285 results about "Orientation measurement" patented technology

A magnetic field position and orientation measurement system contains, confines and re-directs the magnetic field from one or more transmitters such that the fields are attenuated in areas outside of the operating volume in areas where metallic objects are commonly found. A thin barrier made of a highly permeable material such as ferrite or mumetal is placed on top of a conductive plate. The thickness of the permeable layer is from 0.01 inches to 0.25 inches while the conductive plate, preferably made of an aluminum alloy, may preferably be from {fraction (3 / 16)} of an inch to ¼ inch in thickness. On top of the permeable barrier, a rhombic three axis transmitter is placed. In the preferred embodiment, the transmitter consists of a PC board carrying the transmitter. PC boards having thicknesses varying from 0.03125-0.125 inches may be employed. Thus, the entire "stack" including the transmitter, the permeable barrier and the conductive plate may only be from ½ inch to ⅝ of an inch in thickness. The permeable barrier may have a flat, planar configuration. Alternatively, it may be made to resemble, in cross-section, a cake pan having a flat central region with uplifted peripheral edges. Alternatively, the permeable barrier may have a generally flat configuration with peripheral edges that taper outwardly from the top surface thereof to the bottom surface thereof with the taper making an angle with the bottom surface in the range of, preferably, 30° to 85°.

A first error coordinate between the image coordinate of a first indicator, which is arranged on the real space and detected on a first image captured by a first image sensing unit, and the estimated image coordinate of the first indicator, which is estimated to be located on the first image in accordance with the position / orientation relationship between the first image sensing unit (with the position and orientation according to a previously calculated position / orientation parameter) and the first indicator, is calculated. On the other-hand, a second error coordinate between the image coordinate of a second indicator, which is arranged on the first image sensing unit and detected on a second image that includes the first image sensing unit, and the estimated image coordinate of the second indicator, which is estimated to be located on the second image in accordance with the position / orientation relationship between the first image sensing unit (with the position and orientation according to the position / orientation parameter), and the second indicator, is calculated. Using the first and second error coordinates, the position / orientation parameter is corrected.

In an image generation apparatus capable of generating an image of an arbitrary view point, to enable a user to easily set a view point position of a reconstructed image in an actual space, there are provided an image photographing means for photographing an image; a position / orientation measurement means for measuring position and orientation when photographing the image; a reconstruction view point position setting means for setting a view point position of a reconstruction image; and a reconstruction means for reconstructing an image according to the view point position set by the reconstruction view point position setting means, by using beam information included in the image photographed by the image photographing means.

A position / orientation measurement apparatus holds a three-dimensional shape model of a object, acquires approximate value indicating a position and an orientation of the object, acquires a two-dimensional image of the object, projects a geometric feature of the three-dimensional shape model on the two-dimensional image based on the approximate value, calculates the direction of the geometric feature of the three-dimensional shape model projected on the two-dimensional image, detects an image feature based on the two-dimensional image, calculates the direction of the image feature, associates the image feature and the geometric feature by comparing the direction of the image feature calculated based on the two-dimensional image and the direction of the geometric feature calculated based on the three-dimensional shape model, and calculates the position and orientation of the object by correcting the approximate value based on the distance between the geometric feature and the image feature associated therewith.

A method and system for determining camera positioning information from an accelerometer mounted on a camera. The accelerometer measures the orientation of the camera with respect to gravity. Orientation measurement allows user interface information to be displayed in a “right side up” orientation on a viewfinder for any camera orientation. Alternatively, an artificial horizon indicator may be displayed in the viewfinder. The accelerometer may also measure camera movement. Camera movement information together with camera orientation can be used to determine camera usage. Additionally, camera movement information can be used to determine a minimum shutter speed for a sharp picture.

Described are high precision gap and orientation measurement methods between a template and a substrate used in imprint lithography processes. Gap and orientation measurement methods presented here include uses of broad-band light based measuring techniques.

The invention describes a method of determining a head-motion / gaze relationship for a user (1), which method comprises the steps of allocating at least one first target (T1) and at least one second target (T2) in a display area (D); attracting the user's gaze towards a first target (T1) and observing the user's head (H) to obtain a first head orientation measurement value (M1). The method further comprises the steps of subsequently attracting the user's gaze towards a second target (T2) and observing the user's head (H) to obtain a second head orientation measurement value (M2); and analysing the head orientation measurement values (M1, M2) to obtain a head-motion / gaze relationship (R) for that user (1). The invention further describes an interactive display system (2), and a method of performing a gaze-based interaction between a user (1) and an interactive display system (2).

