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4 pages, 217 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on “Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies”

by Gyula Simon and László Sujbert

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4191; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094191 - 5 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2016

Abstract

Despite the enormous technical progress seen in the past few years, the maturity of indoor localization technologies has not yet reached the level of GNSS solutions. The 23 selected papers in this special issue present recent advances and new developments in indoor localization [...] Read more.

Despite the enormous technical progress seen in the past few years, the maturity of indoor localization technologies has not yet reached the level of GNSS solutions. The 23 selected papers in this special issue present recent advances and new developments in indoor localization systems and technologies, proposing novel or improved methods with increased performance, providing insight into various aspects of quality control, and also introducing some unorthodox positioning methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

Research

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15 pages, 3563 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid Positioning for Smart Spaces: Proposal and Evaluation

by Pedro J. Fernández, José Santa and Antonio F. Skarmeta

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(12), 4083; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10124083 - 13 Jun 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3295

Abstract

Positioning capabilities have become essential in context-aware user services, which make easier daily activities and let the emergence of new business models in the trendy area of smart cities. Thanks to wireless connection capabilities of smart mobile devices and the proliferation of wireless [...] Read more.

Positioning capabilities have become essential in context-aware user services, which make easier daily activities and let the emergence of new business models in the trendy area of smart cities. Thanks to wireless connection capabilities of smart mobile devices and the proliferation of wireless attachment points in buildings, several positioning systems have appeared in the last years to provide indoor positioning and complement GPS for outdoors. Wi-Fi fingerprinting is one of the most remarkable approaches, although ongoing smart deployments in the area of smart cities can offer extra possibilities to exploit hybrid schemes, in which the final location takes into account different positioning sources. In this paper we propose a positioning system that leverages common infrastructure and services already present in smart spaces to enhance indoor positioning. Thus, GPS and WiFi are complemented with access control services (i.e., ID card) or Bluetooth Low Energy beaconing, to determine the user location within a smart space. Better position estimations can be calculated by hybridizing the positioning information coming from different technologies, and a handover mechanism between technologies or algorithms is used exploiting semantic information saved in fingerprints. The solution implemented is highly optimized by reducing tedious computation, by means of opportunistic selection of fingerprints and floor change detection, and a battery saving subsystem reduces power consumption by disabling non-needed technologies. The proposal has been showcased over a smart campus deployment to check its real operation and assess the positioning accuracy, experiencing the noticeable advantage of integrating technologies usually available in smart spaces and reaching an average real error of 4.62 m. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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25 pages, 997 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of NLOS and Multi-Path Conditions in UWB Localization Using Machine Learning Methods

by Cung Lian Sang, Bastian Steinhagen, Jonas Dominik Homburg, Michael Adams, Marc Hesse and Ulrich Rückert

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(11), 3980; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10113980 - 8 Jun 2020

Cited by 70 | Viewed by 8654

Abstract

In ultra-wideband (UWB)-based wireless ranging or distance measurement, differentiation between line-of-sight (LOS), non-line-of-sight (NLOS), and multi-path (MP) conditions is important for precise indoor localization. This is because the accuracy of the reported measured distance in UWB ranging systems is directly affected by the [...] Read more.

In ultra-wideband (UWB)-based wireless ranging or distance measurement, differentiation between line-of-sight (LOS), non-line-of-sight (NLOS), and multi-path (MP) conditions is important for precise indoor localization. This is because the accuracy of the reported measured distance in UWB ranging systems is directly affected by the measurement conditions (LOS, NLOS, or MP). However, the major contributions in the literature only address the binary classification between LOS and NLOS in UWB ranging systems. The MP condition is usually ignored. In fact, the MP condition also has a significant impact on the ranging errors of the UWB compared to the direct LOS measurement results. However, the magnitudes of the error contained in MP conditions are generally lower than completely blocked NLOS scenarios. This paper addresses machine learning techniques for identification of the three mentioned classes (LOS, NLOS, and MP) in the UWB indoor localization system using an experimental dataset. The dataset was collected in different conditions in different scenarios in indoor environments. Using the collected real measurement data, we compared three machine learning (ML) classifiers, i.e., support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) based on an ensemble learning method, and multilayer perceptron (MLP) based on a deep artificial neural network, in terms of their performance. The results showed that applying ML methods in UWB ranging systems was effective in the identification of the above-three mentioned classes. Specifically, the overall accuracy reached up to 91.9% in the best-case scenario and 72.9% in the worst-case scenario. Regarding the F1-score, it was 0.92 in the best-case and 0.69 in the worst-case scenario. For reproducible results and further exploration, we provide the publicly accessible experimental research data discussed in this paper at PUB (Publications at Bielefeld University). The evaluations of the three classifiers are conducted using the open-source Python machine learning library scikit-learn. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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20 pages, 3430 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Indoor Localization Method Based on Image Retrieval and Dead Reckoning

by Jiuchao Qian, Yuhao Cheng, Rendong Ying and Peilin Liu

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(11), 3803; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10113803 - 29 May 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2706

