A robust and precise 3D indoor positioning system for harsh environments

Abstract

In recent years there has been a considerable research on the development of indoor positioning systems. Several kinds of technologies such as ultrasonic, UWB, WLAN, optical waves and hybrid solutions were utilized already. However, using these technologies many difficulties arise in indoor environments due to none line of sight (NLoS) and multipath errors. In this paper, the realization and the evaluation of a 3D indoor localization system, which is robust for harsh and NLoS environments is presented. The positioning system is Direct Current (DC) magnetic based, shows no multipath effects and has excellent characteristics for penetrating various obstacles. To elim inate additional interference fields (e.g. earth's magnetic field, electrical disturbances) a differential measurement principle and adaptive noise suppression algorithms are used.In the case of the deployment in smaller areas, even smart phones equipped with embedded low cost sensors can be utilized as mobile station. A real time 3D position estimation with an accuracy up to 50 cm is achievable by setting up only three magnetic coils inside or around the building. In order to analyze existing systematic errors, a simple calibration procedure has been implemented.The calibration routine reduces the systematic errors, which leads to improved system's positioning accuracy up to 10 cm.

A State-of-the-Art Survey of Indoor Positioning and Navigation Systems and Technologies

“…Li, Gallagher, Dempster, & Rizos, 2012). Magnetic positioning system involves the use of magnetic signals for position determination within a magnetic field (Paperno, Sasada, & Leonovich, 2001;Blankenbach, Norrdine, & Hellmers, 2012;S.-E. Kim, Kim, Yoon, & Kim, 2012). The system consists of fixed transmitters, and receivers that are mounted on the user or tracked object.…”

“…Thus, there is a reduction in electromagnetic interference. Similarly, Arumugam, Griffin, Stancil, and Ricketts (2011), Talcoth and Rylander (2011), Blankenbach et al (2012 and G. also based their studies on "systems using magnetic fields from currents".…”

“…In the study of Blankenbach et al (2012), a 3D indoor positioning system was developed based on DC artificial magnetic fields generated by active magnetic coils. By capturing the coils' magnetic field with a passive magnetometer, the position of a mobile device is determined.…”

A novel method for overcoming the impact of spatially varying ambient magnetic fields on a DC magnetic field-based tracking system

“…Our Magnetic Indoor Local Positioning System (MILPS) provides static 3D positioning in NLOS conditions with a position accuracy of less than 0.5 m and signal coverage of about 12 m (Norrdine 2009;Blankenbach, Norrdine, and Hellmers 2012;Kasmi, Norrdine, and Blankenbach 2015). In the next two subsections, we describe the hardware components (physical layer) and the positioning algorithm of MILPS.…”

Indoor location identification technologies for real-time IoT-based applications: An inclusive survey

“…Furthermore, among the various methodological technologies used for indoor localization include ultrasound [23], infrared [24], Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) [25,26], Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15) [27,28], Zig-Bee [29,30], Ultrawide Band (UWB) [31,32], inertial navigation [33], magnetic-based methods [34,35] and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) [36][37][38]. These technologies differ in scope, method, location type; symbolic or geometric, and cost bringing a suitable level of diversity to indoor location identification.…”