This invention relates to a position / orientation measurement apparatus which can measure a position and orientation while achieving both high stability and precision. An image including indices laid out on a space is captured, and the indices are detected from the captured image. When a plurality of indices are detected, their distribution range is calculated, and an algorithm to be applied in position / orientation calculations is selected according to the size of the range (S3033, S3050, S3060). For example, when the indices are distributed over a sufficiently broad range, six parameters of the position and orientation of an image capture device are calculated as unknowns (S3070). As the distribution range of the indices becomes smaller, the degrees of freedom of unknown parameters to be calculated are reduced (S3035, S3025).

An index detection unit (2030) detects indices allocated or set on an object from a sensed image. An evaluation amount calculation unit (2060) calculates evaluation amounts of the indices using two-dimensional geometric features of the indices on the image and / or three-dimensional geometric features that represent relationships between an image sensing device (2010) and the indices on a three-dimensional space. A reliability calculation unit (2070) calculates reliabilities of the indices according to the calculated evaluation amounts of the indices. A position and orientation calculation unit (2080) calculates the position and orientation of the object or the image sensing device (2010) using at least the calculated reliabilities of the indices and information associated with the image coordinates of the detected indices.

For position sensors, e.g., a fiber-based system, that build a shape of an elongated member such as a catheter using a sequence of small orientation measurements, a small error in orientation at the proximal end of the sensor will cause large error in position at distal points on the fiber. Exemplary methods and systems are disclosed which may provide full or partial registration along the length of the sensor to reduce the influence of the measurement error. Additional examples are directed to applying selective filtering at a proximal end of the elongated member to provide a more stable base for distal measurements and thereby reducing the influence of measurement errors.

The invention relates to motion tracking system (10) for tracking a movement of an object (P) in a three-dimensional space, the said object being composed of object portions having individual dimensions and mutual proportions and being sequentially interconnected by joints the system comprising orientation measurement units (S1, S3, . . . SN) for measuring data related to at least orientation of the object portions, wherein the orientation measurement units are arranged in positional and orientational relationships with respective object portions and having at least orientational parameters; a processor (3, 5) for receiving data from the orientation measurement units, the said processor comprising a module for deriving orientation and / or position information of the object portions using the received data and a calibration unit (7) arranged to calculate calibration values based on received data and pre-determined constraints for determining at least the mutual proportions of the object portions and orientational parameters of the orientation measurement units based on received data, pre-determined constrains and additional input data. The invention further relates to a method for tracking a movement of an object, a medical rehabilitation system and an animation system.

In position and orientation measurement based on natural features, erroneous detection of the natural features is prevented when an observation target object is occluded by another object, and registration stability is improved. To this end, an occluding object that can occlude the observation target object is defined, and an occluding region where the occluding object occludes the observation target object is detected in an input captured image. Image features of the observation target object are detected in a region of the captured image other than the detected occluding region. Therefore, the position or orientation of an image pickup apparatus that captured the captured image, or the position or orientation of the observation target object in the captured image are calculated.

The first values of position and orientation of an image sensing device are obtained by using positions of all indices in a frame image. Indices having the same inherent information between a first index group (FIG) in the frame image and a second index group (SIG) in a preceding frame image are detected as a common index. If the information of the SIG contains information different from that of the FIG, second values of the position and orientation are obtained by using the positions of the common indices in the preceding frame image. If the information of the FIG contains information different from that of the SIG, third values of the position and orientation are obtained by using the positions of the common indices in the frame image. The first values are corrected by using correction values based on the obtained first to third values.

A robot system, including an arm capable of controlling a position and orientation of an arm tip portion, a hand, which is attached to the arm tip portion and which includes a grasping mechanism configured to grasp an operation target, capable of controlling a relative position and orientation from the arm tip portion of the grasped operation target, and a position and orientation measurement apparatus configured to perform relative position and orientation measurement from the arm tip portion of the grasped operation target, wherein measurement of the relative position and orientation from the arm tip portion of the operation target is performed after the operation target is grasped by the grasping mechanism, while the arm tip portion is still moving, and correction of the relative position and orientation from the arm tip portion of the hand is performed based on a result of the position and orientation measurement so that the arm tip portion takes a predetermined relative position and orientation from the arm tip portion.

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is provided with an ultrasonic probe, an ultrasonic image generating section, a head mounted display (HMD), and an orientation measurement section. The ultrasonic probe has two-dimensionally arranged ultrasonic transducers. The ultrasonic image generating section generates a 2D ultrasonic image representing a cross section of a three-dimensional area inside of a patient's body. The HMD has an orientation sensor for outputting signals corresponding to motion of the HMD and a projector for projecting images and the like within the view of an operator Op. The orientation measurement section measures rotation direction and rotation angle of the operator Op's head (HMD). A plurality of cross sections of the three-dimensional area inside of the patient's body for which the 2D image is generated is preliminary set, and the generated 2D ultrasonic image is switched according to the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the HMD.

