Magnetic field analysis for distance measurement in 3D positioning applications

This paper proposes an analysis of the quasi-stationary magnetic field generated by coils and its applicability to 3D positioning applications. Starting from a theoretical background, an approximation of the induced voltage in a sensor coil is developed and analyzed. In particular, the introduced approximation error is shown to be lower than 5 mm over a 20 m range. Finally, the developed model is compared against a well-established theoretical model developed in the literature and against in-field measurements in the range 0.5 m to 5 m. Results show that the developed model may be suitable for magnetic field based distance measurements in low complexity 3D positioning applications.