CA2094506A1

CA2094506A1 - Guidance device

Info

Publication number: CA2094506A1
Application number: CA 2094506
Authority: CA
Inventors: Sanjar Ghaem; George L. Lauro
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Motorola Solutions Inc
Priority date: 1991-08-28
Filing date: 1992-07-30
Publication date: 1993-03-01
Also published as: WO1993005474A1; EP0554430A1; AU2432892A; EP0554430A4

Abstract

A guidance device (101) determines direction, and indicates with a discrete transition indicator (104, 106, 108) when the guidance device axis is aligned that direction. This is accomplished through the integration of a radio navigation receiver, in this case a GPS receiver (203) and a flux-gate compass (205) in a hand held unit with a user interface including a keypad (110), a direction display (119) and a configurable display (115).

Description

wo ~ P~ JS92/06285 1 æos4~0~
GUIDANCE DE~VIOE

Field of the Invention l~is invention is direc~ed generally to the field of guidance devices, and more particularly to an electronic guidanoe device, which provides a traveler with irLformation as to the direction and distance from the traveler s presestt position to a desired location.
. 10 Background of the Invention Present guidance systems employ complex indication man-machine interfaces. These guidance systems, in the form of radio 15 navigation devices, such as NAVSIAR C;PS (Global Positioning System) reoeivers, Loran C receivers, and the like, can provide a traveler with the latitude and longitude of the traveler's present position. If the latitude and longitude of a desired destination is - input tO the navigation device, the device can readily ascertain the 20 distanoe and bearing to the des~dnation from the user's present position. This is useful for skilled navigators in a controllable situation in which they may be provided detailed topological maps and a compass to guide them A problem witn this approach arises when the traveler is 25 not familiar with such traditional navigation practice, or when an experierced navigator gets into an uncontrollable situation. What travelers are most concerned about is getting lost. When a hunter for instanoe, is chasing a tur3cey, he has a need to run in a random patteIn traversing potentially great distances while virtually 30 foalsed on this tur3cey, until he completes his tas~ This may take r~inutes or hours. In another case, a casual trave7 hikes for hours and gets in trouble when night falls as he can't navigate by sight anymore. Or an inexperienoed traveler gets unexpectedly , wo ~/ns47~ PCr/US92/06285 94~ 2 separated frl the group and is unab~ to find her way to a common meeting point. This can be fatal in some cas~.
The basic compass also has its li~mihtions as it requires someone w~th navigational ability to use it. Of course it only 5 provides direction informa~on not information about the traveler's current position, distance to destinati~n or home position.
.

~ 10 Summary of the Inven~on ~' The pr~ent invention encompass~ a guidanoe device having an axis. l~is guidanoe devioe can determine a direction, and indicate with a discrete ~ansition indicator when the guidance 15 devioe axis is aligned wi~ ~at directior~

- Brief Des~siption of the Drawings ~: 20 FIG. 1 shows a guid,anoe devioe constructed according to the invention; and FIG. 2 is a schematic blocl~ &gram illustrating the internal construction of the guid~noe devioe shown in FIG. 1.

, 25 Detailed Description of a Preferred Esnbodiment The g~udanoe device described herein offers an elegan'dy simple solution to the former problesn statesnent. This gludance devioe esnploys a simple indicator to communicate to the traveler pestinent information, such as direction to home (also reserred to as ~rip origin or point of ori~gin), direction to geographic north, and direction to destination (also referred to as trip des~nation, loca~on, or waypoint) when the traveler points the guidanoe , ' w~ s~/n~4~~ PC-r/US92/06285 ) o ~

