Method of generating geometric heading and positioning system using the same method

This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/586,109, filed on Jan. 12, 2012.

The present invention relates to heading, and more particularly, to a method of generating geometric heading and a positioning system using the same method.

Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a diagram shows a magnetic map of the magnetic north. As shown in FIG. 1 , the magnetic north varies with the position. The declination refers to the difference between the magnetic north and the geometric north. For example, the declination at the position 101 is sixty degrees; the declination of the position 102 is forty-five degrees; the declination of the position 103 is thirty degrees; and the declination of the position 104 is ten degrees.

The magnetic north may be provided by a magnetometer. However, what a user asks or requires is the geometric north, not the magnetic north. It is noted that the magnetic heading is the heading relative to the magnetic north, while the geometric heading is the heading relative to the geometric north. Hence, how to generate the geometric heading or how to calibrate the geometric heading according to the magnetic north in order to solve the above-mentioned problem has become an important topic in this field.

It is therefore one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a method of generating geometric heading and a positioning system using the same method to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of generating geometric heading is provided. The method includes the following steps: estimating a current declination information of a current position according to a declination database, wherein the declination database gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all grid positions on the magnetic map; generating a predicted heading according to an angular velocity reading of a gyroscope and a magnetic heading reading of a magnetometer; and generating the geometric heading according to the current declination information of the current position and the predicted heading.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a positioning system for generating a geometric heading is provided. The positioning system includes a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and a processor. The gyroscope is arranged for providing an angular velocity reading. The magnetometer is arranged for providing a magnetic heading reading. The processor is arranged for executing the following steps: estimating a current declination information of a current position according to a declination database, wherein the declination database gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all positions on the magnetic map; generating a predicted heading according to the angular velocity reading of the gyroscope and the magnetic heading reading of the magnetometer; and generating the geometric heading according to the current declination information of the current position and the predicted heading.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram shows a magnetic map of the magnetic north.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a positioning system for generating a geometric heading according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”.

Please refer to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a positioning system 200 for generating a geometric heading according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 , the positioning system 200 may include, but is not limited to, a memory 210 , an inertial measurement unit 220 , and a processor 230 . In one embodiment, the inertial measurement unit 220 may include a gyroscope 221 for providing an angular velocity reading and a magnetometer 222 for providing a magnetic heading reading. In another embodiment, the inertial measurement unit 220 may further include a pedometer or a G-sensor for generating acceleration information or the combination thereof, which also belongs to the scope of the present invention. The memory 210 is arranged for storing a declination database DB, wherein the declination database DB gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all positions on the magnetic map. The processor 230 is arranged for executing the following steps: estimating a current declination information of a current position according to the declination database; generating a predicted heading according to the angular velocity reading of the gyroscope and the magnetic heading reading of the magnetometer; and generating the geometric heading according to the current declination information of the current position and the predicted heading. Those skilled in the art can readily understand that the processor 230 also can generate the predicted heading according to the angular velocity reading of the gyroscope, the magnetic heading reading of the magnetometer and the an acceleration reading of the G-sensor, and further description is omitted here for brevity.

Please note that, the abovementioned declination database DB can be stored either on a server or on an electronic device (such as, a mobile phone, a tablet PC, or a notebook PC). Those skilled in the art will easily appreciate the operations of the positioning system 200 after reading the abovementioned description, and further description is omitted here for brevity.

Please refer to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The dynamic Bayesian network describes the relationships between the control, the states, the measurements, and the time frames. Each of the X t , u t , and Z t represents a characteristic at the time frame “t”. Similarly, each of the X t−1 , u t−1 , and Z t−1 represents a characteristic at the time frame “t−1”; while each of the X t+1 , u t+1 , and Z t+1 represents a characteristic at the time frame “t+1”. As can be seen from FIG. 3 , X t can be estimated from X t−1 and u t ; and Z t is measured and is used to update X t .

Please refer to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, H t−1 , H t , and H t+1 represent the geometric heading at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. W t−1 , W t , and W t+1 represent the angular velocity measured by a gyroscope at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. M t−1 , M t , and M t+1 represent the magnetic heading at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. DE t−1 , DE L , and DE t+1 represent the declination information of the position at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. P t−1 , P t , and P t+1 represent the position or the displacement measured by the pedometer at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. DB t−1 , DB t , and DB t+1 represent the declination database at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. It's noted that the pedometer may include a G-sensor. The declination database DB gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between the magnetic north and the geometric north at all grid positions on the magnetic map.

In one embodiment, the method of generating a geometric heading shown in FIG. 4 may include the following steps: step of estimating a current declination information DE t of a current position P t according to a declination database DB t and the current position P t ; step of generating a predicted heading according to the angular velocity W t measured by the gyroscope and a previous geometric heading H t−1 ; and updating the predicted heading using the magnetic heading M t from the magnetometer and the current declination information DE t of the current position P t so as to generate the geometric heading H t .

