A method for facilitating determination of positions of mobile devices within an operating space containing a number of objects, the method comprising: placing at least three markers on exposed surfaces of the objects, wherein each of the markers includes: a data area ; a pattern of linear bars disposed on either side of, and adjacent to, the data area, wherein the pattern of linear bars is identical on each of the markers and on either side of the data area and is configured such that the markers can be detected with a single scan and wherein the data area has a pattern that varies between the markers; and operating a mobile device to move about the operating space in response to control signals; the method further comprising the steps, performed at the mobile device of: using a single direction scan of an image to locate the markers in the image, wherein at least one of the markers is positioned to be oriented in the image such that the pattern of linear bars is non-orthogonal to the single direction scan; extracting data from the pattern of the data areas; estimating the position of the mobile device based on the extracted data; and generating the control signals based on the estimated position of the mobile device within the operating space. placing at least three markers on exposed surfaces of the objects, wherein each of the markers includes: a data area ; a pattern of linear bars disposed on either side of, and adjacent to, the data area, wherein the pattern of linear bars is identical on each of the markers and on either side of the data area and is configured such that the markers can be detected with a single scan and wherein the data area has a pattern that varies between the markers; and operating a mobile device to move about the operating space in response to control signals; a data area ; a pattern of linear bars disposed on either side of, and adjacent to, the data area, wherein the pattern of linear bars is identical on each of the markers and on either side of the data area and is configured such that the markers can be detected with a single scan and wherein the data area has a pattern that varies between the markers; and operating a mobile device to move about the operating space in response to control signals; the method further comprising the steps, performed at the mobile device of: using a single direction scan of an image to locate the markers in the image, wherein at least one of the markers is positioned to be oriented in the image such that the pattern of linear bars is non-orthogonal to the single direction scan; extracting data from the pattern of the data areas; estimating the position of the mobile device based on the extracted data; and generating the control signals based on the estimated position of the mobile device within the operating space. using a single direction scan of an image to locate the markers in the image, wherein at least one of the markers is positioned to be oriented in the image such that the pattern of linear bars is non-orthogonal to the single direction scan; extracting data from the pattern of the data areas; estimating the position of the mobile device based on the extracted data; and generating the control signals based on the estimated position of the mobile device within the operating space. <EOS>