Design optimisation for optically tracked pointers

The use of mechanical pointers in optical tracking systems is needed to aid registration processes of unlocated rigid bodies. Error on the target point of a pointer can cause wrong positioning of vital objects and as such these errors have to be avoided. In this paper, the different errors that originate during this process are described, after which this error analysis is used for the optimisation of an improved pointer design. The final design contains six coplanar fiducials, favored by its robustness and low error. This configuration of fiducials is then analysed theoretically as well as practically to understand how it is performing. The error on tracking the target point of the pointer is found with simulation to be around 0.7 times the error of measuring one fiducial in space. However, practically this error is about equal to the fiducial tracking error, due to the non-normally distributed errors on each separate fiducial.