A new method for magnetic position and orientation tracking

Abstract

Abstract-The method is based on two-axis generation of a quasi-static rotating magnetic field and three-axis sensing. Two mutually orthogonal coils fed with phase-quadrature currents comprise the excitation source, which is equal to a mechanically rotating magnetic dipole. The resulting excitation field rotates elliptically at any position in the near-field region. The ac part of the squared field magnitude is a sinusoidal wave at twice the excitation frequency. The following set of parameters uniquely characterize the excitation at the sensor's position: the phase of the squared field waveform, relative to the excitation currents, the minimum field value, the ratio of the field extremes, and the orientation of the excitation field plane. Simple and explicit analytical expressions are given which relate the first three parameters to the azimuth, elevation, and distance from the source to the sensor, respectively. The orientation of the sensor axes, relative to the plane of the excitation, can easily be determined by comparing the phase and amplitude of the measured signals against the phase and amplitude of the excitation field at the sensor's position. Apart from simplicity, the proposed method increases the speed of tracking; a single period of excitation is in principle sufficient to obtain all of the information needed to determine both the sensor's position and orientation. A continuous sinusoidal excitation mode allows an efficient phase-locking and accurate detection of the sensor output. It also improves the electromagnetic compatibility of the method.Index Terms-Elliptically rotating excitation field, magnetic position and orientation tracking, magnetic position measurement, magnetic sensing, magnetic tracking system, rotating magnetic dipole field.

A State-of-the-Art Survey of Indoor Positioning and Navigation Systems and Technologies

“…These two studies are similar in that they both use mathematical method to attain their goal, and based on 'systems using magnetic fields from currents'. The study by Paperno et al (2001) is an improvement on the study done by Raab et al (1979). The study involves the excitation of the magnetic source and the resultant sensor output.…”

“…While Raab et al (1979) describes a positioning and tracking system using three-axis magnetic dipole source and a three-axis magnetic sensor, Paperno et al (2001) focused on increasing the speed of the positioning and tracking system by using two-axis generation of a quasi-static rotating magnetic dipole source and three-axis magnetic sensor. These two studies are similar in that they both use mathematical method to attain their goal, and based on 'systems using magnetic fields from currents'.…”

“…Li, Gallagher, Dempster, & Rizos, 2012). Magnetic positioning system involves the use of magnetic signals for position determination within a magnetic field (Paperno, Sasada, & Leonovich, 2001;Blankenbach, Norrdine, & Hellmers, 2012;S.-E. Kim, Kim, Yoon, & Kim, 2012). The system consists of fixed transmitters, and receivers that are mounted on the user or tracked object.…”

Integration of 3D and multispectral data for cultural heritage applications: Survey and perspectives

“…In theory, coordinate measurement machines can ful ll this purpose, but they are too cumbersome to be used in situ. Another possibility is to use magnetic tracking [117,118] to derive the position and orientation of the sensor in use. However even recent sensors [119] are not su ciently precise: they have over a millimeter of error in positional accuracy and 4 • in angular accuracy.…”

Ambulatory assessment of human body kinematics en kinetics

“…Also, the source consisted of three coils which need to be mounted orthogonally and share the same origin. An algorithm using two source coils was proposed by Paperno et al [100], but still the two coils needed to be mounted orthogonally and to share the same origin.…”