| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 701220000 | Using inertial sensor | 41 |
| 20080221794 | Hybrid Inertial Navigation System Based on A Kinematic Model - The invention concerns a method for improving determination of inertial navigation parameters ( | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080243384 | AZIMUTH DETERMINATION APPARATUS, AZIMUTH DETERMINATION METHOD AND AZIMUTH DETERMINATION PROGRAM - Disclosed herein is an azimuth determination apparatus including: a horizontal-direction acceleration detection section installed in a movable body as a section configured to detect an acceleration caused by a centrifugal force, which is generated when said movable body is making a turn, as an acceleration oriented in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of said movable body. The apparatus further includes an azimuth determination section configured to produce a result of determination as to whether said movable body is making a right or left turn on the basis of said detected acceleration oriented in said horizontal direction and threshold values. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080262729 | INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT FAULT DETECTION ISOLATION RECONFIGURATION USING PARITY LOGIC - A method of implementing a fault-tolerant-avionic architecture in a vehicle includes using parity logic to monitor the functionality of at least three non-fault-tolerant inertial measurement units during a parity check and calculating a threshold from expected inertial measurement unit performance during a parity check. If a failure of an inertial measurement unit is detected based on the calculated threshold, then the method further includes identifying the failed inertial measurement units based on a direction of a parity vector in parity space. Each inertial measurement unit comprises at least one triad of sensors | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080262730 | Mobile Object Position Estimation Apparatus and Method - A mobile object position estimation apparatus mounted in a mobile object includes a first estimation mechanism for estimating the mobile object position based on the outputs from an inertial navigation sensor device (acceleration sensor, and yaw rate sensor, or the like) mounted on the mobile object, a storage for storing map information including at least node information, a second estimation mechanism for estimating the mobile object position based on a predicted path of traveling of the mobile object predicted from the node information, and a synthesis mechanism for determining the final estimated mobile object position by synthesizing the mobile object position estimated by the first estimation mechanism and the mobile object position estimated by the second estimation mechanism. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080312829 | NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH SWIVEL SENSOR MOUNT - A navigation system provides sensors and a user interface mounted in a single unit while allowing individual users to make adjustments to the user interface without affecting the functionality of the device. This is accomplished by mounting the orientation sensitive sensors (e.g. accelerometers, gyros, etc) rigidly to a mounting bracket rigidly mounted to the vehicle (such as to the dashboard). The sensors are mounted within a ball rigidly mounted to the bracket and the ball is secured within a rotatable socket on the user interface enclosure. In this manner, the user interface enclosure can rotate on the ball, but the orientation of the sensors relative to the vehicle will remain the same. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080319667 | HEADING STABILIZATION FOR AIDED INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS - A method of stabilizing heading in an inertial navigation system is provided. The method includes operating an inertial measurement unit comprising horizontal-sensing elements and off-horizontal-sensing elements while the inertial measurement unit is in a first orientation, calibrating the horizontal-sensing elements of the inertial measurement unit based on horizontal aiding measurements, forward-rotating the inertial measurement unit by a selected-rotation angle about a horizontal-rotation axis so that the inertial measurement unit is oriented in a second orientation, operating the forward-rotated inertial measurement unit while the inertial measurement unit is in the second orientation, and calibrating the rotated off-horizontal-sensing elements based on horizontal aiding measurements while the inertial measurement unit is in the second orientation. When the inertial measurement unit is in the first orientation, the horizontal-sensing elements are oriented in a horizontal reference plane. When the inertial measurement unit is in the second orientation, the off-horizontal-sensing elements are oriented in the horizontal reference plane. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090005986 | LOW POWER INERTIAL NAVIGATION PROCESSING - A method and system for processing inertial navigation data are disclosed. The method comprises accumulating measurement data in a data buffer from a plurality of navigational sensors, and activating a processing unit periodically to read and process the accumulated measurement data in the data buffer. The processing unit is deactivated once the accumulated measurement data is processed, such that overall power consumption of the processing unit is reduced. