A position tracking system includes an array of detection pixels coupled to a head-mounted display (HMD) configured to capture light signals reflected from an environment surrounding the HMD. The position tracking system maintains, in a database, signal data related to a plurality of positions of the HMD. The position tracking system determines signal data related to a position of the HMD, based on the light signals captured during a time instant of the position of the HMD. The position tracking system matches the determined signal data to the maintained signal data, determines a present position of the HMD based on the matching, updates position data of the HMD with the determined position, and provides the updated position data of the HMD.

Disclosed is a positioning system and a node network. A terminal included in the present invention is characterized by an invisible light sensing unit that detects invisible light signals, that were emitted from one or more signaling nodes with the same intensity, carrying the location data of each signaling node; and a controller that calculates the user's position based on the location data included in one or more invisible light signals and their received signal strength.

An auxiliary apparatus for a lighthouse positioning system is provided. The lighthouse positioning system includes a first positioning base station and a second positioning base station, wherein the first positioning base station includes a first signal transmitter and a second signal transmitter and the second positioning base station includes a first signal transmitter and a second signal transmitter. The auxiliary apparatus calculates a first signal time sequence of the first signal transmitters, calculates a second signal time sequence of the second signal transmitters, and determines a third signal time sequence according to the first signal time sequence and the second signal time sequence. The third signal time sequence is not overlapped with the first signal time sequence and the second signal time sequence. The auxiliary apparatus transmits a plurality of signals according to the third signal time sequence.

Embodiments of apparatuses and methods of power optimization in VLC positioning are disclosed. In one embodiment, a mobile device may include image sensors configured to receive visible light communication signals, a memory configured to store the visible light communication signals, and a transceiver configured to receive positioning assistance data of a venue, and a controller configured to: decode one or more light fixtures within a field of view of the mobile device to obtain corresponding light fixture identifications, determine a motion of the mobile device with respect to the one or more light fixtures based on the light fixture identifications and the positioning assistance data of the venue, and switch the image sensors of the mobile device to a reduced duty cycle state based on the motion of the mobile device with respect to the one or more light fixtures within the field of view of the mobile device.

An LED light and communication system is in communication with a broadband over power line communications system. The LED light and communication system includes at least one optical transceiver. The optical transceiver includes a light support having a plurality of light emitting diodes and at least one photodetector attached thereto, and a processor. The processor is in communication with the light emitting diodes and the at least one photodetector. The processor is constructed and arranged to generate a communication signal.

A housing contains a plurality of motorized transport units in a stacked relationship to one another, with a bottom-most one of the plurality of motorized transport units serving as a locomotion mechanism that selectively causes movement of the housing with the plurality of motorized transport units contained therein. By one approach the aforementioned housing has a cylindrical form factor and includes a cylindrically-shaped chamber configured to receive the motorized transport units. By one approach, for example, this housing includes no lifting mechanism to lift any of the motorized transport units into itself and further has no integral locomotion mechanism by which the housing can move itself. The interior of the housing can include at least one track formed therein to receive a corresponding part of each of the plurality of motorized transport units which the motorized transport units can engage to thereby lift themselves into the interior of the housing.

A vehicle and method of operating a vehicle in a vehicle traffic control system includes receiving a grid projection from a grid generator, generating a navigation output, transmitting the navigation output to the vehicle traffic control system, receiving the vehicle traffic control plan from the vehicle traffic control system, and operating the vehicle.

A method for energy management in a robotic device includes providing a base station for mating with the robotic device, determining a quantity of energy stored in an energy storage unit of the robotic device, and performing a predetermined task based at least in part on the quantity of energy stored. Also disclosed are systems for emitting avoidance signals to prevent inadvertent contact between the robot and the base station, and systems for emitting homing signals to allow the robotic device to accurately dock with the base station.

Embodiments of systems and methods of power optimization in VLC positioning are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of power optimization in visible light communication (VLC) positioning of a mobile device comprises receiving, by a transceiver, positioning assistance data of a venue, where the positioning assistance data includes identifiers and positions of light fixtures in the venue, decoding, by a VLC signal decoder, one or more light fixtures within a field of view of the mobile device to obtain corresponding light fixture identifiers, determining, by a controller, a motion of the mobile device with respect to the one or more light fixtures based on the light fixture identifiers and the positioning assistance data of the venue, and controlling, by the controller, the mobile device to operate in a reduced power mode based on the motion of the mobile device with respect to the one or more light fixtures.

One innovation includes an imaging device having an image sensor, a lens having a movable optical element, and an actuator operative to move the one optical element to a plurality of lens positions. The imaging device further includes an electronic display, a power source electrically coupled to the camera system and to the display, the power source (e.g., voltage regulator) configured to provide power to the display and the camera system, a memory circuit configured to store information representing an actuator control value that corresponds to a low-power focus position, and an electronic hardware processor coupled to the memory circuit, the actuator and the electronic display. The processor may retrieve the actuator control value from the memory circuit and controls the actuator to move the optical element to the lens position that corresponds to the low-power focus position when the camera system is in a deactivated state.