Abstract

Indoor pedestrian localization measurement is a hot topic and is widely used in indoor navigation and unmanned devices. PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) is a low-cost and independent indoor localization method, estimating position of pedestrians independently and continuously. PDR fuses the accelerometer, gyroscope and [...] Read more.

Indoor pedestrian localization measurement is a hot topic and is widely used in indoor navigation and unmanned devices. PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) is a low-cost and independent indoor localization method, estimating position of pedestrians independently and continuously. PDR fuses the accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer to calculate relative distance from starting point, which is mainly composed of three modules: step detection, stride length estimation and heading calculation. However, PDR is affected by cumulative error and can only work in two-dimensional planes, which makes it limited in practical applications. In this paper, a novel localization method V-PDR is presented, which combines VPR (Visual Place Recognition) and PDR in a loosely coupled way. When there is error between the localization result of PDR and VPR, the algorithm will correct the localization of PDR, which significantly reduces the cumulative error. In addition, VPR recognizes scenes on different floors to correct floor localization due to vertical movement, which extends application scene of PDR from two-dimensional planes to three-dimensional spaces. Extensive experiments were conducted in our laboratory building to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms general PDR method in accuracy and can work in three-dimensional space. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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20 pages, 4816 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Indoor Ranging Algorithm Based on a Received Signal Strength Indicator and Channel State Information Using an Extended Kalman Filter

by Jingjing Wang and Joon Goo Park

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(11), 3687; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10113687 - 26 May 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3987

Abstract

With the increasing demand of location-based services, the indoor ranging method based on Wi-Fi has become an important technique due to its high accuracy and low hardware requirements. The complicated indoor environment makes it difficult for wireless indoor ranging systems to obtain accurate [...] Read more.

With the increasing demand of location-based services, the indoor ranging method based on Wi-Fi has become an important technique due to its high accuracy and low hardware requirements. The complicated indoor environment makes it difficult for wireless indoor ranging systems to obtain accurate distance measurements. This paper presents an Extended Kalman filter-based approach for indoor ranging by utilizing transmission channel quality metrics, including Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Channel State Information (CSI). The proposed ranging algorithm scheme is implemented and validated with experiments in two typical indoor environments. A real indoor experiment demonstrates that the ranging estimation accuracy of our algorithms can be significantly enhanced compared with the typical algorithms. The ranging estimation accuracy is defined as the cumulative distribution function of the distance error. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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16 pages, 4096 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bearing Estimation for Indoor Localization Systems Using Planar Circular Photodiode Arrays

by Gergely Zachár, Gergely Vakulya and Gyula Simon

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(11), 3683; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10113683 - 26 May 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2553

Abstract

An inexpensive bearing estimation sensor and a corresponding method has been recently proposed for indoor localization applications. The system utilizes modulated infrared LED sources as light beacons, and a planar circular photodiode array (PCPA) as sensor. The PCPA measures the light intensity of [...] Read more.

An inexpensive bearing estimation sensor and a corresponding method has been recently proposed for indoor localization applications. The system utilizes modulated infrared LED sources as light beacons, and a planar circular photodiode array (PCPA) as sensor. The PCPA measures the light intensity of the beacons in multiple channels, from which the bearings of the beacons can be estimated using least squares (LS) method, with an accuracy in the range of 1 degree. In this paper a novel estimation method is proposed, which provides fast bearing estimates from the PCPA measurements using the frequency domain. The computational complexity of the novel method is orders of magnitude less than that of the LS solution, at the price of a slight decrease in accuracy. The performance of the PCPA is analyzed in the presence of reflections and the tilting of the sensor. The results demonstrate that the effect of reflections can be significant, while the tilting of the sensor has only a minor effect on the bearing estimation. The applicability of the measurement device in indoor localization applications is illustrated by real localization examples. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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22 pages, 4963 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mobile Robot Path Planning Using a Laser Range Finder for Environments with Transparent Obstacles

by Jin-Woo Jung, Jung-Soo Park, Tae-Won Kang, Jin-Gu Kang and Hyun-Wook Kang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2799; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082799 - 17 Apr 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3923

Abstract

Environment maps must first be generated to drive mobile robots automatically. Path planning is performed based on the information given in an environment map. Various types of sensors, such as ultrasonic and laser sensors, are used by mobile robots to acquire data on [...] Read more.

