Patent ID: 8612174
Filing Date: 2013-12-17
Classification: G01B,G01C,G01S

Abstract:
1. A method for measuring six degrees of freedom of an object (all three positions and all three orientations), and for directly estimating its velocity, over a time interval, by using one position measuring device to measure a time sequence of positions of one target over the time interval, using a modulating nest affixed to the object to vary the position and/or orientation of the target with respect to the object over the time interval, along a modulation path, causing the sequence of points measured by the position measuring device to lie on a static target path when the object is stationary, said static target path being modified into a dynamic target path by the movement of the object, said dynamic target path being mathematically represented as a function of spatial variables and of time, said mathematical representation containing parameters that are related to the position and orientation of the static target path and the velocity of the object, identifying the values of the parameters of the mathematical representation of the dynamic target path that best fit the measured path segment, inferring the position and orientation of the static target path as well as the average velocity of the object over the time interval, from the parameters of the best fit mathematical representation of the dynamic target path, and obtaining the average position and orientation of the object, from those of the static target path.