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090177398 | Angles only navigation system - An angles only aircraft navigation system. The system includes an IMU coupled with a passive optical sensor. The optical sensor provides periodic updates to the IMU in order to correct for accelerometer and gyro drifts. The IMU computes the air vehicle's instantaneous position, velocity, and attitude using gyro and accelerometer measurements. The optical sensor images stars and satellites. The navigation filter combines optical sensor measurements with IMU inputs, and determines those corrections needed to compensate for the IMU drifts. By applying periodic corrections to the IMU using satellite angular measurements, the navigation filter maintains an accurate position estimate during an entire flight. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090228210 | NAVIGATION SYSTEM BASED ON NEUTRINO DETECTION - A method and system for navigating is disclosed. The method and system comprises measuring the angle of arrival of neutrinos emitted by a source and tagging the neutrino measurements utilizing an accurate clock. The method and system further includes processing the tagged neutrino measurements through a computational model of a neutrino generator and combining the processed measurements with navigational aids to provide location information. A system and method in accordance with an embodiment measures angle of arrival of neutrinos generated by the sun, and therefore derives navigation information which is obtainable deep underground or underwater. Additionally, the system provides robust navigation, without drift, in the absence of other common navigation systems such as global positioning systems. | 09-10-2009 |
| 20090248304 | Vision-aided inertial navigation - This document discloses, among other things, a system and method for implementing an algorithm to determine pose, velocity, acceleration or other navigation information using feature tracking data. The algorithm has computational complexity that is linear with the number of features tracked. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090287414 | SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR THE PRECISE POSITIONING OF SUBSEA UNITS - A system for precise positioning of subsea units has a remotely operated vehicle, an inertial measurement unit positioned on the vehicle so as to produce a signal relative to a position of the subsea unit, a doppler velocity log coupled to the vehicle in producing a signal relative to the position of the subsea unit, a baseline measurement device coupled to the vehicle and producing a signal relative to the position of the subsea unit, a Kalman filter cooperative with the signals from the inertial measurement unit and the doppler velocity log and the baseline measurement device, and a processor cooperative with the Kalman filter for producing an output indicative of the positioning of the subsea unit. A doppler velocity log includes a plurality of beams which are individually connected to the Kalman Filter. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20100010741 | Inertial measurement with an imaging sensor and a digitized map - The present invention relates to a system and method for determining vehicle attitude and position from image data detected by sensors in a vehicle. The invention uses calculated differences between the locations of selected features in an image plane and the location of corresponding features in a terrain map to determine the attitude of the vehicle carrying the sensors with respect to a ground frame of reference. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100036612 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PASSIVE AND AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION OF SPACE VEHICLES USING AN EXTENDED KALMAN FILTER - It is presumed and commonly accepted by those skilled in the art of satellite navigation and Kalman filter design that the filter must be provided with the tracker position and velocity a priori in order to determine target position and velocity. Indeed, it is generally asserted that without a priori knowledge (known or measured values) of the tracker position and velocity, line of sight measurements between satellites do not contain adequate information to infer target states. Passive and autonomous navigation of space vehicles without a priori values for the position and velocity of either the target or tracker vehicle is achieved by reconfiguring the extended Kalman filter, or more generally any predictor/correction class filter, to include states for both the target and tracker vehicles. The target and tracker vehicles must both follow trajectories in an inertial frame of reference through the gravitational field of a gravitational body having a known gravitational model. The reconfigured filter simultaneously estimates the position and velocity of both tracking and target space-based vehicles from line-of-sight measurements. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100036613 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPLEMENTING AN ITERATED EXTENDED KALMAN FILTER WITHIN A NAVIGATION SYSTEM - Methods and systems for implementing an iterated extended Kalman filter within a navigation system are provided. In one embodiment, a Kalman filter programmed with time updating error states and measurement updating error states relating to received data sets is provided. The said Kalman filter configured to: iterate both the time updating error states and the measurement updating error states based on a first criteria; and iterate only the measurement updating error states based on a second criteria. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100057360 | Velocity calculation device, velocity calculation method, and navigation device - A velocity calculation device includes: a vertical direction acceleration detection portion that is mounted on a vehicle and detects an acceleration in a vertical direction generated correspondingly to undulation of a road surface; a horizontal direction angular velocity detection portion that is mounted on the vehicle and detects an angular velocity about a horizontal axis orthogonal to a travel direction of the vehicle generated correspondingly to the undulation of the road surface; and a velocity calculation portion that calculates a velocity in the travel direction of the vehicle on the basis of the acceleration in the vertical direction and the angular velocity about the horizontal axis. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100088030 | Dynamic Positioning Architecture - The present invention provides an improved architecture for integrating an inertial navigation system (INS) into a dynamic positioning (DP) system for a vessel. The architecture includes an INS unit and a DP system having a Kalman filter or other algorithm for combining data supplied by a plurality of position measuring equipment (PME) and the INS unit to derive an estimate of the position or speed of the vessel. A switch array and a switch array controller are also provided. These may optionally form a part of the DP system. The switch array is operable under the control of the switch array controller to supply data supplied by one or more of the plurality of position measuring equipment to the INS unit for the purposes of correcting drift. The selection of which of the one or more PME is/are to be combined with the INS unit is made automatically, in real time, to dynamically optimise the DP system. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100114487 | Environmental characteristic determination - A processor of an apparatus in one example makes a determination of an environmental characteristic based on an average of a plurality of concomitant values that correspond to the environmental characteristic. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100121573 | POSITION CALCULATING METHOD AND POSITION CALCULATING DEVICE - A position calculating method performed by a position calculating device having a sensor unit carried by or mounted on a mobile body and moving with the mobile body, includes: calculating the position of the mobile body; setting a detection value agreement range of the sensor unit for each of the possibility of moving, possibility of uncertainty, and possibility of stopping of the mobile body, and setting the detection value agreement range of the possibility of moving as the widest range to establish a membership function; determining whether the mobile body is in the stopping condition by predetermined fuzzy inference calculation using the membership function; changing an error parameter used for predetermined Kalman filter process to correct the calculated position by the Kalman filter process according to whether the stopping condition of the mobile body is determined or not; and correcting the calculated position by the Kalman filter process. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100153012 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR JOINING TOGETHER PORTIONS OF A GEOMETRIC ASSEMBLY - A housing comprises at least first and second portions. The first and second portions mate with each other at respective joining regions. The first and second portions each comprise a respective tapered flange along the joining region. The first and second portions of the housing are connected to each other by placing a plurality of collars over the tapered flanges of the first and second portions of the housing. Each of the collars has a respective groove formed therein. The grooves of the plurality of collars are placed over the tapered flanges of the first and second portions of the housing. A plurality of fasteners causes the plurality of collars to press the first and second portions of the housing together. In one embodiment, the housing is used in a sensor block assembly that is part of an inertial measurement unit. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100161223 | METHOD OF DETERMINING A HEADING IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL NORTH DIRECTION BY MEANS OF AN INERTIAL UNIT - A method of determining a heading in the geographical North direction by means of an inertial sensor module having three rate gyro measurement axes and three accelerometer measurement axes, the method comprising the steps of: | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100174487 | TELEPHONE OR OTHER PORTABLE DEVICE WITH INERTIAL SENSOR - At least one inertial sensor is configured to sense movement of a telephone (or other portable device such as a personal digital assistant, portable computer, portable game device, portable audio player, or portable video player). Information derived at least in part from data output by the inertial sensor is used as input to software executing on the telephone. