Search results

1 – 10 of 409
Article
Publication date: 19 June 2017

Xiaochun Tian, Jiabin Chen, Yongqiang Han, Jianyu Shang and Nan Li

This study aims to design an optimized algorithm for low-cost pedestrian navigation system (PNS) to correct the heading drift and altitude error, thus achieving high-precise…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to design an optimized algorithm for low-cost pedestrian navigation system (PNS) to correct the heading drift and altitude error, thus achieving high-precise pedestrian location in both two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) space.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel heading correction algorithm based on smoothing filter at the terminal of zero velocity interval (ZVI) is proposed in the paper. This algorithm adopts the magnetic sensor to calculate all the heading angles in the ZVI and then applies a smoothing filter to obtain the optimal heading angle. Furthermore, heading correction is executed at the terminal moment of ZVI. Meanwhile, an altitude correction algorithm based on step height constraint is proposed to suppress the altitude channel divergence of strapdown inertial navigation system by using the step height as the measurement of the Kalman filter.

Findings

The verification experiments were carried out in 2-D and 3-D space to evaluate the performance of the proposed pedestrian navigation algorithm. The results show that the heading drift and altitude error were well corrected. Meanwhile, the path calculated by the novel algorithm has a higher match degree with the reference trajectory, and the positioning errors of the 2-D and 3-D trajectories are both less than 0.5 per cent.

Originality/value

Besides zero velocity update, another two problems, namely, heading drift and altitude error in the PNS, are solved, which ensures the high positioning precision of pedestrian in indoor and outdoor environments.

Article
Publication date: 28 November 2018

Qigao Fan, Jie Jia, Peng Pan, Hai Zhang and Yan Sun

The purpose of this paper is to relate to the real-time navigation and tracking of pedestrians in a closed environment. To restrain accumulated error of low-cost…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to relate to the real-time navigation and tracking of pedestrians in a closed environment. To restrain accumulated error of low-cost microelectromechanical system inertial navigation system and adapt to the real-time navigation of pedestrians at different speeds, the authors proposed an improved inertial navigation system (INS)/pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR)/ultra wideband (UWB) integrated positioning method for indoor foot-mounted pedestrians.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a self-adaptive integrated positioning algorithm that can recognize multi-gait and realize a high accurate pedestrian multi-gait indoor positioning. First, the corresponding gait method is used to detect different gaits of pedestrians at different velocities; second, the INS/PDR/UWB integrated system is used to get the positioning information. Thus, the INS/UWB integrated system is used when the pedestrian moves at normal speed; the PDR/UWB integrated system is used when the pedestrian moves at rapid speed. Finally, the adaptive Kalman filter correction method is adopted to modify system errors and improve the positioning performance of integrated system.

Findings

The algorithm presented in this paper improves performance of indoor pedestrian integrated positioning system from three aspects: in the view of different pedestrian gaits at different speeds, the zero velocity detection and stride frequency detection are adopted on the integrated positioning system. Further, the accuracy of inertial positioning systems can be improved; the attitude fusion filter is used to obtain the optimal quaternion and improve the accuracy of INS positioning system and PDR positioning system; because of the errors of adaptive integrated positioning system, the adaptive filter is proposed to correct errors and improve integrated positioning accuracy and stability. The adaptive filtering algorithm can effectively restrain the divergence problem caused by outliers. Compared to the KF algorithm, AKF algorithm can better improve the fault tolerance and precision of integrated positioning system.

Originality/value

The INS/PDR/UWB integrated system is built to track pedestrian position and attitude. Finally, an adaptive Kalman filter is used to improve the accuracy and stability of integrated positioning system.

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Hongyu Zhao, Zhelong Wang, Qin Gao, Mohammad Mehedi Hassan and Abdulhameed Alelaiwi

The purpose of this paper is to develop an online smoothing zero-velocity-update (ZUPT) method that helps achieve smooth estimation of human foot motion for the ZUPT-aided…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an online smoothing zero-velocity-update (ZUPT) method that helps achieve smooth estimation of human foot motion for the ZUPT-aided inertial pedestrian navigation system.