device in the correct direction. In addition, a configurable display is provided in order to communicate further information about the location of interest. This information may be in the form of latitude, longitude, altitude, est~nated time of arrival, estimated S ~ne of transit and distance to the location to name a few For instanoe the estimated time of arrival is based on time of day, distanoe traveled in last contiguous periods (indicating fatigue), altitude, and distanoe to the dlestination. The casual traveler, for instance, can enter his home position at the start of a trip. Later 10 when he decides to return to home he simply points the guidanoe devioe and rotates in a circular pattern until the indicator transitions, indicating his direction home.
The preferred embodiment of the present mvention is i~lustrated in FIG. 1. The guidanoe device 101 is powered on by the 15 on/off switch 103. To itentify ~e traveler's current position, the traveler initiates the mark/pos switch 105. Pos, in this case, is an abbreviation for position determination. The configurable ~splay 115 will then display the traveler's current position. Of course being configurable aUows the devioe to display other information 20 such as altitude, tirne of day to indicate a few possl~ilities.
He may then choose to give a name to his current position.
At this point, the cursor on the configurable display 115 is in the left upperrnost position. The character displayed is an "An. By - initiating the increment/decrernent switch 109, the traveler then25 increments or decrements ~rough the alphabet and the digits zero through nine, until he is satisfied with the first character naming the location defined in the fcnner step, in this case home, or base carnp or whatever he desires. The traveler then initiates the tab/backtab key 111 ant the cursor moves to the next right most 30 position on the configurable display 115. The traveler then repeats this sequenoe until he is satisfied with the second character defining the destination of interest. This process of incrementing and decrementing and tabbing/bac~c tabbing is repeated un~l the traveler has entered the name of his current position. When this wo s~/n~4,~ PCr/US92/06285 ~,~9~

process is complete, the traveler can store this current position name and location ~y initiating the mark/pos key 105. This action registers the current position into the waypoint database 219, that is part of the guidance computer 207 more fully disclosed later.
5 Other definitions of position such as altitude, ~me and others are storable as well. Other naming schemes could include provision for selecting commonly used names from a menu.
The traveler then may enter a destination by initiating first the increment/decrement switch 109, which will change the 10 latitude first. When the desired latitude is indicated on the configurable display 115, the traveler initiates the tab/backtab switch 111 to shift the configurable display 115 to longitude and then initiates the incrernent/decrement switch 109 to set the desired longitude. When both the latitude and longitude 15 displayed on the configurable display 115, to the traveler's satisfaction, the traveler then initiates the erase/wpt switch 113.
This action stores the desired destination into the waypoint database Z19. Of course the traveler could enter multiple destinations or waypoints in this manner with their respective 20 names as described earlier.
The traveler can then start applying the guidance device to locate his destination, geographic north and home. He would typically do this by standing and holding the guidance device 101 pointed outwards. As the traveler rotates in a circular pattern, the 25 guidance device 101 performs its indication and display function when the guidance device's axis, indicated in this case by the graphical arrow, encompassing the direction display, 119 is aligned with one of the predetermined directions, destination, geographic north or home. Of course the guidance device could also be 30 mounted in a vehicle, such as a car or boat where as the bearing changed, the guidance device would indicate the direction of interest.
When the traveler points in the direction of geographic north, the discrete transition indication device 108, or simply an SUBSTiTUTE Stl~ET

~vo 9~/n~ 1 PCT/U592/06285 . 5 209~06 indication devioe, ir this case an LED, will change state from off to o~ As the ~aveler continues to rotate, the indication devioe 108 will transition from on to off. As a traveler points to a predetermined destination, the indication device 106 will change 5 from off to o~ As the ~aveler continues to rotate the indication devioe 106 will transition from on to off. As a traveler points to a predetermined trip origin, or home position, the indication device 104 will change from off to o~ As the traveler continues to rotate the indication device 104 will transition from on to off.
When the individual indication devices 104,106,108 transition on, the configurable display 115 will indicate fur~er information. This may include the nasne of the destination, its latitude, longitude, altitude, and estimated time of arrival to name a few. The traveler may then continue to rotate and identify another destina~ions or waypoir~ in the same manner. As the traveler travels, he may che~c the orientation of geographic north, destination or home as frequently as he desires in this manner.
Returning to the case of the lost h~rkey hunter, we can see the utility of the guidance device. Of course the other travelers can benefit as well. For instanoe before the a group expedition starts their trek, the travelers' program in a safe meeting poin~ If one gets lost the invention can guide them to this point, even in inclement weather. A coal miner lost in a mine would benefit from this invention, preventing him from traversing down blind exits while finding his way out. This will be a great devioe for children as well. Of course if Hansel and Gre~el had this invention, the birds eating ~Ians~'s carefully placed guidance bread crumbs wouldn't matter and we would have a different story - to tell.
The di~-rete transition indication devioes, which are humanly pe eptible, ~ this case LED's, 104,106,108 are virtua!
devices. One of ordinary skill in the art may choose an acoustic devioe, visual display devices such as light emitting diodes, liquid ~ystal displays, incandescent lamps as w211 as tac~le transducer .

