Sensor Device with Imaging Unit for Inertial Drift Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inertial sensor devices used in motion tracking systems suffer from significant accumulated errors due to drift, which are difficult to correct, especially in wearable devices where high-precision sensors are not feasible due to cost and weight constraints, and GPS corrections are unsuitable for real-time human movement tracking.
Innovation Solution
A sensor system comprising multiple devices with inertial sensors and imaging units that capture and correct each other's information codes, allowing for the reduction of accumulated errors in position and attitude information through relative positional and attitudinal relationships.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If consumer-grade MEMS sensors are used for motion tracking, then cost and weight are reduced, but accumulated errors due to drift increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an imaging unit as an intermediary device that captures visual information of markers on other sensor devices. This visual information serves as a mediator to correct the accumulated drift errors in the inertial sensors, allowing the system to maintain high position accuracy without using expensive high-precision sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the imaging unit continuously captures images of markers on other devices, and the processing unit uses this visual information to calculate relative positions and correct drift errors in real-time, feeding back correction data to maintain measurement accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensor devices are used for mutual correction, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each sensor device is designed with universal multi-functionality, incorporating both inertial sensors for motion detection and imaging units for visual capture. This allows any device in the system to serve both as a subject being tracked and as a tracking device itself, enabling mutual correction without requiring separate specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the inertial sensing function and the visual imaging function into an integrated sensor device system. By combining these functions in each device and enabling them to work together through the processing unit, the system achieves high precision while managing complexity through unified device architecture.
3Measurement precision
If real-time correction is implemented through imaging, then accumulated error is reduced, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging unit operates periodically rather than continuously, capturing images at specific intervals or triggers. This periodic operation reduces energy consumption compared to continuous imaging while still providing sufficient correction data to maintain measurement precision through real-time error reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a sensor device that can easily reduce an accumulated error in a sensor, the sensor device including: a first inertial sensor; a first information code formed to be capable of being imaged from an outside; and a first imaging unit capable of imaging a second information code formed on another sensor device.