Environment maps must first be generated to drive mobile robots automatically. Path planning is performed based on the information given in an environment map. Various types of sensors, such as ultrasonic and laser sensors, are used by mobile robots to acquire data on its surrounding environment. Among these, the laser sensor, which has the property of being able to go straight and high accuracy, is used most often. However, the beams from laser sensors are refracted and reflected when it meets a transparent obstacle, thus generating noise. Therefore, in this paper, a state-of-the-art algorithm was proposed to detect transparent obstacles by analyzing the pattern of the reflected noise generated when a laser meets a transparent obstacle. The experiment was carried out using the environment map generated by the aforementioned method and gave results demonstrating that the robot could avoid transparent obstacles while it was moving towards the destination. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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23 pages, 3613 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Holistic Approach to Guarantee the Reliability of Positioning Based on Carrier Phase for Indoor Pseudolite

by Yinzhi Zhao, Jiming Guo, Jingui Zou, Peng Zhang, Di Zhang, Xin Li, Gege Huang and Fei Yang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(4), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10041199 - 11 Feb 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2496

Abstract

The integrity monitoring algorithm based on pseudorange observations has been widely used outdoors and plays an important role in ensuring the reliability of positioning. However, pseudorange observations are greatly affected by the error sources such as multipath, clock drift, and noise in indoor [...] Read more.

The integrity monitoring algorithm based on pseudorange observations has been widely used outdoors and plays an important role in ensuring the reliability of positioning. However, pseudorange observations are greatly affected by the error sources such as multipath, clock drift, and noise in indoor pseudolite system, thus the pseudorange observations cannot be applied to high-precision indoor positioning. In general, double differenced (DD) carrier phase observations are used to obtain a high-precision indoor positioning result. What’s more, the carrier phase-based integrity monitoring (CRAIM) algorithm is applied to identify and exclude potential faults of the pseudolites. In this article, a holistic method is proposed to ensure the accuracy and reliability of positioning results. Firstly, if the reference pseudolite operates normally, extended Kalman filter is used for parameter estimation on the premise that the number of common pseudolites meets positioning requirements. Secondly, the innovation sequence in the Kalman filter is applied to construct test statistics and the corresponding threshold is determined from the Chi distribution with a given probability of false alert. The pseudolitehorizontal protection level (HPL) is calculated by the threshold and a prior probability of missed detection. Finally, compared the test statistics with the threshold to exclude the faultypseudolite for the reliability of positioning. The experiment results show that the proposed method improves the accuracy and stability of the results through faults detection and exclusion. This method ensures accuracies at the centimeter level for dynamic experiments and millimeter levels for static ones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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18 pages, 8113 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Wi-Fi FTM-Based Indoor Positioning Method with LOS/NLOS Identification

by Minghao Si, Yunjia Wang, Shenglei Xu, Meng Sun and Hongji Cao

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(3), 956; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10030956 - 2 Feb 2020

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 4597

Abstract

In recent years, many new technologies have been used in indoor positioning. In 2016, IEEE 802.11-2016 created a Wi-Fi fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol, making Wi-Fi ranging more robust and accurate, and providing meter-level positioning accuracy. However, the accuracy of positioning methods based [...] Read more.

In recent years, many new technologies have been used in indoor positioning. In 2016, IEEE 802.11-2016 created a Wi-Fi fine timing measurement (FTM) protocol, making Wi-Fi ranging more robust and accurate, and providing meter-level positioning accuracy. However, the accuracy of positioning methods based on the new ranging technology is influenced by non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors. To enhance the accuracy, a positioning method with LOS (line-of-sight)/NLOS identification is proposed in this paper. A Gaussian model has been established to identify NLOS signals. After identifying and discarding NLOS signals, the least square (LS) algorithm is used to calculate the location. The results of the numerical experiments indicate that our algorithm can identify and discard NLOS signals with a precision of 83.01% and a recall of 74.97%. Moreover, compared with the traditional algorithms, by all ranging results, the proposed method features more accurate and stable results for indoor positioning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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22 pages, 4978 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indoor Positioning Integrating PDR/Geomagnetic Positioning Based on the Genetic-Particle Filter

by Meng Sun, Yunjia Wang, Shenglei Xu, Hongji Cao and Minghao Si

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(2), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020668 - 17 Jan 2020

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 3824

Abstract

This paper proposes a fusion indoor positioning method that integrates the pedestrian dead-reckoning (PDR) and geomagnetic positioning by using the genetic-particle filter (GPF) algorithm. In the PDR module, the Mahony complementary filter (MCF) algorithm is adopted to estimate the heading angles. To improve [...] Read more.

