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Best
of Optical and Inertial Technologies
Now Work as One
New
Helmet Tracker Provides 360°
Coverage
Without Occlusions or Metal
Distortion
BURLINGTON,
VERMONT; April 11, 2005: Ascension
Technology announces Hy-BIRD™,
a new hybrid tracker that
fuses both optical and inertial
data streams together for
all-attitude tracking -- 100%
of the time. Even if its primary
light emitters are blocked
or its field of view exceeded,
angular tracking continues
uninterrupted.
Hy-BIRD ‘s
optical technology provides
six degrees-of-freedom tracking
of its detector’s location
240 times per second with
accuracy better than a degree
and minimal lag. This enables
undistorted helmet tracking
in fixed, motion-based and
mobile environments.
A MicroStrain inertial sensor
(www.microstrain.com)
is fully integrated into Hy-BIRD
to continue tracking in those
instances in which the optical
tracker is not operational.
Previously, optical trackers
skip measurements when their
detector loses line-of-sight
contact with their light source.
Hy-BIRD cures this problem.
A robust inertial sensor with
embedded microprocessor and
on-board digital filtering
seamlessly continues tracking
of Yaw, Pitch and Roll angles
until the optical sensor is
again working.
| |
| Optical
and inertial sensors
mounted on flight helmet.
For optimal coverage,
the two sensors can
be mounted at any convenient
locations on a helmet
and aligned with one
another.
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“By adding
an inertial sensor with metal
and temperature tolerance
to our proven laserBIRD tracker,
we can now offer fail safe
performance -- in even the
harshest simulator and tactical
vehicle environments, “ says
Ascension vice president of
marketing, Jack Scully. “Users
no longer must cope with limited
range of motions. We’ll keep
tracking no matter what happens.”
Commenting on the incorporation
of its inertial sensor in
the new Hy-BIRD tracker, MicroStrain’s
president, Steven Arms stated,
“We’re proud that our 3DM-GX1™
is selected by Ascension for
its advanced hybrid tracker.
Our embedded software for
temperature compensation,
sensor alignment and MEMS
sensor fusion enables us to
deliver high performance in
a small package. It’s exciting
for us to contribute to new
product development with forward-thinking
companies like Ascension Technology.”
Hy-BIRD is compatible with
all laserBIRD trackers now
in the field and includes
Windows drivers for fast and
easy integration with applications
software systems.
-END-
For more information about
Ascension and its magnetic,
optical, inertial and hybrid
tracking solutions for simulators,
military vehicles and tactical
aircraft, visit www.ascension-tech.com
or email us directly at ascension
(at) ascension-tech.com
Hy-BIRD™ is
a trademark of Ascension Technology
Corp.; 3DM-GX1™ is a trademark
of MicroStrain, Inc.
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