Patent ID: 7430489

Claim:
A device for producing information concerning one or more properties of an environment ( 1 ), the device comprising: a) a sensor ( 5 ) movable in relation to the environment, the sensor obtaining information from the environment by recording or measuring one or more properties of the environment in one or more positions and/or directions, and b) a transducer ( 6 ) mechanically connected to the sensor ( 5 ) so that the relative positions and orientations of the sensor and the transducer are fixable, the transducer being arranged to determine its orientation and position with respect to at least four degrees of freedom relative to the environment ( 1 ) by i) receiving incident signals from at least three signal sources ( 7 ) in the environment, and ii) calculating and using the direction (φ 1 , ⊖ 1 ; φ 2 , ⊖ 2 ; φ 3 , ⊖ 3 ) of each sight line extending between respective signal source and the transducer, and iii) thereby producing corresponding information concerning the orientation and the position of the sensor, with respect to at least four degrees of freedom of the sensor, relative to the environment, for at least three said recordings or measurings accomplished by the sensor ( 5 ), wherein said produced corresponding information concerning the orientation and the position of the sensor including nonlinear property knowledge of the sensor, with respect to said at least four degrees of freedom of the sensor, relative to the environment, for said at least three said recordings or measurings accomplished by the sensor ( 5 ) are combined, the transducer is a camera, the device emits said measured environmental information of the one or more properties of the environment, in one of 1) for the sensor obtaining the environmental information in 0 to 2 dimensions, in at least one more dimension than the number of dimensions obtained by the sensor, and 2) for the sensor obtaining the environmental information in 3 dimensions, in at least 3 dimensions, and said emitted measured environmental information of the one or more properties of the environment and said orientation and position information defines at least one property of the environment.