Design/methodology/approach

The smoothing ZUPT is based on a Rauch–Tung–Striebel (RTS) smoother, using a six-state Kalman filter (KF) as the forward filter. The KF acts as an indirect filter, which allows the sensor measurement error and position error to be excluded from the error state vector, so as to reduce the modeling error and computational cost. A threshold-based strategy is exploited to verify the detected ZUPT periods, with the threshold parameter determined by a clustering algorithm. A quantitative index is proposed to give a smoothness estimate of the position data.

Findings

Experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the smoothness, robustness, efficiency and accuracy of pedestrian navigation.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen smoothing algorithm, a delay no longer than one gait cycle is introduced. Therefore, the proposed method is suitable for applications with soft real-time constraints.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the smooth estimation of most types of pedal locomotion that are achieved by legged motion, by using a sole foot-mounted commercial-grade inertial sensor.

Originality/value

This paper helps realize smooth transitions between swing and stance phases, helps enable continuous correction of navigation errors during the whole gait cycle, helps achieve robust detection of gait phases and, more importantly, requires lower computational cost.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 January 2015

Wen Liu, Yingjun Zhang, Xuefeng Yang and Shengwei Xing

The aim of this article is to present a PIN (pedestrian inertial navigation) solution that incorporates altitude error correction, which eliminates the altitude error accurately…

1021

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this article is to present a PIN (pedestrian inertial navigation) solution that incorporates altitude error correction, which eliminates the altitude error accurately without using external sensors. The main problem of PIN is the accumulation of positioning errors due to the drift caused by the noise in the sensors. Experiment results show that the altitude errors are significant when navigating in multilayer buildings, which always lead to localization to incorrect floors.

Design/methodology/approach

The PIN proposed is implemented over an inertial navigation systems (INS) framework and a foot-mounted IMU. The altitude error correction idea is identifying the most probable floor of each horizontal walking motion. To recognize gait types, the walking motion is described with angular rate measured by IMU, and the dynamic time warping algorithm is used to cope with the different dimension samples due to the randomness of walking motion. After gait recognition, the altitude estimated with INS of each horizontal walking is checked for association with one of the existing in a database.

Findings

Experiment results show that high accuracy altitude is achieved with altitude errors below 5 centimeters for upstairs and downstairs routes in a five floors building.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations of the study is the assumption that accuracy floor altitude information is available.

Originality/value

Our PIN system eliminates altitude errors accurately and intelligently, which benefits from the new idea of combination of gait recognition and map-matching. In addition, only one IMU is used which is different from other approach that use external sensors.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2015

Shengbo Sang, Ruiyong Zhai, Wendong Zhang, Qirui Sun and Zhaoying Zhou

This study aims to design a new low-cost localization platform for estimating the location and orientation of a pedestrian in a building. The micro-electro-mechanical systems

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to design a new low-cost localization platform for estimating the location and orientation of a pedestrian in a building. The micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor error compensation and the algorithm were improved to realize the localization and altitude accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

The platform hardware was designed with common low-performance and inexpensive MEMS sensors, and with a barometric altimeter employed to augment altitude measurement. The inertial navigation system (INS) – extended Kalman filter (EKF) – zero-velocity updating (ZUPT) (INS-EKF-ZUPT [IEZ])-extended methods and pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) (IEZ + PDR) algorithm were modified and improved with altitude determined by acceleration integration height and pressure altitude. The “AND” logic with acceleration and angular rate data were presented to update the stance phases.

Findings

The new platform was tested in real three-dimensional (3D) in-building scenarios, achieved with position errors below 0.5 m for 50-m-long route in corridor and below 0.1 m on stairs. The algorithm is robust enough for both the walking motion and the fast dynamic motion.

Originality/value

The paper presents a new self-developed, integrated platform. The IEZ-extended methods, the modified PDR (IEZ + PDR) algorithm and “AND” logic with acceleration and angular rate data can improve the high localization and altitude accuracy. It is a great support for the increasing 3D location demand in indoor cases for universal application with ordinary sensors.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2022

Jian Chen, Shaojing Song, Yang Gu and Shanxin Zhang

At present, smartphones are embedded with accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and WiFi sensors. Most researchers have delved into the use of these sensors for localization…

Abstract

Purpose

At present, smartphones are embedded with accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and WiFi sensors. Most researchers have delved into the use of these sensors for localization. However, there are still many problems in reducing fingerprint mismatching and fusing these positioning data. The purpose of this paper is to improve positioning accuracy by reducing fingerprint mismatching and designing a weighted fusion algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

For the problem of magnetic mismatching caused by singularity fingerprint, derivative Euclidean distance uses adjacent fingerprints to eliminate the influence of singularity fingerprint. To improve the positioning accuracy and robustness of the indoor navigation system, a weighted extended Kalman filter uses a weighted factor to fuse multisensor data.

