Devices and methods for orienting and steering in three-dimensional space

Abstract

A self-orienting device comprises: a housing; a sensor mounted to the housing that is sensitive to a signal field and configured to produce a signal responsive to the signal field; a translation-inducing unit associated with the housing; rotation-inducing unit attached to the housing, wherein the translation-inducing unit and the rotation-inducing unit are configured such that the housing travels along a helical trajectory having an axis and is free to rotate about the axis; and a controller operably associated with the sensor for controlling the output of at least one of the translation-inducing unit and the rotation-inducing unit, wherein the controller is configured such that it receives the signal from the sensor and, responsive to the signal, controls the output of at least one of the translation-inducing unit and said rotation-inducing unit. A device so configured can automatically orient to a signal. In this configuration, orientation is robust—wide variance in the parameters relating &ohgr; to signal intensity are tolerated. In fact, if &ohgr; changes as a function of signal intensity, then orientation to the signal is the only stable outcome. Exemplary signal fields for the device include light, magnetic fields, and gradients of temperature, chemical concentration and depth. The devices can be employed to perform such tasks as locating lost objects, identifying foreign objects, performing transect sampling, guiding munitions, disabling mines, delivering chemical agents, and the like.