Geomagnetic orientation sensor, means, and system

Abstract

The Geomagnetic Orientation Sensor is a device used to determine the orientation of objects with respect to the magnetic field surrounding the earth. The sensor may also be used to determine orientation with respect to a local magnetic field, a local attenuation of the earth's magnetic field, or used as a pointer to track moving magnetic potentials. The device incorporates three mutually orthogonal Hall effect generator pairs, the output voltage differentials of which are directly proportional to the magnetic field intensity and direction relative to each generator pair. A set of three differential amplifier circuits detect and amplify the small voltages induced by the geomagnetic field. The resulting voltages, V.sub.X, V.sub.Y, and V.sub.Z, are multiplied by a constant to acquire three orthogonal angular displacement values with a range of 0 degrees to 180 degrees. The device is further arranged with an analog to digital converter for subsequent analysis of the three indicative voltages by a digital computer, and a computer program that performs the necessary calculations to convert the 180 degree maximum angular displacement values to pitch, roll, and yaw numbers with a maximum value of 360 degrees. A second computer program performs the various calculations necessary to describe and display the orientation of remote objects on a computer display. The preceding embodiment may be referred to as a computer input device.