem sensor produces position and/or orientation signals relative to the optical subsystem coordinate system in response to optical subsystem light source detected energy. The non-optical subsystem has a non-optical coordinate system and is adapted to produce position and/or orientation signals of one or more of the objects relative to the non-optical subsystem coordinate system. A coupling arrangement is provided for producing position and/or orientation signals indicative of the position and/or orientation of the selected one of the optical or non-optical subsystems relative to the coordinate system of the other one of the optical or non-optical subsystems. A processor is responsive to signals…