Six degrees of freedom tracking of objects using sensors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10838516-B2
Application number	US-201816006294-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2018
Priority date	Jun 17, 2017
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

Disclosed is a sensor enabled object. Beacons may be placed at fixed locations within an environment. The movement of the sensor enabled object can be tracked throughout the environment by analyzing received signals. The relative distances from the known positions of the beacons can be used in order to orient the sensor enabled object within the environment. Alternatively, the sensor enabled objects can be used to determine the relative positions of mobile objects by measuring the respective distances from each other and correlating the relationships.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A VR/AR system for providing six degrees of freedom tracking comprising:
a headset comprising at least two beacons, wherein each of the at least two beacons comprises a transmitter, wherein each of the transmitters is adapted to transmit signals that are frequency orthogonal to each other signal transmitted;
a sensor enabled object, wherein the sensor enabled object is a hand controller, the sensor enabled object comprising a receiver adapted to receive signals transmitted from the transmitters, wherein the sensor enabled object is further adapted to determine hand position;
a signal processor, wherein the signal processor receives signals from the receiver; the signal processor adapted to process the received signals using a Fast Fourier Transform and determine a measurement for each received signal from the at least two beacons, wherein a position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals; and
wherein the sensor enabled object can be moved with six degrees of freedom and the position of the sensor enabled object is represented in a 3D environment produced by the VR/AR system.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a diffuser operably connected to one of the at least two beacons.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein one of the at least two beacons transmits a signal more narrowly than one of the other of the at least two beacons.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein measurements of the received signals provide a magnitude for each received signal.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the magnitude is related to distance from one of the at least two beacons.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals and cross-correlation of the measurements with respect to the at least two beacons.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals and a known position of the at least two beacons.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a display, wherein the position of the sensor enabled object is reproduced on the display.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising another position sensing modality that is able to globally rebase the system.

10. A method for tracking movement within a 3D environment comprising:
transmitting signals from at least two beacons located within the 3D environment, wherein each signal transmitted is frequency orthogonal to each other signal transmitted;
receiving signals from at least one of the at least two beacons at a sensor enabled object having at least one receiver, wherein the sensor enabled object is located within the 3D environment and can be moved with six degrees of freedom;
processing received signals with a signal processor, wherein the processing of the received signals comprises performing a Fast Fourier Transform on each of the received signals and determining a measurement for each of the received signals that occurs within the 3D environment; and
determining a position of the sensor enabled object based upon the determined measurements, wherein the position is a position within the 3D environment.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising a diffuser operably connected to one of the at least two beacons.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting a signal more narrowly than another of the transmitted signals.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein measurements of the received signals provide a magnitude for each received signal.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the magnitude is related to distance from one of the at least two beacons.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals and cross-correlation of the measurements with respect to the at least two beacons.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals and a known position of the at least two beacons.

17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising displaying the determined position of the sensor enabled object on a display.

18. A system for tracking movement comprising:
at least two beacons, wherein each of the at least two beacons comprises a transmitter, wherein the transmitter is adapted to transmit signals, wherein each of the transmitted signals is frequency orthogonal to each other signal transmitted;
a sensor enabled object comprising a receiver adapted to receive signals; and
a signal processor, wherein the signal processor receives signals from the receiver; the signal processor adapted to process the received signals by performing a Fast Fourier Transform and determining a measurement for each received signal from the at least two beacons, wherein a position of the sensor enabled object is determined based upon the measurements of the received signals.

Assignees

• Tactual Labs Co

Inventors

• De Araujo Bruno Rodrigues
• Costa Ricardo Jorge Jota
• Holman David

Classifications

• G01S2201/01

  adapted for specific applications or environments · CPC title

• G01S2205/01

  specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• G01S5/0226 Primary

  Transmitters · CPC title

• G01S1/68

  Marker, boundary, call-sign, or like beacons transmitting signals not carrying directional information · CPC title