A position / orientation measurement apparatus holds a three-dimensional shape model of a object, acquires approximate value indicating a position and an orientation of the object, acquires a two-dimensional image of the object, projects a geometric feature of the three-dimensional shape model on the two-dimensional image based on the approximate value, calculates the direction of the geometric feature of the three-dimensional shape model projected on the two-dimensional image, detects an image feature based on the two-dimensional image, calculates the direction of the image feature, associates the image feature and the geometric feature by comparing the direction of the image feature calculated based on the two-dimensional image and the direction of the geometric feature calculated based on the three-dimensional shape model, and calculates the position and orientation of the object by correcting the approximate value based on the distance between the geometric feature and the image feature associated therewith.

A position and orientation measurement device includes a grayscale image input unit that inputs a grayscale image of an object, a distance image input unit that inputs a distance image of the object, an approximate position and orientation input unit that inputs an approximate position and orientation of the object with respect to the position and orientation measurement device, and a position and orientation calculator that updates the approximate position and orientation. The position and orientation calculator calculates a first position and orientation so that an object image on an image plane and a projection image of the three-dimensional shape model overlap each other, associates the three-dimensional shape model with the image features of the grayscale image and the distance image, and calculates a second position and orientation on the basis of a result of the association.

An apparatus is provided with a first sensor unit that obtains two-dimensional information or three-dimensional information about a target object with a first position and orientation, a second sensor unit that obtains the two-dimensional information about the target object, a three-dimensional position and orientation measurement unit that measures three-dimensional position and orientation of the target object based on the information obtained by the first sensor unit, a second sensor position and orientation determination unit that calculates second position and orientation based on a measurement result with the three-dimensional position and orientation measurement unit and model information about the target object, and a three-dimensional position and orientation measurement unit that measures the three-dimensional position and orientation of the target object based on the information obtained by the second sensor unit with the second position and orientation and the model information about the target object.

An azimuth measuring device capable of calibrating a magnetic sensor without putting load on a user is provided. When a point having amplified output values Sx, Sy, Sz after a sensitivity correction as x, y, z components is arranged on an xyz coordinate system, an offset information calculation section 8 calculates the center coordinates of such a sphere whose surface is located in the vicinity of each point and calculates an x component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cx of an x-axis Hall element HEx, a y component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cy of a y-axis Hall element HEy and a z component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cz of a z-axis Hall element HEz. It is thereby possible to calibrate the magnetic sensor without putting load on the user.

A position / orientation measurement apparatus inputs the two-dimensional image of a measurement object captured by an image capturing apparatus, obtains the distance data of the measurement object measured by a distance sensor, detects an image feature of the measurement object from the two-dimensional image, determines the state of the measurement object, sets, based on the determined state, a usage mode regarding the image feature and the distance data when measuring the position / orientation, and measures the position / orientation of the measurement object in accordance with the set usage mode.

The invention discloses a method for measuring the position and the azimuths of an object. In the process of measuring the azimuths of the object, the first azimuth is calculated according to a measurement result acquired from a three-axis gyroscope; the second azimuth is calculated by the three-axis acceleration sensor only when the object is in a stationary state; the third azimuth is calculated by the three-axis geomagnetic sensor when the object is in the stationary state or when the object continuously moves within a certain period of time; and the second azimuth and the third azimuth are corrections to the first azimuth. The traditional method for measuring the azimuths of the object only makes use of the three-axis gyroscope, which can generate accumulative errors and cause that the measurement result is inaccurate for a long time. According to the invention, on the basis of use of the three-axis gyroscope, the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis geomagnetic sensor are used for correcting the measurement result of the azimuths, acquired from the three-axis gyroscope, and therefore the more accurate azimuths of the object can be acquired.

An azimuth measuring device capable of calibrating a magnetic sensor without putting load on a user is provided. When a point having amplified output values Sx, Sy, Sz after a sensitivity correction as x, y, z components is arranged on an xyz coordinate system, an offset information calculation section 8 calculates the center coordinates of such a sphere whose surface is located in the vicinity of each point and calculates an x component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cx of an x-axis Hall element HEx, a y component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cy of a y-axis Hall element HEy and a z component of the center coordinates of this sphere as a current offset Cz of a z-axis Hall element HEz. It is thereby possible to calibrate the magnetic sensor without putting load on the user.