This paper proposes a fusion indoor positioning method that integrates the pedestrian dead-reckoning (PDR) and geomagnetic positioning by using the genetic-particle filter (GPF) algorithm. In the PDR module, the Mahony complementary filter (MCF) algorithm is adopted to estimate the heading angles. To improve geomagnetic positioning accuracy and geomagnetic fingerprint specificity, the geomagnetic multi-features positioning algorithm is devised and five geomagnetic features are extracted as the single-point fingerprint by transforming the magnetic field data into the geographic coordinate system (GCS). Then, an optimization mechanism is designed by using gene mutation and the method of reconstructing a particle set to ameliorate the particle degradation problem in the GPF algorithm, which is used for fusion positioning. Several experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed methods. The experiment results show that the average positioning error of the proposed method is 1.72 m and the root mean square error (RMSE) is 1.89 m. The positioning precision and stability are improved compared with the PDR method, geomagnetic positioning, and the fusion-positioning method based on the classic particle filter (PF). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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19 pages, 6162 KiB

Open AccessArticle

GPS-Based Indoor/Outdoor Detection Scheme Using Machine Learning Techniques

by Van Bui, Nam Tuan Le, Thanh Luan Vu, Van Hoa Nguyen and Yeong Min Jang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(2), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020500 - 10 Jan 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5360

Abstract

Recent advances in mobile communication require that indoor/outdoor environment information be available for both individual applications and wireless signal transmission in order to improve interference control and serve upper-layer applications. In this paper, we present a scheme to identify the indoor/outdoor environment using [...] Read more.

Recent advances in mobile communication require that indoor/outdoor environment information be available for both individual applications and wireless signal transmission in order to improve interference control and serve upper-layer applications. In this paper, we present a scheme to identify the indoor/outdoor environment using GPS signals combined with machine learning classification techniques. Compared to traditional schemes, which are based on received signal strength indicator (RSSI), the proposed scheme promises a robust approach with high accuracy, smooth operation when moving between indoor and outdoor environments, as well as easy implementation and training. The proposed scheme combined information from a certain number of GPS satellites, using the GPS sensor on mobile devices. Then, data are collected, preprocessed, and classified as indoor or outdoor environment using a machine learning model that is optimized for the best performance. The GPS input data were collected in the Kookmin University area and included 850 training samples and 170 test samples. The overall accuracy reached 97%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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21 pages, 5433 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robust and Accurate Wi-Fi Fingerprint Location Recognition Method Based on Deep Neural Network

by Yifan Wang, Jingxiang Gao, Zengke Li and Long Zhao

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010321 - 1 Jan 2020

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3591

Abstract

Currently, indoor locations based on the received signal strength (RSS) of Wi-Fi are attracting more and more attention thanks to the technology’s low cost, low power consumption and wide availability in mobile devices. However, the accuracy of Wi-Fi positioning is limited, [...] Read more.

Currently, indoor locations based on the received signal strength (RSS) of Wi-Fi are attracting more and more attention thanks to the technology’s low cost, low power consumption and wide availability in mobile devices. However, the accuracy of Wi-Fi positioning is limited, due to the signal fluctuation and indoor multipath interference. In order to overcome this problem, this paper proposes a robust and accurate Wi-Fi fingerprint location recognition method based on a deep neural network (DNN). A stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) is used to extract robust features from noisy RSS to construct a feature-weighted fingerprint database offline. We use the combination of the weights of posteriori probability and geometric relationship of fingerprint points to calculate the coordinates of unknown points online. In addition, we use constrained Kalman filtering and hidden Markov models (HMM) to smooth and optimize positioning results and overcome the influence of gross error on positioning results, combined with characteristics of user movement in buildings, both dynamic and static. The experiment shows that the DNN is feasible for position recognition, and the method proposed in this paper is more accurate and stable than the commonly used Wi-Fi positioning methods in different scenes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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21 pages, 2586 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Robust Tracking Algorithm Based on a Probability Data Association for a Wireless Sensor Network

by Long Cheng, Mingkun Xue, Ze Liu and Yong Wang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010006 - 18 Dec 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2279

Abstract

As one of the core technologies of the Internet of Things, wireless sensor network technology is widely used in indoor localization systems. Considering that sensors can be deployed to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments to collect information, wireless sensor network technology is used to locate [...] Read more.

