Use of DSP technology for improving our O.R.B.I.T.A.L beacon (one rotating beacon for information transmission and absolute localisation)

The goal of this paper is to describe how make an optimum use of DSP technology for DC motor and sensor control. The application concerns the numerical evolution of our beacon use for an absolute localization of a mobile vehicle. The main advantage of our system is that it only need one active beacon for a complete localisation of the mobile and can be use for wireless information (map and mission) transmission. The beacon is a rotating laser, fixed on a wall of the maneuvering area. This beacon includes an innovative laser modulation, based on a high frequency variation, which is a function of its absolute angular position. The receiver is made by an array of 6 large photodiodes fixed on the mobile. In the first part we will resume the mathematical principle use for localisation procedure. In the second part we will resume the first version of the beacon, which use analogical components, and we will review the problems that we had during the experimental phases. The third part demonstrates how the DSP approach simplifies the angular sensor and motor position management and enables us to use the beacon for map and mission transmission without human intervention. In the final part we will demonstrate how our new system solves the calibration procedure.