~o .~in ~-~ Pcr/ussvo62ss ~9 ~

devioes such as a motor wi~h a rotating weight, a pendulum, a piezoelectric transdu~r to name a few~ In fact an acous~c device has utility where the us~ is h~nvenienced by looking at ~e display. ~is may be very valuable in ~e military or hunting environmen~6. While we describe a guLidanoe de~ioe 101 with three indicators 1~4, 106, and 108 it would be ob~rious to one of ardinary s~ill in ~e art to reduoe this b~ 1 devioe with a plurality of discrete states. P~r instance a light emitting diode that transitions to red when the guidance device 101 is aligrLed to the geographic north, green when it'~ aligned to home and amber when alignet with the destination. Of course other means such as acoustic devices coult work in a ~imilar manner.
While ~IG. 1 illustrates the relationship between the guidance device's a~as and the vectors to geographic north 123, the user heading, 121 and to destination or waypoint 125, FIG. 2 further discloses the detail~ of the invention.
In PIG. 2 we find an antenna 201 coupled to a radio navigation receiver 203, deriving position infonnation, preferably a GPS receiver such as the Magellan C/A code module, available from Magellan Systems Corporation, 260 E. Huntington Dr.
Monrovia, CA 91016 (818) 358 2363. Alternatively the radio navigation receiver architecture such as Loran-C, aonass and others coult be substituted for the GPS receiver. Ihe GPS receiver 203 is coupled to ~e guidance ~mputer 207 through an RS232 serial data link 209. A ~ux-gate compass 205, such as the one - available from Etak Inc., 1430 O'Brien Drive, Menlo Park, CA
94025, (415) 328 3825, is coupled to the guidance computer 207. Of course an alternative bearing indication device may be used for this hnctio~ The guidance computer 207 is further comprised of a Motorola 68HC16 microcontroller with an analog to digital converter, a serial data link hterface, conventional ROM and RAM. Of c~urse it would be obvious to one havang ordinary skill in the art that ~is guidance computer could be comprised of other available microcontrollers or computers which have similar r~ Pcrlus9~/l3628s 7 2e94~Q6 at~ributes. The output of the flux-gate compass 205, is an analog voltage which represents the bearing de~ation from magnetic nor~. The guidanoe computer 207, applying its analog to digital converter, transforms this irformation into a binary 5 representation of this for fur~er processing. When considering both latitude and longi~ude information, derived from the GPS
reoeiver 203, and bearing relative to north derived from element 205, the guidanoe computer 207 corrects for magnetic anomalies, as illustra$ed by elemen$ 213. The output of element 213 y elds an 10 indication of geographic north 215. This information, geographic north 215, and the position information 209, derived from the GPS
receiver 203, are $hen further proc~ed to compute beanng 227, as illustrated by element 217. l~e keypad 110, is uset as described earlier, to enter waypoint position and name information into the 15 ~idance computer 207. The configurable display 115, as described earlier, indicates additional informa$ion about the desired destination and is controlled by the guidanoe ~mputer 2û7. When the appropriate infonnation is entered through the keypad 110 it is stored in the waypoint database 219. This inforrnation indudes 20 ~e name or the waypoint, as well a ~e waypoint position information whidh indudes, but is not limited to, latitude, - longitude and altitude. This waypoint information, along with the position information 209 is then used to compute the distance to a desired waypoint position by element 221. And ~nally, 25 element 223 is a me~od employed to calculate the appropriate action to be displayed on ~e guidance display 119 as a traYeler desires. The inputs to the process are indication of geographic nor~, 215, bearing, 227 and waypoint, 225. As indicated earlier, if the bearing of the guidance device 101 a~as is geographic north the 30 north indicator, 108 transitions on. As the ~aveller moves the guidance device 101 away from this vector the north indicator 108 transitions off.
It is the intention of the preferred esnbodiment that the elements internal to the guidanoe computer 207 indicated by wo (~ Pcr/us92/~)628s 2~94~6 8 elements 213, 217, 221, and 223 are software elements embedded n the Moborola 68HC16 micro~ntroller, per~om~ing the necessary work to accomplish the task at hand It would be ob~ious to one of ordinary skill in the art, that this coult be aocomplished many 5 other ways including a pure hardware implementation, or hybrid of hardware and sc~ftwarQ

