Patent ID: 6826843
Filing Date: 2004-12-07
Classification: G01C

Abstract:
An apparatus for determining the orientation of Earth's magnetic pole, comprising:a needle magnet, pivotally coupled to a support and free to orient itself with Earth's magnetic pole; a shutter pattern fixed to pivot with said needle magnet, and wherein said needle magnet is positioned coplanar with, and constitutes a portion of, said shutter pattern; plural binary detectors, fixed relative to said support and aligned to detect said shutter pattern, having a binary word output signal indicative of the orientation of said magnet, and wherein said shutter pattern is formed and said plural binary detectors are positioned such that any incremental change in the orientation of said magnet will result in the change of state of no more than one of said plural binary detectors, and a display coupled to display an indication of the relative orientation of Earth's magnetic pole consistent with said output signal.