Computationally efficient solutions for tracking people with a mobile robot: an experimental evaluation of Bayesian filters

Modern service robots will soon become an essential part of modern society. As they have to move and act in human environments, it is essential for them to be provided with a fast and reliable tracking system that localizes people in the neighbourhood. It is therefore important to select the most appropriate filter to estimate the position of these persons. This paper presents three efficient implementations of multisensor-human tracking based on different Bayesian estimators: Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Sampling Importance Resampling (SIR) particle filter. The system implemented on a mobile robot is explained, introducing the methods used to detect and estimate the position of multiple people. Then, the solutions based on the three filters are discussed in detail. Several real experiments are conducted to evaluate their performance, which is compared in terms of accuracy, robustness and execution time of the estimation. The results show that a solution based on the UKF can perform as good as particle filters and can be often a better choice when computational efficiency is a key issue

On the genericity properties in networked estimation: Topology design and sensor placement

In this paper, we consider networked estimation of linear, discrete-time dynamical systems monitored by a network of agents. In order to minimize the power requirement at the (possibly, battery-operated) agents, we require that the agents can exchange information with their neighbors only \emph{once per dynamical system time-step}; in contrast to consensus-based estimation where the agents exchange information until they reach a consensus. It can be verified that with this restriction on information exchange, measurement fusion alone results in an unbounded estimation error at every such agent that does not have an observable set of measurements in its neighborhood. To over come this challenge, state-estimate fusion has been proposed to recover the system observability. However, we show that adding state-estimate fusion may not recover observability when the system matrix is structured-rank ($S$-rank) deficient. In this context, we characterize the state-estimate fusion and measurement fusion under both full $S$-rank and $S$-rank deficient system matrices.Comment: submitted for IEEE journal publicatio

A hybrid method for indoor user localisation

In this work we describe an approach to indoor user localisation by combining image-based and RF-based methods and compare this new approach to prior work. This paper details a new algorithm for indoor user localisation, demonstrating more effective user localisation than prior approaches and therefore presents the next step in combining two different technologies for localisation in indoor type environments

Multisensor-based human detection and tracking for mobile service robots

The one of fundamental issues for service robots is human-robot interaction. In order to perform such a task and provide the desired services, these robots need to detect and track people in the surroundings. In the present paper, we propose a solution for human tracking with a mobile robot that implements multisensor data fusion techniques. The system utilizes a new algorithm for laser-based legs detection using the on-board LRF. The approach is based on the recognition of typical leg patterns extracted from laser scans, which are shown to be very discriminative also in cluttered environments. These patterns can be used to localize both static and walking persons, even when the robot moves. Furthermore, faces are detected using the robot's camera and the information is fused to the legs position using a sequential implementation of Unscented Kalman Filter. The proposed solution is feasible for service robots with a similar device configuration and has been successfully implemented on two different mobile platforms. Several experiments illustrate the effectiveness of our approach, showing that robust human tracking can be performed within complex indoor environments

A Review of Hybrid Indoor Positioning Systems Employing WLAN Fingerprinting and Image Processing

Location-based services (LBS) are a significant permissive technology. One of the main components in indoor LBS is the indoor positioning system (IPS). IPS utilizes many existing technologies such as radio frequency, images, acoustic signals, as well as magnetic sensors, thermal sensors, optical sensors, and other sensors that are usually installed in a mobile device. The radio frequency technologies used in IPS are WLAN, Bluetooth, Zig Bee, RFID, frequency modulation, and ultra-wideband. This paper explores studies that have combined WLAN fingerprinting and image processing to build an IPS. The studies on combined WLAN fingerprinting and image processing techniques are divided based on the methods used. The first part explains the studies that have used WLAN fingerprinting to support image positioning. The second part examines works that have used image processing to support WLAN fingerprinting positioning. Then, image processing and WLAN fingerprinting are used in combination to build IPS in the third part. A new concept is proposed at the end for the future development of indoor positioning models based on WLAN fingerprinting and supported by image processing to solve the effect of people presence around users and the user orientation problem