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100211317 | DETERMINING VELOCITY USING MULTIPLE SENSORS - A system described herein includes a receiver component that receives first velocity data that is indicative of a velocity of a vehicle over a period of time, wherein the first velocity data corresponds to a first sensor. The receiver component also receives second velocity data that is indicative of the velocity of the vehicle over the period of time, wherein the second velocity data corresponds to a second sensor. The system also includes a modifier component that determines a difference between the first velocity data and the second velocity data and outputs at least one final velocity value for the vehicle based at least in part upon the first difference data. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100235097 | IMAGE AUGMENTED INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM (IAINS) AND METHOD - An image-augmented inertial navigation system includes an inertial navigation system configured to estimate a navigation state vector and an imager configured to output pixel signals associated with terrain features passing through a field view of the imager. The system further includes a processing unit configured to determine a distance from the imager to each of the pixel signals for a given image frame and to determine a distance between the imager and a centroid of one or more of the terrain features passing through the field of view of the imager for the given image frame. The processing unit is also configured to track each terrain feature as the terrain features pass through the field of view of the imager. The processing unit is further configured to update the navigation state vector of the inertial navigation system based on calculated NED coordinates position information of the tracked terrain features. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100250134 | DEAD RECKONING ELEVATION COMPONENT ADJUSTMENT - The subject matter disclosed herein relates to adjusting an elevation component of a estimated location based, at least in part, on sensor-based dead reckoning. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100286913 | System Including Two Combined Instruments and Method for Aligning Said System - The invention relates to the instruments for aiding the piloting of aircraft and more precisely a system comprising two instruments (ICS | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100305856 | Pedestrian navigation device and method using heading information of terminal - A pedestrian navigation device and method uses heading information of a terminal to measure a location. Moving direction information and x, y, and z-axis acceleration values of the terminal are detected. Heading information is calculated using the moving direction information of the terminal. Validity of the heading information is determined using the detected x, y, and z-axis acceleration values, making it possible to more accurately estimate the location of the pedestrian. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100318294 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CHARACTERIZING RIDE EXPERIENCES - The invention provides a monitoring device and its method of use for characterizing and evaluating the recreational quality of a ride event, based on velocity, g-forces, and vertical and lateral movement. The device optionally takes measurements for an individual ride event, displayes and stores them, and if desired, transmits them to a central server for storage and or dissemination. The device can thereby document experience characteristics and scores for each ride, optionally reflecting personal preferences in the ratings. The stored data may be used for personal or managerial applications. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110004404 | ENHANCED INERTIAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE - An inertial system is provided. The system includes at least one inertial sensor, a processing unit and a plurality of Kalman filters implemented in the processing unit. The Kalman filters receive information from the at least one inertial sensor. At most one of the plurality of Kalman filters has processed zero velocity updates on the last cycle. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110029241 | Personal Navigation System and Associated Methods - A personal navigation system, including: at least one inertial sensor module associated with a user, the inertial sensor module comprising at least one sensor to generate location data associated with the user; a communication device to receive and/or transmit at least a portion of the location data; and an onsite computer to communicate with the communication device and receive at least a portion of the location data; wherein at least one of the inertial sensor module and the onsite computer is configured to determine at least one activity of the user based at least in part upon the location data; wherein the onsite computer is programmed to configure a display including a representation of the user based at least in part upon the location data; wherein at least one of the determination and the configuration is performed substantially in real-time. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110066376 | VELOCITY CALCULATING DEVICE, VELOCITY CALCULATING METHOD, AND NAVIGATION DEVICE - Provided is a velocity calculating device including a vertical acceleration detector mounted on a moving body that travels on a predetermined travel surface, the vertical acceleration detector detecting an acceleration in a vertical direction generated due to an undulation of the travel surface; a horizontal angular velocity detector mounted on the moving body, the horizontal angular velocity detector detecting an angular velocity around a horizontal axis that is perpendicular to a direction of travel of the moving body, the angular velocity being generated due to the undulation of the travel surface; a velocity calculator that calculates a velocity of the moving body in the direction of travel of the moving body on the basis of the acceleration in the vertical direction and the angular velocity around the horizontal axis; and a velocity corrector that corrects the velocity in accordance with the velocity. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110066377 | VELOCITY CALCULATING DEVICE, VELOCITY CALCULATION METHOD, AND NAVIGATION DEVICE - Provided is a velocity calculating device including a vertical acceleration detector that detects a vertical acceleration generated due to an undulation of a contact surface; a horizontal angular velocity detector that detects a horizontal angular velocity generated due to the undulation; a correlation coefficient calculator that calculates a correlation coefficient that represents a degree to which an acceleration in the direction of travel is mixed into the vertical acceleration in accordance with an attachment angle; a true vertical acceleration detector that calculates a true vertical acceleration by subtracting the acceleration in the direction of travel mixed into the vertical acceleration from the vertical acceleration, the acceleration in the direction of travel mixed into the vertical acceleration being calculated using the correlation coefficient; and a velocity calculator that calculates a velocity of a moving body on the basis of the true vertical acceleration and the horizontal angular velocity. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110137560 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LATITUDE ADAPTIVE NAVIGATION QUALITY ESTIMATION - A method and system for navigation quality estimation is provided. The method comprises obtaining an alignment observation, comparing the alignment observation to a current heading estimate, and updating the current heading estimate based on the comparison. A heading error estimate is updated based on the updated current heading estimate, and an estimated drift rate is determined based on the heading error estimate and an operational latitude. A determination is then made whether a drift rate requirement is met by the estimated drift rate. If the drift rate requirement is not met, the method is repeated until the drift rate requirement is met. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110172918 | MOTION STATE DETECTION FOR MOBILE DEVICE - Methods, apparatuses, and systems are provided to indicate whether a mobile device is at rest or in motion based, at least in part, on inertial sensor measurements obtained from one or more inertial sensors located on-board the mobile device. Inertial sensor measurements may be combined with navigation signals obtained from a satellite or terrestrial based navigation system in order to refine position, orientation, velocity, and/or acceleration estimates for the mobile device. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110307173 | USE OF INERTIAL SENSOR DATA TO IMPROVE MOBILE STATION POSITIONING - An implementation of a system and method for using inertial sensor data to improve mobile station positioning is provided. Many mobile devices include an inertial sensor. These inertia measurements typically produce low resolution inertial measurements, which may be used to generate an uncertainty value and/or to select a positioning filter model. In some embodiments, this uncertainty value is used as a process noise input signal into a Kalman filter or similar filter. In some embodiments, one position estimate is selected from multiple navigation position filter models operate concurrently, each computing a separate position estimate. In these embodiments, a position estimate is selected based on either the uncertainty value or based on another characteristic of the inertia measurements. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20120022780 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CALIBRATING DYNAMIC PARAMETERS OF A VEHICLE NAVIGATION SYSTEM - Apparatus and methods for calibrating dynamic parameters of a vehicle navigation system are presented. One method may include determining whether reference position data of a vehicle is available, and measuring composite accelerations of the vehicle. The method may further include generating distance and turn angle data based upon a wheel speed sensors data, computing distance and turn angle errors based upon the independent position data, and associating the distance and turn angle errors with composite accelerations. A second method presented includes calibrating an inertial navigation sensor within a vehicle navigation system. The second method may include determining reference position data and Inertial Navigation System (INS) data, aligning an IMU with the vehicle, and aligning the IMU with an Earth fixed coordinate system. The second method may further include computing the vehicle alignment with respect to a horizontal plane, and determining calibration parameters for distance sensors associated with the vehicle. | 01-26-2012 |
| 701221000 | With correction by noninertial sensor | 6 |
