Granted Patent B2

US 12,287,200 · App. 18/371,845 · Granted Apr 29, 2025

Inventor: Frederick Vosburgh (Durham, NC)

Assignee: Archaius Inc.

G01C17/28G01C21/1654

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. A self-locating compass comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one magnetometer operable to determine an orientation with respect to a magnetic field; and

at least one force sensor including at least one sensing unit operable to detect force signals;

wherein the at least one sensing unit includes at least one measurement circuit and at least one sensing element;

wherein the at least one processor co-processes data received by the at least one magnetometer and the at least one force sensor to generate field-normalized force signals; and

wherein the at least one processor is operable to determine a velocity, a speed, and/or a change in position based on the field-normalized force signals.

2. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one force sensor comprises a Lorentz force sensor, wherein the Lorentz force sensor is operable to detect a Lorentz force in at least two dimensions.

3. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one magnetometer is operable to determine the orientation in at least two dimensions.

4. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one force sensor comprises a dual loop sensing type unit.

5. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one force sensor comprises at least one Faraday rod sensing type unit.

6. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , further including an attitude sensor operable to quantify orientation with respect to gravity, a horizontal plane, and/or a vertical plane.

7. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , further including at least one memory connected to one or more of the at least one processor.

8. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , further including an input/output (I/O) unit, wherein the I/O unit is operable to receive input data and/or output navigation or navigation control signals.

9. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic field is the Earth's magnetic field.

10. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one magnetometer includes a vector magnetometer operable to determine magnetic field intensity in at least two dimensions.

11. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , further including at least one gimbal operable to orient the self-locating compass.

12. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the self-locating compass has a drift rate of less than 80 meters per hour.

13. The self-locating compass of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to integrate a measured potential over the period of time, wherein the at least one processor is operable to normalize the integrated measured potential.

14. A self-locating compass comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one magnetometer operable to determine magnetic field intensity; and

at least one force sensor including at least one sensing unit operable to detect force signals;

wherein the at least one processor co-processes data received by the at least one magnetometer and the at least one force sensor to generate field-normalized force signals;

wherein the at least one processor is operable to determine a velocity, a speed, and/or a change in position based on the field-normalized force signals; and

wherein the self-locating compass is integrated into a vehicle.

15. The self-locating compass of claim 14 , wherein the vehicle includes a plane, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a car, a helicopter, a motorcycle, and/or a boat.

16. The self-locating compass of claim 14 , wherein the at least one force sensor includes a Lorentz force sensor, wherein the Lorentz force sensor is operable to detect a Lorentz force in at least two dimensions.

17. The self-locating compass of claim 14 , wherein the at least one magnetometer is operable to determine the orientation in at least two dimensions.

18. A self-locating compass comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one force sensor including at least one sensing unit operable to detect force signals; and

at least one inertial measurement unit (IMU) and/or at least one inertial navigation system (INS);

wherein the at least one IMU and/or the at least one INS is operable to provide magnetometer and attitude signals;

wherein the at least one processor is operable to determine a velocity and/or a change in position; and

wherein the magnetometer and attitude signals are operable to be fused with the velocity to reset errors of the at least one IMU and/or the at least one INS.

19. The self-locating compass of claim 18 , wherein the at least one force sensor includes a Lorentz force sensor, wherein the Lorentz force sensor is operable to detect a Lorentz force in at least two dimensions.

20. The self-locating compass of claim 18 , wherein the magnetometer and attitude signals are non-integrated magnetometer and attitude signals, wherein the non-integrated magnetometer and attitude signals undergo Kalman filtering.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (32)