Please refer to FIG. 4 together with FIG. 2 . In another embodiment, the processor 230 may estimate the current declination information DE t of the current position P t according to the declination database DB t and the current position P t . The processor 230 may generate the magnetic heading M t according to the magnetometer. In addition, the processor 230 further generate the current geometric heading H t according to the angular velocity W t measured by the gyroscope and the previous geometric heading H t−1 . After that, the processor 230 updates the current geometric heading H t according to the magnetic heading M t and the declination information DE t of the current position P t .

Please refer to FIG. 4 together with FIG. 2 . In still another embodiment, the processor 230 may estimate the current declination information DE t of the current position P t according to the declination database DB t and the current position P t . The processor 230 may generate the magnetic heading M t according to the magnetometer. After that, the processor 230 updates the current geometric heading H t according to the magnetic heading M t and the current declination information DE t of the current position P t .

Please refer to FIG. 4 together with FIG. 2 . In still yet another embodiment, the processor 230 may estimate the current declination information DE t of the current position P t according to the declination database DB t and the current position P t , and may update the heading using the current declination DE t of the current position P t .

Please refer to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is similar to that shown in FIG. 4 , and the major difference between them is that: the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 further shows the position P t at the time frame “t” is updated by the previous geometric heading H t−1 at the time frame “t−1”; similarly, the position P t+1 at the time frame “t+1” is updated by the geometric heading H t at the time frame “t”.

Please refer to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating how to generate a geometric heading according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is similar to that shown in FIG. 4 . In FIG. 6 , G t−1 , G t , and G t+1 represent the gravity at the time frame “t−1”, the time frame “t”, and the time frame “t+1”, respectively. Be noted the major difference between the embodiments shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 4 is that: the gravity G t is considered. That is to say, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 further shows the step of updating the predicted heading using the gravity G t measured from a G-sensor (not shown), the magnetic heading M t measured from the magnetometer, and the current declination information DE t of the current position P t so as to generate the geometric heading H t .

The abovementioned embodiments are presented merely for describing the present invention, but this is not a limitation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should readily know that various modifications of the functions of the processor 230 may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, which also belongs to the scope of the present invention. For example, the embodiments shown in FIG. 4-FIG . 6 can be arranged or combined randomly into a new varied embodiment.

Please refer to FIG. 7 . FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Please note that the following steps are not limited to be performed according to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 7 if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S 701 : Estimate a current declination information of a current position according to a declination database, wherein the declination database gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all grid positions on the magnetic map.

Step S 702 : Generate a predicted heading according to an angular velocity reading of a gyroscope and a magnetic heading reading of a magnetometer.

Step S 703 : Generate the geometric heading according to the current declination information of the current position and the predicted heading.

Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 7 and the elements shown in FIG. 2 , and further description is omitted here for brevity. In one embodiment, the step S 701 , S 702 , and S 703 are executed by the processor 230 . Be noted that the declination database DB can be stored in the memory 210 , and the angular velocity reading and the magnetic heading reading can be provided by the inertial measurement unit 220 .

Please refer to FIG. 8 . FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Please note that the following steps are not limited to be performed according to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 8 if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S 701 : Estimate a current declination information of a current position according to a declination database, wherein the declination database gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all grid positions on the magnetic map.

Step S 702 : Generate a predicted heading according to an angular velocity reading of a gyroscope and a magnetic heading reading of a magnetometer.

Step S 810 : Update the predicted heading by using a G-sensor, the magnetometer, and the current declination information of the current position so as to generate the geometric heading.

Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 8 and the elements shown in FIG. 2 , and further description is omitted here for brevity. The steps shown in FIG. 8 is similar to the steps shown in FIG. 7 , and the difference between them is that FIG. 8 further includes the step S 810 , and the step S 810 is executed by the processor 230 . Be note that the G-sensor may be implemented by the inertial measurement unit 220 .

Please refer to FIG. 9 . FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a geometric heading according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Please note that the following steps are not limited to be performed according to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 9 if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S 910 : Generate the current position by using a pedometer or a G-sensor.

Step S 701 : Estimate a current declination information of a current position according to a declination database, wherein the declination database gathers a magnetic map and a plurality of declination information corresponding to a difference between a magnetic north and a geometric north at all grid positions on the magnetic map.

Step S 702 : Generate a predicted heading according to an angular velocity reading of a gyroscope and a magnetic heading reading of a magnetometer.

Step S 810 : Update the predicted heading by using a G-sensor, the magnetometer, and the current declination information of the current position so as to generate the geometric heading.

Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 9 and the elements shown in FIG. 2 , and further description is omitted here for brevity. The steps shown in FIG. 9 is similar to the steps shown in FIG. 8 , and the difference between them is that FIG. 9 further includes the step S 910 , and the step S 910 may be implemented by the inertial measurement unit 220 .

The abovementioned embodiments are presented merely to illustrate practicable designs of the present invention, and should be considered to be limitations of the scope of the present invention. In summary, by adopting the method of generating a geometric heading during positioning and the positioning system of the present invention, the geometric heading relative to the geometric north can be displayed to the user, which can make positioning more accurate.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.