As one of the core technologies of the Internet of Things, wireless sensor network technology is widely used in indoor localization systems. Considering that sensors can be deployed to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments to collect information, wireless sensor network technology is used to locate positions in complex NLOS environments to meet the growing positioning needs of people. In this paper, we propose a novel time of arrival (TOA)-based localization scheme. We regard the line-of-sight (LOS) environment and non-line-of-sight environment in wireless positioning as a Markov process with two interactive models. In the NLOS model, we propose a modified probabilistic data association (MPDA) algorithm to reduce the NLOS errors in position estimation. After the NLOS recognition, if the number of correct positions is zero continuously, it will lead to inaccurate localization. In this paper, the NLOS tracer method is proposed to solve this problem to improve the robustness of the probabilistic data association algorithm. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can mitigate the influence of NLOS errors and achieve a higher localization accuracy when compared with the existing methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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29 pages, 5100 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Single-Camera Trilateration

by Yu Zhou, Wenfei Liu, Xionghui Lu and Xu Zhong

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(24), 5374; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9245374 - 9 Dec 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2962

Abstract

This paper presents a single-camera trilateration scheme which estimates the instantaneous 3D pose of a regular forward-looking camera from a single image of landmarks at known positions. Derived on the basis of the classical pinhole camera model and principles of perspective geometry, the [...] Read more.

This paper presents a single-camera trilateration scheme which estimates the instantaneous 3D pose of a regular forward-looking camera from a single image of landmarks at known positions. Derived on the basis of the classical pinhole camera model and principles of perspective geometry, the proposed algorithm estimates the camera position and orientation successively. It provides a convenient self-localization tool for mobile robots and vehicles equipped with onboard cameras. Performance analysis has been conducted through extensive simulations with representative examples, which provides an insight into how the input errors and the geometric arrangement of the camera and landmarks affect the performance of the proposed algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm has been further verified through an experiment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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24 pages, 6240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Markers in Challenging Conditions for People with Visual Impairment Using Convolutional Neural Network

by Mostafa Elgendy, Tibor Guzsvinecz and Cecilia Sik-Lanyi

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5110; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9235110 - 26 Nov 2019

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3812

Abstract

People with visual impairment face a lot of difficulties in their daily activities. Several researches have been conducted to find smart solutions using mobile devices to help people with visual impairment perform tasks. This paper focuses on using assistive technology to help people [...] Read more.

People with visual impairment face a lot of difficulties in their daily activities. Several researches have been conducted to find smart solutions using mobile devices to help people with visual impairment perform tasks. This paper focuses on using assistive technology to help people with visual impairment in indoor navigation using markers. The essential steps of a typical navigation system are identifying the current location, finding the shortest path to the destination, and navigating safely to the destination using navigation feedback. In this research, the authors proposed a system to help people with visual impairment in indoor navigation using markers. In this system, the authors have re-defined the identification step to a classification problem and used convolutional neural networks to identify markers. The main contributions of this paper are: (1) A system to help people with visual impairment in indoor navigation using markers. (2) Comparing QR codes with Aruco markers to prove that Aruco markers work better. (3) Convolutional neural network has been implemented and simplified to detect the candidate markers in challenging conditions and improve response time. (4) Comparing the proposed model with another model to prove that it gives better accuracy for training and testing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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13 pages, 3693 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scene Description for Visually Impaired People with Multi-Label Convolutional SVM Networks

by Yakoub Bazi, Haikel Alhichri, Naif Alajlan and Farid Melgani

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5062; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9235062 - 23 Nov 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2967

Abstract

In this paper, we present a portable camera-based method for helping visually impaired (VI) people to recognize multiple objects in images. This method relies on a novel multi-label convolutional support vector machine (CSVM) network for coarse description of images. The core idea of [...] Read more.

