Mobile Device Orientation via Light Fixture Visual Cues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile device compasses face inaccuracies in determining orientation within indoor environments due to magnetic interference from metal structures, necessitating a more reliable method for accurate navigation and orientation.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing images of overhead light fixtures captured by a mobile device's image sensor, combined with compass readings, to determine a mobile device's orientation in the X-Y plane by calculating angles relative to known light fixture orientations, thereby mitigating magnetic interference effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mobile device compass is used to determine orientation in indoor environments, then the device can provide orientation information, but the accuracy deteriorates due to magnetic interference from metal structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of overhead light fixtures with encoded orientation information and a camera-based detection mechanism. Instead of directly measuring magnetic field orientation, the system uses visual intermediaries (light fixtures with patterns) to convey orientation data, which the mobile device then decodes to determine its orientation without relying on magnetic sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the magnetic sensing system (compass) with an optical vision-based system. The mobile device uses its camera to capture images of overhead light fixtures and processes these visual signals to determine orientation, substituting the magnetic field interaction mechanism with an optical detection and image processing mechanism that is immune to magnetic interference.
2Measurement precision
If visual cues from overhead light fixtures are used to determine orientation, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases due to additional sensing and processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universality of the mobile device's existing camera and processor, which are already present for other functions like photography and general computing. By repurposing these existing components for orientation determination through visual cue analysis, the system achieves enhanced measurement precision without adding significant complexity, as the same hardware serves multiple purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes the mobile device's own existing resources (camera, processor, display) to perform orientation determination. The device captures images with its camera, processes the visual information through algorithms, and presents the results on its display, making the system self-sufficient without requiring external specialized equipment or complex additional components.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices are described for determining an orientation of a mobile device. One method includes capturing, at the mobile device, an image of at least one illuminated object defining an illuminated reference axis (1205); determining a first angle between the illuminated reference axis and a device reference axis of the mobile device(1210); determining a second angle between the illuminated reference axis and a common reference axis (1215); estimating a third angle between the device reference axis and the common reference axis (1220); and determining an orientation of the mobile device based at least in part on the first angle, the second angle, and the third angle (1225).