Hand-held positioning interface for spatial query
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJames J. Troy, Christopher Esposito
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for determining the position and orientation of a handheld device relative to a known object is presented. The system comprises a handheld device having an inertial measurement unit and a sighting device, such as a laser pointer, that are used to determine the position of the handheld device relative to a target object, such as a structure, aircraft, or vehicle. The method comprises calibrating a handheld device to find the current location of the handheld device relative to a target object, tracking the movement of the handheld device using an inertial measurement unit, and presenting an updated position of the handheld device relative to a target object.
Claims20
An apparatus for determining spatial position relative to a known object, comprising:
- an actuator for triggering a selection indication when said apparatus is oriented at a point of interest;
- an orientation detector for providing an orientation indication of the apparatus when said selection indication is triggered;
- a processor adapted to calibrate an initial position of the apparatus relative to a known object using a plurality of said orientation indications;
- and
- an output means for indicating said initial position.
A method of determining the spatial position of a point of interest, comprising:
- (a) calibrating a device to determine an initial position of said device relative to a known object, said calibrating further comprising:
- (i) pointing a sighting means of said device at a feature of said known object, said feature having a known location;
- (ii) sensing said orientation of said device during said pointing operation;
- (iii) repeating said steps (i) and (ii) for a plurality of said features;
- and
- (iv) calculating said initial position of said device relative to said known object using said known location and said orientation of said device for said plurality of features pointed at by said sighting means on said device, and
- (b) moving said device to a new position;
- (c) sensing said moving operation using a sensor in said device;
- and
- (d) calculating said new position of said device using an information from said sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.