Linear optical sensor arrays (LOSA) tracking system for active marker based 3D motion tracking

A method for tracking the position and attitude of a polyhedron shaped active marker relative to a tracker module using polyocular vision with inertial sensing, the method comprising:

• capturing multiple images of the polyhedron shaped active marker, which is constructed of printed circuit board facets with light emitting diodes (LED) mounted on the facets, using multiple linear optical sensor array (LOSA) sensor modules having multi-slit apertures mounted on an adjustable rig of the tracker module;
• calculating, at a first processor of the tracking module, a peak position of the light received from the LED using the images from the LOSA sensor modules, and a line of sight (LoS) using the peak position of the light, a distance between LOSA sensor modules, and accelerometer data from an accelerometer mounted on the tracker module;
• determining, at a second processor of the active marker, an initial orientation of the active marker relative to the tracker module using gravity and line of sight vectors measured in both a frame of reference of the active marker and a frame of reference of the tracking module and the integration of angular rate measurements from a 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) accelerometer and gyroscope mounted on the active marker;
• and
• tracking an object based on the determined initial orientation.