Granted Patent B2

US 12,529,751 · App. 17/950,749 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Inventor: Patrenahalli M. Narendra (Hoffman Estates, IL)

Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation

G01S5/0242

Abstract

Claims (62)

1 . A mobile computing device, comprising:

a tracking sensor;

a laser rangefinder; and

a controller configured to:

based on data from the tracking sensor, determine a current pose of the mobile computing device in a facility coordinate system, the facility containing a target wireless transmitter at an installed position;

receive a transmission from the target wireless transmitter, containing an identifier of the target wireless transmitter;

receive, from the laser rangefinder, a range value indicating a distance between the current pose and the target wireless transmitter;

correlate the identifier with the range value, based on a property of the transmission;

generate a location defining the installed position in the facility coordinate system, based on the current pose and the range value; and

store the generated location in association with the identifier.

2 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the tracking sensor includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a camera; and

wherein the controller is configured to determine the current pose by:

obtaining motion data from the IMU;

detecting positions of features in successive images captured by the camera; and

combine the motion data and the positions of the features.

3 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the rangefinder is configured to measure the range value between the mobile computing device and the wireless transmitter responsive to an activation of the rangefinder;

wherein the controller is configured to receive the range value from the rangefinder.

4 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , further comprising an input device connected with the controller.

5 . The mobile computing device of claim 4 , wherein activation of the rangefinder is caused by a command received via the input device.

6 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a device housing supporting the controller and the tracking sensor; and

an accessory housing supporting the rangefinder, wherein the accessory housing is removably coupled to the device housing.

7 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to correlate the identifier with the range value by:

determining a range estimate from the property of the transmission; and

determining that a difference between the range estimate and the range value is smaller than a threshold.

8 . The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the property of the transmission includes at least one of (i) a signal strength measurement, or (ii) a round trip time.

9 . The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to:

receive respective transmissions from a plurality of wireless transmitters including the target wireless transmitter;

determine range estimates corresponding to each of the transmissions; and

select one of the transmissions closest to the range value as corresponding to the target wireless transmitter.

10 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to store the generated location in association with the identifier by:

updating a portion of a map of the facility corresponding to the target wireless transmitter to include the generated location.

11 . The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the current pose of the mobile computing device in the facility coordinate system by:

determining a local pose of the mobile computing device in a local coordinate system;

determining an observed location of an anchor disposed in the facility, in the local coordinate system;

obtaining a reference location of the anchor in the facility coordinate system; and

determining a transformation between the local coordinate system and the facility coordinate system based on the observed location and the reference location.

12 . A method, comprising:

based on data from a tracking sensor of a mobile computing device, determining a current pose of the mobile computing device in a facility coordinate system, the facility containing a target wireless transmitter at an installed position;

receiving, by the mobile computing device, a transmission from the target wireless transmitter, containing an identifier of the target wireless transmitter;

receiving, from a laser rangefinder of the mobile computing device, a range value indicating a distance between the current pose and the target wireless transmitter;

correlating the identifier with the range value, based on a property of the transmission;

generating a location defining the installed position in the facility coordinate system, based on the current pose and the range value; and

storing the generated location in association with the identifier.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the tracking sensor includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a camera; and wherein determining the current pose includes:

obtaining motion data from the IMU;

detecting positions of features in successive images captured by the camera; and

combining the motion data and the positions of the features.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving the range value comprises:

receiving an activation of the rangefinder; and

controlling the rangefinder to measure the range value between the mobile computing device and the wireless transmitter responsive to the activation.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein receiving the activation includes receiving a command via an input device of the mobile computing device.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the correlating the identifier with the range value includes:

determining a range estimate from the property of the transmission; and

determining that a difference between the range estimate and the range value is smaller than a threshold.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the property of the transmission includes at least one of (i) a signal strength measurement, and (ii) a round trip time.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving respective transmissions from a plurality of wireless transmitters including the target wireless transmitter;

determining range estimates corresponding to each of the transmissions; and

selecting one of the transmissions closest to the range value as corresponding to the target wireless transmitter.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein storing the generated location in association with the identifier includes:

updating a portion of a map of the facility corresponding to the target wireless transmitter to include the generated location.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)