초록 ▼

A positioning system having a plurality of transponder modules each located at a known location for receiving an electromagnetic signal and emitting a light signal, at least one transceiver module for emitting an electromagnetic signal and receiving the light signal, and apparatus processing the rec

A positioning system having a plurality of transponder modules each located at a known location for receiving an electromagnetic signal and emitting a light signal, at least one transceiver module for emitting an electromagnetic signal and receiving the light signal, and apparatus processing the received light signal to determine a position of the at least one transceiver module.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A positioning system comprising: a plurality of transponder modules each located at a known location for receiving an electromagnetic signal and emitting a light signal; at least one transceiver module for emitting said electromagnetic signal and receiving said light signal;

What is claimed is: 1. A positioning system comprising: a plurality of transponder modules each located at a known location for receiving an electromagnetic signal and emitting a light signal; at least one transceiver module for emitting said electromagnetic signal and receiving said light signal; and means for processing said received light signal to determine a position of said at least one transceiver module. 2. The positioning system of claim 1 wherein said at least one transceiver module is affixed to a movable platform. 3. The positioning system of claim 2 wherein said movable platform is an elevator. 4. The positioning system of claim 1 wherein said electromagnetic signal is an RF signal. 5. The positioning system of claim 1 wherein each of said transponder modules comprises an array of lights selected from the group consisting of a one-dimensional array and a two-dimensional array. 6. The positioning system of claim 5 wherein said array of lights comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs). 7. An apparatus for measuring a position of a movable platform comprising: a plurality of transponder modules each comprising: an RF receiver for receiving an RF signal; and an array of lights for emitting a light signal; at least one transceiver module affixed to said movable platform comprising: an RF transmitter for transmitting a coded RF signal; a camera for receiving said light signal; and a processing unit for identifying a position of one of said plurality of transponders from said received light signal and computing a position of said movable platform. 8. A method for measuring a position of a moveable platform comprising the steps of: affixing at least one transceiver module to said moveable platform said transceiver module comprising: an RF transmitter for transmitting a coded RF signal; a camera for receiving a light signal; and a processing unit for identifying a position of said received light signal and computing a position of said movable platform; disposing a plurality of transponder modules each at a fixed position said transponder modules comprising: an RF receiver for receiving a coded RF signal; and an array of lights for emitting a light signal; emitting from said at least one transceiver module a coded RF signal for receipt by one of said plurality of transponder modules; receiving said coded RF signal by one of said plurality of said transponder modules and emitting a light signal in response thereto; receiving said emitted light signal with said camera device of said at least one transceiver module; and computing a position of said transceiver module from said received light signal. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said receiving said coded RF signal comprises the additional steps of: decoding said coded RF signal to obtain a code; comparing said code to a unique ID; and activating said array of lights when said unique ID is the same as said code. 10. The method of claim 8 wherein said receiving said coded RF signal comprises the additional steps of: decoding said coded RF signal to obtain a universal registration code; and activating said array of lights. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said activating said array of lights comprises activating said array of lights to transmit a unique ID as a binary code.