Method and Apparatus for Localizing and Mapping the Position of a Set of Points on a Digital Model

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus and computer usable program product for mapping a position of a physical point on a digital model. The method comprises receiving sensor data for the physical point from a sensor unit and correlating a position of the physical point to the digital model. The computer implemented method calculates an alignment probability for the correlated position and then compares the calculated value to a stored threshold value. If the alignment probability for the correlated position does exceed the predetermined threshold probability, an aligned position is formed. An aligned position of the physical point is stored relative to the digital model, responsive to a store map location command.

1 - 3 . (canceled) 
   
   
       4 . A method for mapping a set of physical points to a digital model, the method comprising:
 receiving sensor data for the set of physical points from a sensor unit to form received sensor data;   aligning the received sensor data from the sensor unit to a set of place-identifiers in the digital model, wherein a position of the set of physical points is correlated to the digital model to form a correlated position; and   storing the correlated position in a storage.   
   
   
       5 - 6 . (canceled) 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising:
 providing a simultaneous localization and mapping module for tracking a location of the set of physical points.   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the received sensor data comprises data from one or more of a laser triangulation system, an acoustical localizer, an accelerometer, or a set of video cameras of the sensor unit. 
   
   
       9 . (canceled) 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 orienting the sensor unit using a laser pointer on the sensor unit.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 displaying the digital model on an interactive display of the sensor unit.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the sensor unit is one of remotely controlled or autonomously controlled. 
   
   
       13 - 25 . (canceled) 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the physical points are physical points of a physical object, and wherein the digital model comprises a multi-dimensional description of the physical object. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the multi-dimensional description of the physical object is a three-dimensional description of the physical object. 
   
   
       28 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a computer usable storage medium storing computer usable storage code for mapping a set of physical points to a digital model, the computer program product including:   computer usable program code for receiving sensor data for the set of physical points from a sensor unit to form received sensor data;   computer usable program code for aligning the received sensor data from the sensor unit to a set of place-identifiers in the digital model, wherein a position of the set of physical points is correlated to the digital model to form a correlated position; and   computer usable program code for storing the correlated position in a storage.   
   
   
       29 . The computer program product of  claim 28 , wherein the received sensor data comprises data from one or more of a laser triangulation system, an acoustical localizer, an accelerometer, or a set of video cameras of the sensor unit. 
   
   
       30 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 computer usable program code for displaying the digital model on an interactive display of the sensor unit.   
   
   
       31 . The computer program product of  claim 28 , wherein the physical points are physical points of a physical object, and wherein the digital model comprises a multi-dimensional description of the physical object. 
   
   
       32 . The computer program product of  claim 31 , wherein the multi-dimensional description of the physical object is a three-dimensional description of the physical object. 
   
   
       33 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a sensor unit;   a digital model;   a bus system;   a communications system connected to the bus system;   a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes a set of instructions; and   a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to:
 receive sensor data for a set of physical points from the sensor unit to form received sensor data; 
 align the received sensor data from the sensor unit to a set of place-identifiers in the digital model, wherein a position of the set of physical points is correlated to the digital model to form a correlated position; and 
 store the correlated position in a storage. 
   
   
   
       34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , further comprising:
 a simultaneous localization and mapping module for tracking a location of the set of physical points.   
   
   
       35 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the received sensor data comprises data from one or more of a laser triangulation system, an acoustical localizer, an accelerometer, or a set of video cameras of the sensor unit. 
   
   
       36 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , further comprising:
 a laser pointer on the sensor unit for orienting the sensor unit.   
   
   
       37 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , further comprising:
 an interactive display of the sensor unit for displaying the digital model.   
   
   
       38 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the physical points are physical points of a physical object, and wherein the digital model comprises a multi-dimensional description of the physical object. 
   
   
       39 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the multi-dimensional description of the physical object is a three-dimensional description of the physical object.