Threshold barrier system
A system is described that includes a transmitter for generating a magnetic field comprising a first detection region and a second detection region, wherein the first detection region is different than the second detection region. The system comprises a receiver configured to detect at a location of the receiver in the magnetic field a magnetic field vector, a polarity, and at least one additional vector. The system comprises the receiver configured to use the magnetic field vector, the polarity, and the at least one additional vector to determine a position of the receiver in the magnetic field.
1. A system comprising:
a transmitter for generating a magnetic field comprising a first detection region and a second detection region, wherein the first detection region is different than the second detection region;
a receiver configured to detect at a location of the receiver in the magnetic field a magnetic field vector, a polarity, and at least one additional vector;
the receiver configured to compute an angle between the magnetic field vector and the at least one additional vector,
the receiver configured to use the magnetic field vector, the polarity, and the at least one additional vector to determine a position of the receiver in the magnetic field, the determining the position including comparing the angle to at least one threshold value and determining the position of the receiver relative to the transmitter using the angle and the polarity.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is positionable at a boundary, wherein the first detection region comprises a first side of the boundary, wherein the second detection region comprises a second side of the boundary.
3. The system of claim 1 , the receiver configured to detect a first polarity of the magnetic field in the first detection region and a second polarity of the magnetic field in the second detection region, wherein the first polarity is different than the second polarity.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one additional vector comprises a gravity vector.
5. The system of claim 4 , the detecting the gravity vector including detecting the gravity vector using at least one of a 3-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.
6. The system of claim 4 , the determining the position comprising determining a presence of the receiver in the first detection region when the angle is less than a first threshold value of the at least one threshold value and the polarity comprises the first polarity.
7. The system of claim 4 , the determining the position comprising determining a presence of the receiver in the second detection region when the angle is less than a second threshold value of the least one threshold value and the polarity comprises the second polarity.
8. The system of claim 4 , the determining the angle comprising computing an inverse cosine of a dot product of the magnetic field vector and the gravity vector divided by the product of their magnitudes.
9. The system of claim 4 , the determining the angle comprising describing a sphere, wherein the sphere includes a first radius and a center point.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the magnetic field vector and the gravity vector originate at the center point.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the magnetic field vector intersects the sphere at coordinates x i , Y i , z 1 .
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the gravity vector intersects the sphere at coordinates x 2 , y 2 , z 2 .
13. The system of claim 12 , the determining the angle comprising computing a distance between coordinates x 1 , y 1 , z 1 and x 2 , y 2 , z 2 as Sqrt((x 2 −x 1 ) 2 +(y 2 −y 1 ) 2 +(z 2 −z 1 ) 2 ).
14. The system of claim 13 , the determining the angle comprising computing the angle using information of the first radius and the distance.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic field comprises a plurality of signal field amplitudes.
16. The system of claim 15 , the generating the magnetic field comprising periodically adjusting an amplitude of the magnetic field between the plurality of signal field amplitudes.
17. The system of claim 1 , the detecting the magnetic field vector including detecting the magnetic field vector using a magnetometer.
18. A system comprising:
a transmitter for generating a magnetic field comprising a first detection region and a second detection region, wherein the first detection region is different than the second detection region;
a receiver configured to detect at a location of the receiver in the magnetic field a magnetic field vector, a polarity, and at least one additional vector;
the receiver configured to compute an angle between the magnetic field vector and the at least one additional vector;
the receiver configured to determine a presence of the receiver in the first detection region when the angle falls below a first value and the polarity comprises a first polarity.
19. The system of claim 18 , the receiver configured to determine a presence of the receiver in the second detection region when the angle falls below a second value and the polarity comprises a second polarity, wherein the first polarity is different than the second polarity.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one additional vector comprises a gravity vector.