An orientation sensor (130) measures the orientation of the orientation sensor (130) itself on a sensor coordinate system, and outputs an orientation measurement value. A first alignment data setting unit (410) reads out first alignment data, which is recorded in an external storage device (not shown) and represents the gravitational direction on a reference coordinate system, and sets that data in an orientation calculation unit (940). A second alignment data setting unit (420) sets second alignment data, which represents a difference angle in the azimuth direction between the sensor coordinate system and reference coordinate system in the orientation calculation unit (940) in accordance with a command input by an operator from a command input unit (not shown). The orientation calculation unit (940) calculates the orientation of an object on the reference coordinate system using the first and second alignment data on the basis of the orientation measurement value input from the orientation sensor (130), and outputs it. When the orientation of an object on an arbitrary set reference coordinate system is to be measured using the orientation sensor, alignment data required to make conversion from the sensor coordinate system into the reference coordinate system can be easily set.

For position sensors, e.g., a fiber-based system, that build a shape of an elongated member such as a catheter using a sequence of small orientation measurements, a small error in orientation at the proximal end of the sensor will cause large error in position at distal points on the fiber. Exemplary methods and systems are disclosed which may provide full or partial registration along the length of the sensor to reduce the influence of the measurement error. Additional examples are directed to applying selective filtering at a proximal end of the elongated member to provide a more stable base for distal measurements and thereby reducing the influence of measurement errors.

The invention discloses a laser vision profile measurement system, a measurement method and a three-dimensional target. The system comprises a measurement part and a calibration part, wherein the measurement part comprises four line lasers and four CCD (charge coupled device) cameras, and each laser and each CCD camera form a sensor; the calibration part comprises one three-dimensional target adopting a hollow cube structure. The specific measurement method comprises the following steps: calibration of the measurement system and coordinate unification are realized through the three-dimensional target firstly, and then the three-dimensional profile of a measured object is measured. By means of the LED three-dimensional target, all that is required is to place the target in multiple positions freely in a field range of the cameras in a calibration process, the operation is simple, overall unified calibration of the sensors can be finished rapidly and conveniently, and application to the industrial field can be realized; and the scheme has better technical advantages for occasions where the section profile of an object is required to be measured comprehensively such as on-line measurement of the section profile size of various mechanical parts.

A method and system for determining camera positioning information from an accelerometer mounted on a camera. The accelerometer measures the orientation of the camera with respect to gravity. Orientation measurement allows user interface information to be displayed in a “right side up” orientation on a viewfinder for any camera orientation. Alternatively, an artificial horizon indicator may be displayed in the viewfinder. The accelerometer may also measure camera movement. Camera movement information together with camera orientation can be used to determine camera usage. Additionally, camera movement information can be used to determine a minimum shutter speed for a sharp picture.

The invention discloses a magnetic azimuth measuring system based on a giant magneto-resistance sensor, a measuring method and a perpendicular compensation method so as to realize omnibearing measurement of a magnetic azimuth and reduce measurement error caused by non-orthogonal and zero deviation of a three-axis sensor. The measuring system comprises an earth three-axis magnetic measurement module, a three-axis attitude measurement module, a temperature measurement module, a microprocessor and an upper computer. The invention relates to the technical field of intelligent sensor technologies,digital signal processing and the like. The invention provides an intelligent octant judgment method based on a three-axis acceleration sensor against the multi-valued problem of azimuth measurement caused by a mathematical model when the giant magneto-resistance sensor is used for performing the azimuth measurement so as to realize the omnibearing angle measurement based on the giant magneto-resistance sensor. Simultaneously, the invention provides a three-axis orthogonal and zero compensation method which is completed in the microprocessor against the measurement error caused by the three-axis non-orthogonal and zero deviation of the giant magneto-resistance sensor so as to improve the measurement precision of the measuring system. In addition, the invention further has the characteristics of low development cost, simple hardware circuit and the like.

A position and orientation measurement apparatus extracts a plurality of geometric feature based on geometric information of an observation object by drawing three-dimensional model data which represents a surface shape of the observation object. Further, the position and orientation measurement apparatus searches an image feature corresponding to the plurality of geometric feature in a reference image in which a position and orientation of an imaging apparatus relative to the observation object has been calculated and selects the geometric feature whose corresponding image feature is detected from the plurality of extracted geometric features. The position and orientation measurement apparatus calculates the position and orientation of the imaging apparatus relative to the observation object by associating the selected geometric feature with an image of the observation object in an input image.

A position and orientation measurement apparatus for measuring the position and orientation of an image capturing apparatus, which captures an image of a measurement object, relative to the measurement object, extracts configuration planes of the measurement object based on three-dimensional model data of the measurement object, and extracts measurement line segments to be used in detection of edges of a captured image from line segments which form the configuration planes. The position and orientation measurement apparatus projects the extracted measurement line segments onto the captured image based on an estimated position and orientation of the image capturing apparatus, selects visible measurement line segments which are not hidden by the extracted configuration planes, and calculates the position and orientation of the image capturing apparatus relative to the measurement object based on the visible measurement line segments and corresponding edges of the captured image.