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. 28, 2009
Filed:
Mar. 09, 2006
Scott Macintosh, Walpole, MA (US);
Ralf A. Birken, Somerville, MA (US);
Qifu Zhu, Medford, MA (US);
Witten Technologies Inc., Jacksonville, FL (US);
Abstract
Position measurements by a tracking system associated with a survey tool are corrected for tilt. The tracking station typically incorporates some offset from the surface across which a survey is conducted, and the offset will be subject to angular displacement as the tool tilts with respect to its normal orientation. The tracking system records the 3D position of the survey tool, with angular offset errors. In the disclosed examples, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a dual axis inclinometer or a combination of two single axis inclinometers measures the amount of angular offset. The angular offset data is used to correct the position data, e.g. to reduce or eliminate errors caused by the angular offset, e.g. from vertical. If the tool provides measurement data, e.g. GPR readings, processing of the measurement data from the survey tool uses the corrected position data, e.g. to produce images of sub-surface features or objects.