An apparatus of positioning with curved light surface includes a transmitter for transmitting optical signals and a receiver for receiving optical signals. The apparatus determines a position of the receiver based on the received optical signals. The transmitter includes a light emitter for emitting optical signals of at least two flashing frequencies and a hollow hemispherical cover including two fixed-angle opaque regions, a variable-angle opaque region, and transparent regions located therebetween. The present invention further relates to a method of positioning with curved light surface.

Devices and techniques for managing power consumption of a position tracking device. The position tracking device may be a virtual reality (VR) controller having multiple optical sensors oriented to receive optical signals from different directions. A stationary optical emitter projects a laser line into a space and repeatedly scans the laser line through the space. For a given scan, some of the sensors may detect the laser line and some of the sensors may not detect the laser line. When an individual sensor fails to detect a laser scan, that sensor is disabled for at least a portion of one or more subsequent laser scans in order to reduce power consumption of the VR controller.

A multicopter landing platform includes a base portion, a bottom portion, disposed in the base portion, that accepts a protruding portion of the multicopter, and walls of the base portion that are sloped toward the bottom portion. The walls of the base portion may form a conic-shape. The multicopter landing platform may also include a GPS device that sends RTK corrections to a different GPS device on the multicopter. The multicopter landing platform may also include a beacon that guides the multicopter to cause the multicopter to contact the walls of the base station. The beacon may be disposed in the bottom portion. The beacon may provide a signal that is detected by the multicopter. The beacon may provide a light signal that is detected by a camera on the multicopter to guide the multicopter toward the base portion. A charging ring may be disposed in the bottom portion.

A multicopter landing platform includes a base portion, a bottom portion, disposed in the base portion, that accepts a protruding portion of the multicopter, and walls of the base portion that are sloped toward the bottom portion. The walls of the base portion may form a conic-shape. The multicopter landing platform may also include a GPS device that sends RTK corrections to a different GPS device on the multicopter. The multicopter landing platform may also include a beacon that guides the multicopter to cause the multicopter to contact the walls of the base station. The beacon may be disposed in the bottom portion. The beacon may provide a signal that is detected by the multicopter. The beacon may provide a light signal that is detected by a camera on the multicopter to guide the multicopter toward the base portion. A charging ring may be disposed in the bottom portion.

An active marker apparatus is provided for securely affixing active markers to a wearable article of an object in a performance capture system. The active marker light components coupled to a strand, are inserted into a receptacle to position the active marker light components onto the wearable article. A gap is provided in a chamber between the active marker light component and an interior surface of a protrusion portion of the receptacle. At least a section of the protrusion portion permits light emitted from the active marker light component into the chamber, to diffuse in a manner that allows the light to be easily detected by a camera in the live action scene. Each active marker light component is locked into place in a respective receptacle by one or more channels that receive the strand. A cap fitting may further assist in securing the receptacle to the wearable article and optionally aid in visual detection of the receptacle.

A sealed active marker apparatus of a performance capture system is described to provide protective housing for active marker light components coupled to a strand and attached via a receptacle, to an object, such as via a wearable article, in a live action scene. The receptacle includes a protrusion portion that permits at least one particular wavelength range of light emitted from the enclosed active marker light component, to diffuse in a manner that enables easy detection by a sensor device. A base portion interlocks with a bottom plate of the receptacle to secure the strand within one or more channels. A sealant material coating portions of the apparatus promotes an insulating environment for the active marker light component.

Disclosed are a system for identifying the position of mobile object, comprising a positioning module, a set of beacons and processor configured to determine the position of the positioning module based on the data gathered from the interaction between the positioning module and each one of the set of beacons. More specifically, the positioning system utilizes signal emitted from the beacons and the signal emitted from the positioning module in response to receiving the signal from the beacon. Using the signals transmitted from the positioning module and the beacons, vectors of signals from the bacons to the positioning module are obtained, and the intersecting point of the vectors of those signals is identified as the position of the positioning module.

Head-mounted augmented reality (AR) devices can track pose of a wearer's head to provide a three-dimensional virtual representation of objects in the wearer's environment. An electromagnetic (EM) tracking system can track head or body pose. A handheld user input device can include an EM emitter that generates an EM field, and the head-mounted AR device can include an EM sensor that senses the EM field. EM information from the sensor can be analyzed to determine location and/or orientation of the sensor and thereby the wearer's pose. The EM emitter and sensor may utilize time division multiplexing (TDM) or dynamic frequency tuning to operate at multiple frequencies. Voltage gain control may be implemented in the transmitter, rather than the sensor, allowing smaller and lighter weight sensor designs. The EM sensor can implement noise cancellation to reduce the level of EM interference generated by nearby audio speakers.

Head-mounted augmented reality (AR) devices can track pose of a wearer's head to provide a three-dimensional virtual representation of objects in the wearer's environment. An electromagnetic (EM) tracking system can track head or body pose. A handheld user input device can include an EM emitter that generates an EM field, and the head-mounted AR device can include an EM sensor that senses the EM field. EM information from the sensor can be analyzed to determine location and/or orientation of the sensor and thereby the wearer's pose. The EM emitter and sensor may utilize time division multiplexing (TDM) or dynamic frequency tuning to operate at multiple frequencies. Voltage gain control may be implemented in the transmitter, rather than the sensor, allowing smaller and lighter weight sensor designs. The EM sensor can implement noise cancellation to reduce the level of EM interference generated by nearby audio speakers.

A visual positioning system for mobile devices includes at least one infrared camera, at least one infrared illumination source, and a processor that coordinates operation of the at least one camera and illumination sources. A flood IR infrared illumination source illuminates environmental objects for localization of the mobile device during a first camera exposure window, and a structured IR illumination source illuminate environmental objects for detection and mapping of obstacles during a second camera exposure window. A visual SLAM map is constructed with images obtained from a first camera, with a single map being useable for positioning and navigation across a variety of environmental lighting conditions. A method for training a robot includes receiving operator input signals configured to start and stop recording of defined routes during the guiding of the mobile robot along paths between different pairs of desired robot destinations, such that routes for subsequent use by the robot are generated for paths imaged while recording is active.