3D attitude measurement by means of spread spectrum modulated ultrasonic wave

摘要

Local position and attitude measurement methods are necessary for the navigation of autonomous robots and the other applications. In this paper, a 3D attitude measurement method is proposed. This method uses the spread spectrum modulated ultrasonic wave for the measurement of the pseudo-distance of each pathway between transmitter and receiver elements that are arranged in an array. The relative attitude between transmitter and receiver unit could be calculated from the relationship between these pseudo-distances. The use of spread spectrum modulation enables the high accuracy, noise tolerance, and coexistence of multiple transmitter devices by code division multiple access (CDMA) between transmitter and receiver elements. A pair of transmitter and receiver prototype for proposed method was manufactured, and the fundamental performance was examined in experiments. As a result, accuracy of σ=0.78 mm in the pseudo-distance measurement of each pathway between transmitter and receiver elements was confirmed, and about 0.01 rad resolution in the attitude measurement was also confirmed.