Patents Represented by Attorney Kathy Lovingood
  • Patent number: 5748321
    Abstract: A position and orientation tracking system presents a laser scanning appaus having two measurement pods, a control station, and a detector array. The measurement pods can be mounted in the dome of a radioactive waste storage silo. Each measurement pod includes dual orthogonal laser scanner subsystems. The first laser scanner subsystem is oriented to emit a first line laser in the pan direction. The second laser scanner is oriented to emit a second line laser in the tilt direction. Both emitted line lasers scan planes across the radioactive waste surface to encounter the detector array mounted on a target robotic vehicle. The angles of incidence of the planes with the detector array are recorded by the control station. Combining measurements describing each of the four planes provides data for a closed form solution of the algebraic transform describing the position and orientation of the target robotic vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1998
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Department of Energy
    Inventors: Barry L. Burks, Fred W. DePiero, Gary A. Armstrong, John F. Jansen, Richard C. Muller, Timothy F. Gee