3D position estimation using a single coil and two magnetic field sensors

This paper presents an algorithm which enables the estimation of relative 3D position of a sensor module with two magnetic sensors with respect to a magnetic field source using a single transmitting coil. Starting with the description of the ambiguity problem caused by using a single coil, a system concept comprising two sensors having a fixed spatial relation to each other is introduced which enables the unique determination of the sensors' position in 3D space. For this purpose, an iterative two-step algorithm is presented: In a first step, the data of one sensor is used to limit the number of possible position solutions. In a second step, the spatial relation between the sensors is used to determine the correct sensor position.