Target localization and tracking by fusing doppler differentials from cellular emanations with a multi-spectral video tracker

We present an algorithm for fusing data from a constellation of RF sensors detecting cellular emanations with the output of a multi-spectral video tracker to localize and track a target with a specific cell phone. The RF sensors measure the Doppler shift caused by the moving cellular emanation and then Doppler differentials between all sensor pairs are calculated. The multi-spectral video tracker uses a Gaussian mixture model to detect foreground targets and SIFT features to track targets through the video sequence. The data is fused by associating the Doppler differential from the RF sensors with the theoretical Doppler differential computed from the multi-spectral tracker output. The absolute difference and the root-mean-square difference are computed to associate the Doppler differentials from the two sensor systems. Performance of the algorithm was evaluated using synthetically generated datasets of an urban scene with multiple moving vehicles. The presented fusion algorithm correctly associates the cellular emanation with the corresponding video target for low measurement uncertainty and in the presence of favorable motion patterns. For nearly all objects the fusion algorithm has high confidence in associating the emanation with the correct multi-spectral target from the most probable background target

Distributing the Kalman Filter for Large-Scale Systems

This paper derives a \emph{distributed} Kalman filter to estimate a sparsely connected, large-scale, $n-$dimensional, dynamical system monitored by a network of $N$ sensors. Local Kalman filters are implemented on the ($n_l-$dimensional, where $n_l\ll n$) sub-systems that are obtained after spatially decomposing the large-scale system. The resulting sub-systems overlap, which along with an assimilation procedure on the local Kalman filters, preserve an $L$th order Gauss-Markovian structure of the centralized error processes. The information loss due to the $L$th order Gauss-Markovian approximation is controllable as it can be characterized by a divergence that decreases as $L\uparrow$. The order of the approximation, $L$, leads to a lower bound on the dimension of the sub-systems, hence, providing a criterion for sub-system selection. The assimilation procedure is carried out on the local error covariances with a distributed iterate collapse inversion (DICI) algorithm that we introduce. The DICI algorithm computes the (approximated) centralized Riccati and Lyapunov equations iteratively with only local communication and low-order computation. We fuse the observations that are common among the local Kalman filters using bipartite fusion graphs and consensus averaging algorithms. The proposed algorithm achieves full distribution of the Kalman filter that is coherent with the centralized Kalman filter with an $L$th order Gaussian-Markovian structure on the centralized error processes. Nowhere storage, communication, or computation of $n-$dimensional vectors and matrices is needed; only $n_l \ll n$ dimensional vectors and matrices are communicated or used in the computation at the sensors

Collaborative Indoor Positioning Systems: A Systematic Review

Research and development in Collaborative Indoor Positioning Systems (CIPSs) is growing steadily due to their potential to improve on the performance of their non-collaborative counterparts. In contrast to the outdoors scenario, where Global Navigation Satellite System is widely adopted, in (collaborative) indoor positioning systems a large variety of technologies, techniques, and methods is being used. Moreover, the diversity of evaluation procedures and scenarios hinders a direct comparison. This paper presents a systematic review that gives a general view of the current CIPSs. A total of 84 works, published between 2006 and 2020, have been identified. These articles were analyzed and classified according to the described system’s architecture, infrastructure, technologies, techniques, methods, and evaluation. The results indicate a growing interest in collaborative positioning, and the trend tend to be towards the use of distributed architectures and infrastructure-less systems. Moreover, the most used technologies to determine the collaborative positioning between users are wireless communication technologies (Wi-Fi, Ultra-WideBand, and Bluetooth). The predominant collaborative positioning techniques are Received Signal Strength Indication, Fingerprinting, and Time of Arrival/Flight, and the collaborative methods are particle filters, Belief Propagation, Extended Kalman Filter, and Least Squares. Simulations are used as the main evaluation procedure. On the basis of the analysis and results, several promising future research avenues and gaps in research were identified