Findings

The scenes of the teaching building, study room and office building are selected to collect data to test the algorithm’s performance. Experiments show that the average positioning accuracies of the teaching building, study room and office building are 1.41 m, 1.17 m, and 1.77 m, respectively.

Originality/value

The algorithm proposed in this paper effectively reduces fingerprint mismatching and improve positioning accuracy by adding a weighted factor. It provides a feasible solution for indoor positioning.

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Krystian Borodacz and Cezary Szczepański

Before designing a navigation system, it is necessary to analyse possible approaches in terms of expected accuracy, existing limitations and economic justification to select the…

Abstract

Purpose

Before designing a navigation system, it is necessary to analyse possible approaches in terms of expected accuracy, existing limitations and economic justification to select the most advantageous solution. This paper aims to collect possible navigation methods that can provide correction for inertial navigation and to evaluate their suitability for use on a manoeuvring tactical missile.

Design/methodology/approach

The review of existing munitions was based on data collected from the literature and online databases. The data collected included dimensions, performance, applied navigation and guidance methods and their achievable accuracy. The requirements and limitations identified were confronted with the range of sensor parameters available on the market. Based on recent literature, navigation methods were reviewed and evaluated for applicability to inertial navigation system (INS) correction in global navigation satellite system-denied space.

Findings

The performance analysis of existing munition shows that small and relatively inexpensive micro-electro-mechanical system-type inertial sensors are required. A review of the parameters of existing devices of this type has shown that they are subject to measurement errors that do not allow them to achieve the delivery accuracy expected of precision missiles. The most promising navigation correction methods for manoeuvring flying objects have been identified.

Originality/value

The information presented in this paper is the result of the first phase of a project and presents the results of the requirements selection, initial sizing and preliminary design of the navigation system. This paper combines a review of the current state of the art in missile systems and an analysis of INS accuracy including the selection of sensor parameters.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 June 2017

Wiebke Unbehaun, Mailin Gaupp-Berghausen and Petra Jens

Vienna, Austria’s capital, is one of the most liveable cities worldwide and has undertaken various efforts to foster the attractiveness of walking. Although the share of walking…

Abstract

Vienna, Austria’s capital, is one of the most liveable cities worldwide and has undertaken various efforts to foster the attractiveness of walking. Although the share of walking in Vienna is already high, the city aims to further increase the level of walking trips, combined with the ambitious goal of 80 per cent of Eco mobility by the year 2025. In recent years walking has been integrated into different strategies and plans (such as Vienna’s smart City Framework Strategy, Urban Development Plan 2025 and Strategy Paper Pedestrian Traffic). In addition, the City of Vienna has instituted the Mobility Agency for Vienna with its own officers for walking and cycling. Infrastructure measures were complemented by strong communication activities. 2015 was declared as the ‘Year of Walking’, with a wide range of events, products and services to promote walking. To supplement these activities, a personalised travel planning campaign was integrated to encourage people to replace short car trips with active travel modes. The ‘Year of Walking’ 2015 campaign increased the awareness about the benefits of walking among citizens and improved Vienna’s image as a city suitable for walking. The latest modal split numbers and monitoring activities show the success of the integrated approach by an increase of walking trips. As walking has positive impacts on people’s health and the development of a healthier and more liveable urban environment, the City of Vienna is on the right path to foster a sustainable urban mobility lifestyle and quality of life for its citizens.

