Camera-Based Device Positioning Using Tagged Reference Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies struggle to provide rapid, precise, and secure determination of the position and orientation of camera-enabled devices within local or shared coordinate systems, especially indoors, with GPS offering unsatisfactory precision and limited applicability to augmented reality and robotics applications.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing real-world reference objects and a cloud-based system to anchor virtual worlds, allowing camera-enabled devices to determine their positions and orientations within a local or shared coordinate system without prior knowledge of each other's geometry, using machine-readable optical tags like QR codes to access a centralized domain for accurate positioning and orientation data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS is used for positioning, then global coverage is achieved, but precision deteriorates to meter-level accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces reference objects with machine-readable optical tags as intermediaries between the device and the coordinate system. These reference objects serve as mediators that the camera can detect to determine precise position and orientation, enabling high-precision positioning both indoors and outdoors without relying on GPS satellites.
2Measurement precision
If peer-to-peer communication is implemented between devices, then relative positioning is achieved, but system complexity and security requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a centralized domain as an intermediary that stores coordinate system information and reference object data. Instead of direct peer-to-peer communication, devices query the domain to obtain positioning information, which simplifies the system architecture and reduces communication complexity while maintaining secure and accurate relative positioning.
3Productivity
If machine-readable optical tags are used on reference objects, then rapid positioning is achieved, but the system requires centralized domain infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-places reference objects with machine-readable optical tags at known locations in the environment, and pre-stores their coordinate information in a centralized domain. When a device needs positioning, it can rapidly query the domain using the detected reference object, achieving fast positioning without real-time complex computations or peer-to-peer negotiations.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer implemented method for determining a position and orientation of an electronic device in a coordinate system including: capturing an image of a reference object; extracting from the image-of the reference object an address where to access a domain comprising information pertaining to: a position, orientation, known physical dimensions, and appearance of the one or more reference objects; for the reference object, obtaining, by accessing the domain, the position, orientation, known physical dimensions, and appearance; determining a relative distance and orientation of the electronic device to the reference object based on the known physical dimensions and appearance of the reference object and apparent dimensions and appearance of the reference object as imaged in the captured image; and determining the position and orientation of the electronic device in the coordinate system based on the position and orientation of the reference object in the coordinate system and the determined relative distance and orientation.