Device and method for detecting the orientation and position of markings in three-dimensional space

A method for orientation and position detection of markings in three-dimensional space, the method comprising:

• capturing an image of at least one marking arrangement comprising at least one marking unit of a first marking unit type and at least one marking unit of a second marking unit type, each comprising at least three illuminating means arranged along a path;
• detecting the illuminating means in the captured image;
• assigning detected ones of the illuminating means designed exclusively as markings to at least one marking unit of the first marking unit type;
• assigning other ones of the detected illuminating means designed as markings and communication elements to at least one marking unit of the second marking unit type;
• assigning a marking function and/or a communication element function to the illuminating means detected in the image;
• and
• determining the orientation and the position of the marking arrangement based on the markings using knowledge about the arrangement of the markings on the marking arrangement.

A method for teaching in a set-up of markings and communication elements in a marking arrangement, in which at least one marking unit of a first marking unit type and at least one marking unit of a second marking unit type are positioned, each of the marking units having at least three illuminating means arranged along a path, an arrangement of the illuminating means used as markings or communication elements in the marking units of the first marking unit type and the second marking unit type being known a priori, the method comprising:

• moving the marking arrangement with the marking units fixed thereto relative to an image capture unit and capturing a sequence of images during the movement;
• detecting potential marking arrangements in an image of the image sequence;
• tracking the potential marking units over several images of the sequence of images;
• creating initial relations between the marking units and iteratively improving relations over an entirety of the sequence of images until an entirety of the relations over the entirety of the sequence of images with motion is known;
• and
• deriving an arrangement of the marking units from the entirety of the relations based on geometric assignments.