Three dimensional manufacturing positioning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016245646-A1
Application number	US-201514631584-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 25, 2015
Priority date	Feb 25, 2015
Publication date	Aug 25, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An indoor positioning system employs a target sensor attached to a structure to form an anchor node. A coordinate system of the target sensor is aligned with a coordinate system of the structure. A handheld device is configured to transmit a signal to an object of interest and, based on a return signal from the object of interest and communication with the target sensor, generate a description of a location of the object of interest, the location description being provided in the coordinate system of the structure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An indoor positioning system comprising:
a target sensor attached to a structure, a coordinate system of the target sensor being aligned with a coordinate system of the structure; and a handheld device configured to transmit a signal to an object of interest and, based on a return signal from the object of interest and communication between the handheld device and target sensor, generate a description of a location of the object of interest in the coordinate system of the structure.

2 . The indoor positioning system of claim 1 , wherein the handheld device includes a portable sensor used to determine a relative position of the handheld device with respect to the target sensor.

3 . The indoor positioning system of claim 1 , wherein the target sensor incorporates RFID tags and the portable sensor comprises an RFID receiver.

4 . The indoor positioning system of claim 1 , wherein the structure is an aircraft, and the coordinate system is an aircraft station coordinate system.

5 . The indoor positioning system of claim 1 , wherein the handheld device is configured to transmit a laser signal and determine a distance from the handheld device and the object of interest based on a return laser signal.

6 . The indoor positioning system of claim 5 wherein the handheld device includes an orientation sensor.

7 . The indoor positioning system of claim 1 wherein the handheld device includes a distance measuring element to transmit the signal to the object of interest.

8 . The indoor positioning system of claim 7 wherein the distance measuring element is selected from the set of a laser distance measurement device and an ultrasonic distance measurement device.

9 . The indoor positioning system of claim 7 further comprising a visual designator having a coaxial beam with the distance measuring element.

10 . The indoor positioning system of claim 9 wherein the visual designator is a laser pointer.

11 . The indoor positioning system as defined in claim 4 further comprising a display on the handheld device to display the description of the location in the aircraft station coordinate system.

12 . The indoor positioning system as defined in claim 1 further comprising an additional position element configured to communicate with the target sensor to define a fixed reference position external to the structure.

13 . A method for determining the coordinates of an object of interest in a structure comprising:
positioning a target sensor at known coordinates on a structure; directing the beam of a distance measuring element from a handheld device onto a location in a structure for determining a distance; determining a relative position of the handheld device with respect to the target sensor; calculating a distance from the handheld device to the location as determined by the distance measuring element; and, calculating the position of the location based on the relative position of the handheld device and distance of the location from the handheld device.

14 . The method as defined in claim 13 further comprising determining an orientation of the handheld device relative to a coordinate system defined by the target sensor.

15 . The method as defined in claim 14 wherein the step of calculating the position comprises:
determining a first relative position of the handheld device relative to the target sensor;
determining a second relative position of the location relative to the handheld device based on a determined orientation of the handheld device; and,
adding the first and second relative positions.

16 . The method as defined in claim 13 further comprising directing a visual designator axially aligned with the beam of the distance measuring element to define the location for measurement.

17 . The method as defined in claim 15 further comprising determining a relative position of the target sensor from an additional positioning element as a third relative position.

18 . The method as defined in claim 17 further comprising adding the third relative position to the first and second relative positions to determine a position of the location relative to the additional positioning element.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Hart Colin W

Classifications

• G01S17/88

  Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• G01S17/08

  for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48) · CPC title

• G01S15/08 Primary

  Systems for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S15/46) · CPC title

• G01S13/876

  Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver (G01S13/874 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S13/865

  Combination of radar systems with lidar systems · CPC title