In this paper, we present a portable camera-based method for helping visually impaired (VI) people to recognize multiple objects in images. This method relies on a novel multi-label convolutional support vector machine (CSVM) network for coarse description of images. The core idea of CSVM is to use a set of linear SVMs as filter banks for feature map generation. During the training phase, the weights of the SVM filters are obtained using a forward-supervised learning strategy unlike the backpropagation algorithm used in standard convolutional neural networks (CNNs). To handle multi-label detection, we introduce a multi-branch CSVM architecture, where each branch will be used for detecting one object in the image. This architecture exploits the correlation between the objects present in the image by means of an opportune fusion mechanism of the intermediate outputs provided by the convolution layers of each branch. The high-level reasoning of the network is done through binary classification SVMs for predicting the presence/absence of objects in the image. The experiments obtained on two indoor datasets and one outdoor dataset acquired from a portable camera mounted on a lightweight shield worn by the user, and connected via a USB wire to a laptop processing unit are reported and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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22 pages, 7254 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Closed-Form Localization Algorithm and GDOP Analysis for Multiple TDOAs and Single TOA Based Hybrid Positioning

by Zhongliang Deng, Hanhua Wang, Xinyu Zheng, Xiao Fu, Lu Yin, Shihao Tang and Fuxing Yang

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(22), 4935; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224935 - 16 Nov 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3819

Abstract

Cellular communication systems support mobile phones positioning function for Enhanced-911 (E-911) location requirements, but the positioning accuracy is poor. The fifth-generation (5G) cellular communication system can use indoor distribution systems to provide accurate multiple time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and single time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements, which could [...] Read more.

Cellular communication systems support mobile phones positioning function for Enhanced-911 (E-911) location requirements, but the positioning accuracy is poor. The fifth-generation (5G) cellular communication system can use indoor distribution systems to provide accurate multiple time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and single time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements, which could significantly improve the indoor positioning ability. Unlike iterative localization algorithms for TDOA or TOA, the existing closed-form algorithms, such as the Chan-Ho algorithm, do not have convergence problems, but can only estimate position based on one kind of measurement. This paper proposes a closed-form localization algorithm for multiple TDOAs and single TOA measurements. The proposed algorithm estimates the final position result using three-step weighted least squares (WLSs). The first WLS provides an initial position for the last two steps. Then the algorithm uses two WLSs to estimate position based on heteroscedastic TDOA and TOA measurements. In addition, the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) of the proposed hybrid TDOA and TOA positioning has been derived. The analysis of GDOP shows that the proposed hybrid positioning has lower GDOP than TDOA-only positioning, which means the proposed hybrid positioning has a higher accuracy limitation than TDOA-only positioning. The simulation shows that the proposed localization algorithm could have better performance than closed-form TDOA-only positioning methods, and the positioning accuracy could approximate Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) when the TDOA measurement errors are small. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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17 pages, 1195 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Sensor Fusion Framework for Indoor Localization Using Smartphone Sensors and Wi-Fi RSSI Measurements

by Alwin Poulose, Jihun Kim and Dong Seog Han

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(20), 4379; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204379 - 16 Oct 2019

Cited by 76 | Viewed by 7302

Abstract

Sensor fusion frameworks for indoor localization are developed with the specific goal of reducing positioning errors. Although many conventional localization frameworks without fusion have been improved to reduce positioning error, sensor fusion frameworks generally provide a further improvement in positioning accuracy. In this [...] Read more.

Sensor fusion frameworks for indoor localization are developed with the specific goal of reducing positioning errors. Although many conventional localization frameworks without fusion have been improved to reduce positioning error, sensor fusion frameworks generally provide a further improvement in positioning accuracy. In this paper, we propose a sensor fusion framework for indoor localization using the smartphone inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor data and Wi-Fi received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements. The proposed sensor fusion framework uses location fingerprinting and trilateration for Wi-Fi positioning. Additionally, a pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) algorithm is used for position estimation in indoor scenarios. The proposed framework achieves a maximum of 1.17 m localization error for the rectangular motion of a pedestrian and a maximum of 0.44 m localization error for linear motion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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23 pages, 1685 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving Accuracy and Reliability of Bluetooth Low-Energy-Based Localization Systems Using Proximity Sensors

by Marcin Kolakowski

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(19), 4081; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9194081 - 30 Sep 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4517

Abstract

One of the functionalities which are desired in Ambient and Assisted Living systems is accurate user localization at their living place. One of the best-suited solutions for this purpose from the cost and energy efficiency points of view are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based [...] Read more.

