Determination of Relative Pose Using Artificial Magnetic Fields

The pose or position and orientation of a wearable sensor assembly in a reference coordinate system are to be determined in real-time. One or more artificial magnetic field sources are located with known positions and orientations in the reference coordinates. Each source generates a magnetic field which varies in time according to a predetermined AC pulse code, so that each source is uniquely identifiable and distinguishable from ambient DC fields. The magnitude and direction in wearable coordinates of the AC magnetic field due to each source varies in a modelable way with position and orientation of the wearable, which comprises a nine-channel Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and a processor. The IMU senses the inertial motion of the wearable and the time-varying magnetic field to which it's exposed. These data are processed to estimate the position and orientation of the wearable in reference coordinates, along with various constant parameters.