Towards Mobile Handheld Imaging Devices

A new generation of smartphone accessories are emerging to support 2-d and 3-d printing and model creation. These mobile, handheld devices require continuous self-location with position accuracy approaching 0.001 inch, well beyond the capabilities of commercial, consumer-grade wireless positioning technologies. We consider the problem of accurately tracking the motion of a handheld device that provides free- hand, high-resolution image `drawing' while being swiped across a fixed planar surface. We review the capabilities and limitations of existing short-range localization technologies, including optical navigation sensors, ultrasonic positioning devices, and Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). We describe the testing apparati we constructed to establish the ground truth position of a device. We show how combining the complementary capabilities of these sensors can accurately locate a handheld device, potentially enabling a new class of smartphone imaging peripherals and applications.