One of the functionalities which are desired in Ambient and Assisted Living systems is accurate user localization at their living place. One of the best-suited solutions for this purpose from the cost and energy efficiency points of view are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based localization systems. Unfortunately, their localization accuracy is typically around several meters and might not be sufficient for detection of abnormal situations in elderly persons behavior. In this paper, a concept of a hybrid positioning system combining typical BLE-based infrastructure and proximity sensors is presented. The proximity sensors act a supporting role by additionally covering vital places, where higher localization accuracy is needed. The results from both parts are fused using two types of hybrid algorithms. The paper contains results of simulation and experimental studies. During the experiment, an exemplary proximity sensor VL53L1X has been tested and its basic properties modeled for use in the proposed algorithms. The results of the study have shown that employing proximity sensors can significantly improve localization accuracy in places of interest. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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21 pages, 3507 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indoor Localization Based on Wi-Fi Received Signal Strength Indicators: Feature Extraction, Mobile Fingerprinting, and Trajectory Learning

by Jaehyun Yoo and Jongho Park

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(18), 3930; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9183930 - 19 Sep 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4929

Abstract

This paper studies the indoor localization based on Wi-Fi received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In addition to position estimation, this study examines the expansion of applications using Wi-Fi RSSI data sets in three areas: (i) feature extraction, (ii) mobile fingerprinting, and (iii) mapless [...] Read more.

This paper studies the indoor localization based on Wi-Fi received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In addition to position estimation, this study examines the expansion of applications using Wi-Fi RSSI data sets in three areas: (i) feature extraction, (ii) mobile fingerprinting, and (iii) mapless localization. First, the features of Wi-Fi RSSI observations are extracted with respect to different floor levels and designated landmarks. Second, the mobile fingerprinting method is proposed to allow a trainer to collect training data efficiently, which is faster and more efficient than the conventional static fingerprinting method. Third, in the case of the unknown-map situation, the trajectory learning method is suggested to learn map information using crowdsourced data. All of these parts are interconnected from the feature extraction and mobile fingerprinting to the map learning and the estimation. Based on the experimental results, we observed (i) clearly classified data points by the feature extraction method as regards the floors and landmarks, (ii) efficient mobile fingerprinting compared to conventional static fingerprinting, and (iii) improvement of the positioning accuracy owing to the trajectory learning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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20 pages, 5628 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Method of Adaptive Kalman Filter for Heading Estimation Based on an Autoregressive Model

by Dashuai Chai, Guoliang Chen and Shengli Wang

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(18), 3727; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9183727 - 6 Sep 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3657

Abstract

With the popularity of smartphones and the development of microelectromechanical system (MEMS), the pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) algorithm based on the built-in sensors of a smartphone has attracted much research. Heading estimation is the key to obtaining reliable position information. Hence, an adaptive [...] Read more.

With the popularity of smartphones and the development of microelectromechanical system (MEMS), the pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) algorithm based on the built-in sensors of a smartphone has attracted much research. Heading estimation is the key to obtaining reliable position information. Hence, an adaptive Kalman filter (AKF) based on an autoregressive model (AR) is proposed to improve the accuracy of heading for pedestrian dead reckoning in a complex indoor environment. Our approach uses an autoregressive model to build a Kalman filter (KF), and the heading is calculated by the gyroscope, obtained by the magnetometer, and stored by previous estimates, then are fused to determine the measurement heading. An AKF based on the innovation sequence is used to adaptively adjust the state variance matrix to enhance the accuracy of the heading estimation. In order to suppress the drift of the gyroscope, the heading calculated by the AKF is used to correct the heading calculated by the outputs of the gyroscope if a quasi-static magnetic field is detected. Data were collected using two smartphones. These experiments showed that the average error of two-dimensional (2D) position estimation obtained by the proposed algorithm is reduced by 40.00% and 66.39%, and the root mean square (RMS) is improved by 43.87% and 66.79%, respectively, for these two smartphones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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22 pages, 4875 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RSS-Fingerprint Dimensionality Reduction for Multiple Service Set Identifier-Based Indoor Positioning Systems

by Ahmed Abed and Ikhlas Abdel-Qader

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(15), 3137; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9153137 - 2 Aug 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3854

Abstract

Indoor positioning systems (IPS) have been recently adopted by many researchers for their broad applications in various Internet of Things (IoT) fields such as logistics, health, construction industries, and security. Received Signal Strength (RSS)-based fingerprinting approaches have been widely used for positioning inside [...] Read more.