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2017

Yang Gu, Qian Song, Ming Ma, Yanghuan Li and Zhimin Zhou

Aiding information is frequently adopted to calibrate the errors from inertia-generated trajectories in pedestrian positioning. However, existing calibration methods lack interior…

Abstract

Purpose

Aiding information is frequently adopted to calibrate the errors from inertia-generated trajectories in pedestrian positioning. However, existing calibration methods lack interior connections and unanimity, making it difficult to incorporate multiple sources of aiding information. This paper aims to propose a unanimous anchor-based trajectory calibration framework, which is expandable to encompass different types of anchor information.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of anchors is introduced to represent different types of aiding information, which are, in essence, different constraint conditions on inertia-derived raw trajectories. The foundation of the framework is a particle filter which is implemented based on various particle weight updating strategies using diverse types of anchor information. Herein, three representative anchors are chosen to elaborate and validate the proposed framework, namely, ultra-wide-band (UWB) ranging anchors, iBeacons and the building structure-based virtual anchors.

Findings

In the simulations, with the particle reweighting strategies of the proposed framework, the positioning errors can be compensated. In the experimental test in an office building in which three anchors, including one UWB anchor, one iBeacon and one building structure-based virtual anchor are deployed; the final positioning error is decreased from 1.9 to 1.2 m; and the heading error is reduced from about 21° to 7°, respectively.

Originality/value

Herein, an anchor-based unanimous trajectory calibration framework for inertial pedestrian positioning is proposed. This framework is applicable to the schemes with different configurations of the anchors and can be expanded to adopt as much anchor information as possible.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Wilson E. Sakpere, Nhlanhla Boyfriend Wilton Mlitwa and Michael Adeyeye Oshin

This research aims to focus on providing interventions to alleviate usability challenges to strengthen the overall accuracy and the navigation effectiveness in indoor and…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to focus on providing interventions to alleviate usability challenges to strengthen the overall accuracy and the navigation effectiveness in indoor and stringent environments through the experiential manipulation of technical attributes of the positioning and navigation system.

Design/methodology/approach

The study followed a quantitative and experimental method of empirical enquiry and software engineering and synthesis research methods. The study further entails three implementation processes, namely, map generation, positioning framework and navigation service using a prototype mobile navigation application that uses the near field communication (NFC) technology.

Findings

The approach and findings revealed that the capability of NFC in leveraging its low-cost infrastructure of passive tags, its availability in mobile devices and the ubiquity of the mobile device provided a cost-effective solution with impressive accuracy and usability. The positioning accuracy achieved was less than 9 cm. The usability improved from 44 to 96 per cent based on feedbacks given by respondents who tested the application in an indoor environment. These showed that NFC is a viable alternative to resolve the challenges identified in previous solutions and technologies.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation of the navigation application was that there is no real-time update of user position. This can be investigated and extended further by using NFC in a hybrid make-up with WLAN, radio-frequency identification (RFID) or Bluetooth as a cost-effective solution for real-time indoor positioning because of their coverage and existing infrastructures. The hybrid positioning model, which merges two or more techniques or technologies, is becoming more popular and will improve its accuracy, robustness and usability. In addition, it will balance complexity, compensate for the limitations in the technologies and achieve real-time mobile indoor navigation. Although the presence of WLAN, RFID and Bluetooth technologies are likely to result in system complexity and high cost, NFC will reduce the system’s complexity and balance the trade-off.

Practical implications

Whilst limitations in existing indoor navigation technologies meant putting up with poor signal and poor communication capabilities, outcomes of the NFC framework will offer valuable insight. It presents new possibilities on how to overcome signal quality limitations at improved turn-around time in constrained indoor spaces.

Social implications

The innovations have a direct positive social impact in that it will offer new solutions to mobile communications in the previously impossible terrains such as underground platforms and densely covered spaces. With the ability to operate mobile applications without signal inhibitions, the quality of communication – and ultimately, life opportunities – are enhanced.

Originality/value

While navigating, users face several challenges, such as infrastructure complexity, high-cost solution, inaccuracy and usability. Hence, as a contribution, this paper presents a symbolic map and path architecture of a floor of the test-bed building that was uploaded to OpenStreetMap. Furthermore, the implementation of the RFID and the NFC architectures produced new insight on how to redress the limitations in challenged spaces. In addition, a prototype mobile indoor navigation application was developed and implemented, offering novel solution to the practical problems inhibiting navigation in indoor challenged spaces – a practical contribution to the community of practice.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

1 – 10 of 409