Wireless optical instrument for position measurement and method of use therefor

A tracking system for tracking the location of an object in three dimensional space, the system comprising:

• the object having first and second optical position indicators that fire signals autonomously in a timed pattern;
• a detector capable of detecting the pattern;
• and
• controlling apparatus capable of learning the pattern and synchronizing measurements with the timed pattern.

A tracking system for tracking the location of a plurality of objects in three dimensional space, the system comprising:

• each of the objects having a wireless receiver and first and second optical position indicators that provide a position signal for each object;
• controlling apparatus that transmits synchronization pulses to cause each of the objects to provide a position signal at a designated time slot;
• and
• a detector capable of detecting the signals so that the system can determine the location of each of the objects.

A tracking system for tracking the location of a plurality of objects in three dimensional space, the system comprising:

• each of the objects having a wireless transceiver and first and second optical position indicators that provide a position signal for each object;
• a detector capable of detecting the signals so that the system can determine the location of the object;
• and
• controlling apparatus incorporating a search channel time slot and a plurality of other time slots wherein the controlling apparatus is capable of recognizing objects during the search slot and wherein the controlling apparatus is also capable of assigning each of the objects to one of the other time slots.

A method of tracking the location of an object in three dimensional space, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the object with first and second optical position indicators in fixed relation thereto wherein the indicators fire autonomously in a timed pattern;
• detecting the signals with a detector;
• and
• providing controlling apparatus that learns the pattern and synchronizes measurements with the timed pattern.

A method of tracking the location of a plurality of objects in three dimensional space, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing each of the objects a wireless receiver and first and second optical position indicators that provide a position signal for each object;
• transmitting synchronization pulses from controlling apparatus to cause each of the objects to provide a position signal at a designated time slot;
• and
• detecting the signals with a detector so that the system can determine the location of the object.

A method of tracking the location of a plurality of objects in three dimensional space, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing each of the objects a wireless transceiver and first and second optical position indicators that provide a position signal for each object;
• providing controlling apparatus having a search channel time slot and a plurality of other time slots;
• providing a detector having an optical field;
• recognizing one or more objects during the search channel time slot;
• assigning each of the one or more objects to one of the other time slots;
• and
• detecting signals from the one or more of the objects so that the system can determine the location of the one or more objects.