Heading Estimation with Real-time Compensation Based on Kalman Filter Algorithm for an Indoor Positioning System

The problem of heading drift error using only low cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS) Inertial-Measurement-Unit (IMU) has not been well solved. In this paper, a heading estimation method with real-time compensation based on Kalman filter has been proposed, abbreviated as KHD. For the KHD method, a unified heading error model is established for various predictable errors in magnetic compass for pedestrian navigation, and an effective method for solving the model parameters is proposed in the indoor environment with regular structure. In addition, error model parameters are solved by Kalman filtering algorithm with building geometry information in order to achieve real-time heading compensation. The experimental results show that the KHD method can not only effectively correct the original heading information, but also effectively inhibit the accumulation effect of positioning errors. The performance observed in a field experiment performed on the fourth floor of the School of Environmental Science and Spatial Informatics (SESSI) building on the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) campus confirms that apply KHD method to PDR(Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) algorithm can reliably achieve meter-level positioning using a low cost MEMS IMU only

Robust localization with wearable sensors

Measuring physical movements of humans and understanding human behaviour is useful in a variety of areas and disciplines. Human inertial tracking is a method that can be leveraged for monitoring complex actions that emerge from interactions between human actors and their environment. An accurate estimation of motion trajectories can support new approaches to pedestrian navigation, emergency rescue, athlete management, and medicine. However, tracking with wearable inertial sensors has several problems that need to be overcome, such as the low accuracy of consumer-grade inertial measurement units (IMUs), the error accumulation problem in long-term tracking, and the artefacts generated by movements that are less common. This thesis focusses on measuring human movements with wearable head-mounted sensors to accurately estimate the physical location of a person over time. The research consisted of (i) providing an overview of the current state of research for inertial tracking with wearable sensors, (ii) investigating the performance of new tracking algorithms that combine sensor fusion and data-driven machine learning, (iii) eliminating the effect of random head motion during tracking, (iv) creating robust long-term tracking systems with a Bayesian neural network and sequential Monte Carlo method, and (v) verifying that the system can be applied with changing modes of behaviour, defined as natural transitions from walking to running and vice versa. This research introduces a new system for inertial tracking with head-mounted sensors (which can be placed in, e.g. helmets, caps, or glasses). This technology can be used for long-term positional tracking to explore complex behaviours