The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 22, 2008
Filed:
Jul. 24, 2006
Masahiko Hashimoto, Osaka, JP;
Takehiko Suginouchi, Osaka, JP;
Masahiko Hashimoto, Osaka, JP;
Takehiko Suginouchi, Osaka, JP;
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A tracking system of the present invention includes a transponderattached on a moving objectand an autonomous mobile unitfor tracking the transponder. The autonomous mobile unithas an environment detecting means for acquiring reflection environment information relating to a wall surfaceandexisting in the vicinity. In this system, the following tracking cycle is executed. The autonomous mobile unittransmits a first ultrasonic wave, and upon receipt of it, the transpondertransmits a second ultrasonic wave. By receiving the second ultrasonic wave, the autonomous mobile unitacquires reception information relating to a direct wave that directly arrives at the autonomous mobile unitfrom the transponderand a reflected wave that arrives via the wall surface. Using the reception information and the reflection environment information, the autonomous mobile unitdecides whether the received second ultrasonic wave is the direct wave or the reflected wave and processes the reception information based on the decision to estimate and track the position of the transponder