Electromagnetic position and orientation tracking system with distortion compensation employing wireless sensors
US6369564B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 3, 2001 |
| Grant date | Apr 9, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 3, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B27/017
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A solution to the electromagnetic position/orientation tracking problem is presented in an environment wherein strong electromagnetic distortion may be present includes at least one source of an AC electromagnetic field, at least one witness sensor measuring components of the electromagnetic induction vector at known spatial points close to, or within the volume of interest, at least one wireless probe sensor placed on the object being tracked, and a control and processing unit. The wireless sensor has a known response or distortion to the electromagnetic field generated by the primary source. The control/processing unit uses data from the witness sensor(s) to locate the probe sensor, treating the probe sensor as a secondary source of the AC electromagnetic field; that is, as a transponder with initially known magnetic parameters. This information is utilized by a position and orientation algorithm executed by the control/processing unit to define coordinates and attitude of the secondary source and, in turn, the position and orientation H of the object of interest. In the preferred embodiment, the probe sensor is an LC-contour tuned to the frequency of the tracker source. As such,…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.