Apparatus for adaptively tracking the position of an object in a volume of
interest, the apparatus including at least one transmitter, at least one
sensor assembly, and a tracking processor, the transmitter being coupled
with the volume of interest, for transmitting a multiple axis, time
variant, electromagnetic field through the volume of interest, the sensor
assembly including at least three sensors, the sensor assembly being
coupled with the object, each of the three sensors respectively measuring
a respective component of the electromagnetic field, the tracking
processor being coupled with the transmitter and the sensor assembly,
wherein the tracking processor produces and adapts a mathematical field
model describing the electromagnetic field, the tracking processor
further produces and adapts a mathematical sensing model, for
compensating the effect of the translational and rotational velocity of
each of the sensors, wherein the tracking processor estimates the
position of the object from the measured respective components of the
electromagnetic field, the field model and from the sensing model.