Inertial orientation tracker apparatus method having automatic drift compensation for tracking human head and other similarly sized body

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, said step of generating a corrected orientation signal comprising the step of taking into account characteristic features of human motion.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2, said step of taking into account characteristic features of human motion comprising the step of determining times when said body has been at rest for more than a predetermined period of time.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3, said step of generating a corrected orientation signal comprising the step of applying said drift compensating signal generated at times when said body has been at rest for more than said predetermined period of time to correct said drift sensitive signal.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, said step of generating a corrected rotational orientation signal comprising the step of generating a series of fractional error signals based on said drift compensating orientation signal, each signal of said series having a magnitude that is less than said drift compensating signal, and generating a series of corrected orientation signals over time.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, said step of generating a series of corrected orientation signals over time comprising the step of generating an orientation correcting signal whose magnitude is based on a motion state of said body.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6, said step of generating an orientation correcting signal whose magnitude is based on a motion state of said body comprising the step of generating an orientation correcting signal whose magnitude increases with at least one of increasing angular velocity or increasing linear velocity of said body.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6, said step of generating a corrected orientation signal whose magnitude is based on a motion state of said body comprising the step of generating a corrected orientation signal whose magnitude increases with at least one of increasing angular acceleration or increasing linear acceleration of said body.

Claim 14

A kit for use with a body having a size between the sizes of a human finger and a human torso, and an orientation relative to an external reference frame, said kit for generating an orientation signal that corresponds to at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body relative to said reference frame, said kit comprising: a. an apparatus to be attached to said body, said apparatus comprising: i. a self contained sensor that generates first sensor signals that correspond to x th order integrals of rotational accelerations of said body about at least two axes of said body, x being selected from the group consisting of 0, 1 and 2 and said first sensor signals being impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources; and ii. a mechanism for mounting said sensor to said body; and b. a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing generation of an orientation signal that corresponds to said at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body, based on said x th order integral signals.

Claim 15

A kit for use with a body having a size between the sizes of a human finger and a human torso, and an orientation relative to an external reference frame, said kit for generating an orientation signal that corresponds to at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body relative to said reference frame, said kit comprising: a. an apparatus to be attached to said body, said apparatus comprising: i. a self contained sensor that generates first sensor signals that correspond to x th order integrals of rotational accelerations of said body about at least two axes of said body, x being selected from the group consisting of 0, 1 and 2 and said first sensor signals being impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources; and ii. a mechanism for mounting said sensor to said body; and b. a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing generation of an orientation signal that corresponds to said at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body, based on said x th order integral signals.

Claim 16

The kit of claim 11, said computer readable program code means further for causing a computer to effect an appropriate number of integrations of said x th order integral signals to generate a signal that corresponds to orientation of said body.

Claim 17

A kit for use with a body having a size between the sizes of a human finger and a human torso, and an orientation relative to an external reference frame, said kit for generating an orientation signal that corresponds to at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body relative to said reference frame, said kit comprising: a. an apparatus to be attached to said body, said apparatus comprising: i. a self contained first sensor that generates first drift sensitive orientation signals that correspond to said at least two degrees of freedom of orientation of said body about at least two axes of said body, and is impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources and is subject to drift over time; and ii. a self contained second sensor that generates second drift compensating orientation signals that correspond to said at least two degrees of freedom of orientation of said body about at least two axes of said body; and is impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources and is relatively impervious to drift over time; and iii. a mounting mechanism for mounting said first sensor and said second sensor to said body; and b. a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing generation of an orientation signal that corresponds to said at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body, based on said drift sensitive and drift compensating orientation signals.

Claim 18

A kit for use with a body having a size between the sizes of a human finger and a human torso, and an orientation relative to an external reference frame, said kit for generating an orientation signal that corresponds to at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body relative to said reference frame, said kit comprising: a. an apparatus to be attached to said body, said apparatus comprising: i. a self contained first sensor that generates first drift sensitive orientation signals that correspond to said at least two degrees of freedom of orientation of said body about at least two axes of said body, and is impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources and is subject to drift over time; and ii. a self contained second sensor that generates second drift compensating orientation signals that correspond to said at least two degrees of freedom of orientation of said body about at least two axes of said body; and is impervious to interference from electromagnetic, acoustic, optical and mechanical sources and is relatively impervious to drift over time; and iii. a mounting mechanism for mounting said first sensor and said second sensor to said body; and b. a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing generation of an orientation signal that corresponds to said at least two degrees of freedom of said orientation of said body, based on said drift sensitive and drift compensating orientation signals.