Infrared signal based position recognition system for use with a robot-assisted surgery

An infrared signal based position recognition system for use with a robot-assisted surgery comprising:

• an infrared signal transmitter that transmits an infrared signal over the air towards an object whose position is to be determined;
• an infrared signal receiver that receives from the object a responsive infrared signal in response to the transmitted infrared signal;
• a low pass filter that receives the responsive infrared signal from the infrared signal receiver and outputs a filtered signal;
• a comparator that generates a comparator output representing a logic state based on a first input receiving the responsive infrared signal and a second input receiving the filtered signal from the low pass filter;
• a signal processor adapted to receive the comparator output and determine a 3-dimensional position of the object.