Magnetic field measuring apparatus, magnetic field measuring method and recording medium with magnetic field measuring program recorded thereon

A magnetic field measuring method, comprising:

• acquiring measurement data measured by a magnetic sensor array that is configured by arraying a plurality of magnetic sensor cells to form a surface covering at least a part of a target object to be measured, each of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells having a magnetic sensor including a magnetoresistive element and a magnetic flux concentrator;
• performing signal separation on a magnetic field spatial distribution indicated by the measurement data based on a position and magnetic sensitivity of each magnetic sensor;
• generating a calibration magnetic field at a position on a straight line that can be drawn without crossing the plurality of magnetic sensor cells from the measurement space outside the measurement space where the plurality of magnetic sensor cells are not arranged in the closed space that is composed of the smallest convex polygon that includes all of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells in a cross-sectional view;
• and
• calibrating a sensor error for the magnetic sensor based on a separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field.

A non-transitory computer readable recording medium with magnetic field measuring program recorded thereon that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to function as perform operations including:

• acquiring measurement data measured by a magnetic sensor array that is configured by arraying a plurality of magnetic sensor cells to form a surface covering at least a part of a target object to be measured, each of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells having a magnetic sensor including a magnetoresistive element and a magnetic flux concentrator;
• performing signal separation on a magnetic field spatial distribution indicated by the measurement data based on a position and magnetic sensitivity of each magnetic sensor;
• generating a calibration magnetic field at a position on a straight line that can be drawn without crossing the plurality of magnetic sensor cells from the measurement space outside the measurement space where the plurality of magnetic sensor cells are not arranged in the closed space that is composed of the smallest convex polygon that includes all of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells in a cross-sectional view;
• and
• calibrating a sensor error for the magnetic sensor based on a separation error in a case where the signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field.

A magnetic field measuring apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• a magnetic sensor array that is configured by arraying a plurality of magnetic sensor cells to form a surface covering at least a part of a target object to be measured, each of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells having a magnetic sensor including a magnetoresistive element and a magnetic flux concentrator;
• a measurement data acquiring unit configured to acquire, using the at least one processor, measurement data measured by a magnetic sensor cell group that is at least a part of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells in the magnetic sensor array;
• a signal space separating unit configured to perform, using the at least one processor, signal separation on a magnetic field spatial distribution indicated by the measurement data based on a position and a magnetic sensitivity of each magnetic sensor of the magnetic sensor cell group;
• a calibration magnetic field generating unit configured to generate a calibration magnetic field at a plurality of different positions;
• and
• a calibrating unit configured to calibrate, using the at least one processor, a sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a first magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on the separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a first position, and calibrating the sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a second magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on a separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a second position.

A magnetic field measuring method, comprising:

• acquiring measurement data measured by a magnetic sensor cell group that is at least a part of a plurality of magnetic sensor cells in a magnetic sensor array, which is configured by arraying a plurality of magnetic sensor cells to form a surface covering at least a part of a target object to be measured, each of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells having a magnetic sensor including a magnetoresistive element and a magnetic flux concentrator;
• performing signal separation on a magnetic field spatial distribution indicated by the measurement data based on a position and magnetic sensitivity of each magnetic sensor of the magnetic sensor cell group;
• generating a calibration magnetic field at a plurality of different calibration positions;
• and
• calibrating a sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a first magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on the separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a first position, and calibrating the sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a second magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on a separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a second position.

A non-transitory computer readable recording medium with magnetic field measuring program recorded thereon that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform operations including:

• acquiring measurement data measured by a magnetic sensor cell group that is at least a part of a plurality of magnetic sensor cells in a magnetic sensor array, which is configured by arraying the plurality of magnetic sensor cells to form a surface covering at least a part of a target object to be measured, each of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells having a magnetic sensor including a magnetoresistive element and a magnetic flux concentrator;
• performing signal separation on a magnetic field spatial distribution indicated by the measurement data based on a position and a magnetic sensitivity of each magnetic sensor of the magnetic sensor cell group;
• generating a calibration magnetic field at a plurality of different positions;
• calibrating a sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a first magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on the separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a first position, and calibrating the sensor error in the magnetic sensor of a second magnetic sensor cell group of the plurality of magnetic sensor cells based on a separation error in a case where signal separation has been performed on a spatial distribution of the calibration magnetic field generated at a second position.