What is rlAimed is:

Claims

WO 93/054?4 PCT/US92/06285 Claims

1. A guidance device, with an axis comprising:
means for determining a first direction; and indicating means, responsive to said means for determining a first direction, aid indicating means providing a discrete transition in state when the guidance device axis is aligned with said first direction.

2. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said indicating means comprises a light that is illuminated when the guidance device axis is aligned with said first direction.

3. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first direction is geographic north.

4. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said indicating means is humanly perceptible.

5. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a configurable display communicating to the traveller a name of said first direction with which the guidance device axis is aligned.

6. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:
means for determining a second direction; and second indicating means having a discrete transition in state when the guidance device axis is aligned with said second direction.

7. A guidance device in accordance with claim 6 wherein said indicating means and said second indicating means comprises a visual display, and wherein the visual display indicates when the guidance device is aligned with said first direction and indicates when the guidance device is aligned with said second direction.

8. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for determining a first direction further comprises means for determining a location and an alternative direction from said device to said location; and indicating means, responsive to said means for determining a direction, said indicating means providing a discrete transition in state when the guidance device axis is aligned with said alternative direction.

9. A guidance device in accordance with claim 8 further comprising:
means for determining a distance to said determined location;
and means for indicating said distance to said determined location, responsive to said means for determining a distance.

10. A guidance device in accordance with claim 8 further comprising:
means for determining an altitude to said determined location; and means for indicating said altitude to said determined location, responsive to said means for determining an altitude.

11. A guidance device in accordance with claim 8 further comprising:
means for determining an estimated time of travel to said determined location; and means for indicating said estimated time of travel to said determined location, responsive to said means for determining an estimated time of travel.

12. A guidance device in accordance with claim 8 further comprising a configurable display communicating to the traveller the name of said determined location that the guidance device axis is aligned with.

13. A guidance device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for determining a first direction further comprises:
means for determining a point of origin location and a direction from said device to said point of origin location;
means for determining a geographic north location and a direction from said device to said geographic north location;
means for determining a destination location and a direction from said device to said destination location, and indicating means, responsive to at least one of said means for determining, said indicating means providing a discrete transition in state for indicating direction to at least one of said locations when the guidance device axis is aligned with at least one of these locations.

14. A method of guidance comprising the steps of:
determining a first direction; and indicating, responsive to said step of determining, when the guidance device axis is aligned with said first direction.

15. A method in accordance with claim 13 wherein said step of determining a first direction further comprises determining a location and a direction from said device to said location.

16. A method in accordance with claim 15 further comprising the steps of:
determining a point of origin location and a direction from said device to said location;
determining a geographic north location and a direction from said device to said location;
determining a destination location and a direction from said device to said location; and indicating, responsive to said at least one step of determining, when the guidance device is aligned with at least one of the locations determined by at least one of said steps of determining a location and the direction from said device to said location.