Orientation-detecting apparatus, orientation-detecting method and orientation-detecting sensor device

摘要

An orientation-detecting apparatus has an orientation-designating device which is provided with a plurality of orientation-designating coils whose coil planes face in different directions. Each of the orientation-designating coils forms a resonance circuit having a resonant frequency different from the resonant frequencies of the other resonance circuits. An orientation-detecting sensor includes a plurality of orientation-detecting coils L, M, L', and M' which are radially disposed and are electromagnetically coupled to the orientation-designating coils. The orientation-designating device is placed at the center position O of the orientation-detecting sensor. By transmitting and receiving signals between the orientation-designating coils and the orientation-detecting coils L, M, L', and M', orientations of the orientation-designating device in three-dimensional space are detected as absolute values. <IMAGE>