| 20090037107 | INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM ERROR CORRECTION - Methods and apparatus for: (a) the correction of one or more elements determined from a first set of continuous gyro and accelerometer measurements comprising using a second set of discontinuously measured higher accuracy accelerometer measurements doubly integrated in an inertial coordinate system, (b) determining relative movement of a vehicle using a first set of acceleration measurements that do not include components of acceleration caused by the Earth's gravitational field, and a second set of acceleration measurements that do include components of acceleration caused by the Earth's gravitational field; and (c) correcting errors in an inertial navigation system positioned in a vehicle comprising using independently measured changes in position of the vehicle relative to an inertial coordinate frame. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090119016 | Vehicular present position detection apparatus and program storage medium - There is a need for improving the accuracy of estimating a gain error for an angular velocity sensor. An error estimation section and a correction section are provided as well as a gyroscope that detects an angular velocity of a vehicle. The error estimation section assumes the gain error of the gyroscope to be a state quantity and finds an estimated value for the gain error using a Kalman filter. Based on the gain error found by the error estimation section, the correction section corrects a gain correction amount used for gain correction of values detected by the gyroscope. The correction section corrects the gain correction amount dedicated to right turn based on the gain error found by the error estimation section when the vehicle is assumed to turn right. The correction section corrects the gain correction amount dedicated to left turn based on the gain error found by the error estimation section when the vehicle is assumed to turn left. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090204323 | INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM ERROR CORRECTION - Methods and apparatus for: (a) the correction of one or more elements determined from a first set of continuous gyro and accelerometer measurements comprising using a second set of discontinuously measured higher accuracy accelerometer measurements doubly integrated in an inertial coordinate system, (b) determining relative movement of a vehicle using a first set of acceleration measurements that do not include components of acceleration caused by the Earth's gravitational field, and a second set of acceleration measurements that do include components of acceleration caused by the Earth's gravitational field; and (c) correcting errors in an inertial navigation system positioned in a vehicle comprising using independently measured changes in position of the vehicle relative to an inertial coordinate frame. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090254279 | Compensation for mounting misalignment of a navigation device - Compensating for the misalignment of a navigation device with respect to a vehicle is described. In one example, the compensation is made by applying a high pass filter to a measured acceleration of the vehicle to produce a motion acceleration signal, weighting the motion acceleration signal with a measured steering rate of the vehicle, and deriving misalignment parameters for the navigation device with respect to the vehicle using the weighted motion acceleration signal. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20110166786 | SYSTEM FOR CORRECTION OF INACCURACIES OF INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS - The system is formed by the first differential pressure sensor where its one input is connected by means of the first pressure feed to the first monitoring point of the body and where its second input is connected by means of the second pressure feed to the second monitoring point. Output of the first differential pressure sensor is connected via amplifying element to the input of analogue-digital converter and its output is connected to the microprocessor system. This is formed by mutually interconnected blocks, specifically the block with inputs, processing unit, memory and the block with output circuits, and together with the whole measuring system it is connected to the block of power supply distribution, which is interconnected with external power supply source. The first output of the microprocessor system is connected to display device. The first monitoring point and the second monitoring point are located symmetrically in relation to the centre of gravity of the body. Microprocessor system is equipped with the second output used to control external devices. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110178708 | USING OBJECT TO ALIGN AND CALIBRATE INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM - The initialization of an inertial navigation system is performed using information obtained from an image of an object. Positional and orientational information about the object in a global reference frame and positional and orientational information about the camera relative to the object are obtained from the image. Positional and orientational information for the camera in the global reference frame is determined along with a transformation matrix between inertial sensor reference frame and a navigation coordinate frame. The inertial navigation system is initialized using the positional and orientational information for the camera, the transformation matrix and the velocity of the camera when the object was imaged, i.e., zero. Using the initialized data with measurements from the inertial sensors the position of the mobile platform may be updated during navigation and provided, e.g., on a digital map. Inertial navigation errors may be corrected using information obtained from images of different objects. | 07-21-2011 |