Indoor positioning systems (IPS) have been recently adopted by many researchers for their broad applications in various Internet of Things (IoT) fields such as logistics, health, construction industries, and security. Received Signal Strength (RSS)-based fingerprinting approaches have been widely used for positioning inside buildings because they have a distinct advantage of low cost over other indoor positioning techniques. The signal power RSS is a function of the distance between the Mobile System (MS) and Access Point (AP), which varies due to the multipath propagation phenomenon and human body blockage. Furthermore, fingerprinting approaches have several disadvantages such as labor cost, diversity (in signals and environment), and computational cost. Eliminating redundancy by ruling out non-informative APs not only reduces the computation time, but also improves the performance of IPS. In this article, we propose a dimensionality reduction technique in a multiple service set identifier-based indoor positioning system with Multiple Service Set Identifiers (MSSIDs), which means that each AP can be configured to transmit N signals instead of one signal, to serve different kinds of clients simultaneously. Therefore, we investigated various kinds of approaches for the selection of informative APs such as spatial variance, strongest APs, and random selection. These approaches were tested using two clustering techniques including K-means and Fuzzy C-means. Performance evaluation was focused on two elements, the number of informative APs versus the accuracy of the proposed system. To assess the proposed system, real data was acquired from within the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) at the Western Michigan University (WMU) building. The results exhibit the superiority of fused Multiple Service Set Identifiers (MSSID) performance over the single SSID. Moreover, the results report that the proposed system achieves a positioning accuracy <0.85 m over 3000 m², with an accumulative density function (CDF) of 88% with a distance error of 2 m. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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12 pages, 385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Finite Memory Structure Filtering and Smoothing for Target Tracking in Wireless Network Environments

by Pyung Soo Kim

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(14), 2872; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9142872 - 18 Jul 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2456

Abstract

In this paper, a state estimation problem is considered for a target tracking scheme in wireless network environments. Firstly, a unified algorithm of finite memory structure (FMS) filtering and smoothing is proposed for a discrete-time state-space model. As shown in the terminology unified [...] Read more.

In this paper, a state estimation problem is considered for a target tracking scheme in wireless network environments. Firstly, a unified algorithm of finite memory structure (FMS) filtering and smoothing is proposed for a discrete-time state-space model. As shown in the terminology unified, both FMS filter and smoother are derived by solving one optimization problem directly with incorporation of the unbiasedness constraint. Hence, the unified algorithm provides simultaneously the current state estimate as well as the lagged state estimate using only finite measurements and inputs on the most recent window. The proposed unified algorithm of FMS filtering and smoothing shows that there are some unique properties such as unbiasedness, deadbeat, time-invariance and intrinsic robustness, which cannot be obtained by the recursive infinite memory structure (IMS) filtering such as Kalman filter. The on-line computational complexity of the proposed unified algorithm is discussed. Secondly, as an application of the proposed unified algorithm, a target tracking scheme in wireless network environments is considered via computer simulations for moving target’s accelerations of various shapes. The proposed unified algorithm-based target tracking scheme provides estimates for position as well as acceleration of moving target in real time, while eliminating unwanted noise effects and maintaining desired moving positions. Due to intrinsic robustness and deadbeat properties, the proposed unified algorithm-based scheme can outperform the existing IMS filtering-based scheme when acceleration suddenly changes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

31 pages, 2353 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Automated Data Acquisition in Construction with Remote Sensing Technologies

by Osama Moselhi, Hassan Bardareh and Zhenhua Zhu

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2846; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082846 - 20 Apr 2020

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 6966

Abstract

Near real-time tracking of construction operations and timely progress reporting are essential for effective management of construction projects. This does not only mitigate potential negative impact of schedule delays and cost overruns but also helps to improve safety on site. Such timely tracking [...] Read more.

Near real-time tracking of construction operations and timely progress reporting are essential for effective management of construction projects. This does not only mitigate potential negative impact of schedule delays and cost overruns but also helps to improve safety on site. Such timely tracking circumvents the drawbacks of conventional methods for data acquisition, which are manual, labor-intensive, and not reliable enough for various construction purposes. To address these issues, a wide range of automated site data acquisition, including remote sensing (RS) technologies, has been introduced. This review article describes the capabilities and limitations of various scenarios employing RS enabling technologies for localization, with a focus on multi-sensor data fusion models. In particular, we have considered integration of real-time location systems (RTLSs) including GPS and UWB with other sensing technologies such as RFID, WSN, and digital imaging for their use in construction. This integrated use of technologies, along with information models (e.g., BIM models) is expected to enhance the efficiency of automated site data acquisition. It is also hoped that this review will prompt researchers to investigate fusion-based data capturing and processing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies)

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