DISTRIBUTED LOCALIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS AND SELF-LOCALIZING APPARATUS

摘要

A self-localizing apparatus uses timestampable signals transmitted by transceivers that are a part of a distributed localization system to compute its position relative to the transceivers. Transceivers and self-localizing apparatuses are arranged for highly accurate timestamping using digital and analog reception and transmission electronics as well as one or more highly accurate clocks, compensation units, localization units, position calibration units, scheduling units, or synchronization units. Transceivers and self-localizing apparatuses are further arranged to allow full scalability in the number of self-localizing apparatuses and to allow robust self-localization with latencies and update rates useful for high performance applications such as autonomous mobile robot control.

主权项

1. A localization system, comprising:
three ultra wideband (UWB) transceivers, each operable to emit an UWB signal and each comprising:
a transceiver antenna;a transceiver clock;analog transmission electronics; anddigital transmission electronics operationally coupled to the transceiver clock and the analog transmission electronics and operable to emit the UWB signal at a scheduled transmission time with reference to the transceiver clock; and a self-localizing apparatus operable to receive the UWB signals, comprising:
an apparatus antenna operable to receive the UWB signals;an apparatus clock;apparatus analog reception electronics;apparatus digital reception electronics operationally coupled to the apparatus clock and the apparatus analog reception electronics and operable to timestamp the received UWB signals with reference to the apparatus clock signal; anda localization unit operationally coupled to the apparatus digital reception electronics and operable to compute a relative location of the self-localizing apparatus to the three UWB transceivers based on the timestamps of the received UWB signals.