Expanding Navigation Systems by Integrating It with Advanced Technologies

Navigation systems provide the optimized route from one location to another. It is mainly assisted by external technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite-based radio navigation systems. GPS has many advantages such as high accuracy, available anywhere, reliable, and self-calibrated. However, GPS is limited to outdoor operations. The practice of combining different sources of data to improve the overall outcome is commonly used in various domains. GIS is already integrated with GPS to provide the visualization and realization aspects of a given location. Internet of things (IoT) is a growing domain, where embedded sensors are connected to the Internet and so IoT improves existing navigation systems and expands its capabilities. This chapter proposes a framework based on the integration of GPS, GIS, IoT, and mobile communications to provide a comprehensive and accurate navigation solution. In the next section, we outline the limitations of GPS, and then we describe the integration of GIS, smartphones, and GPS to enable its use in mobile applications. For the rest of this chapter, we introduce various navigation implementations using alternate technologies integrated with GPS or operated as standalone devices

Accurate pedestrian indoor navigation by tightly coupling foot-mounted IMU and RFID measurements

We present a new method to accurately locate persons indoors by fusing inertial navigation system (INS) techniques with active RFID technology. A foot-mounted inertial measuring units (IMUs)-based position estimation method, is aided by the received signal strengths (RSSs) obtained from several active RFID tags placed at known locations in a building. In contrast to other authors that integrate IMUs and RSS with a loose Kalman filter (KF)-based coupling (by using the residuals of inertial- and RSS-calculated positions), we present a tight KF-based INS/RFID integration, using the residuals between the INS-predicted reader-to-tag ranges and the ranges derived from a generic RSS path-loss model. Our approach also includes other drift reduction methods such as zero velocity updates (ZUPTs) at foot stance detections, zero angular-rate updates (ZARUs) when the user is motionless, and heading corrections using magnetometers. A complementary extended Kalman filter (EKF), throughout its 15-element error state vector, compensates the position, velocity and attitude errors of the INS solution, as well as IMU biases. This methodology is valid for any kind of motion (forward, lateral or backward walk, at different speeds), and does not require an offline calibration for the user gait. The integrated INS+RFID methodology eliminates the typical drift of IMU-alone solutions (approximately 1% of the total traveled distance), resulting in typical positioning errors along the walking path (no matter its length) of approximately 1.5 m

Image recognition-based architecture to enhance inclusive mobility of visually impaired people in smart and urban environments

The demographic growth that we have witnessed in recent years, which is expected to increase in the years to come, raises emerging challenges worldwide regarding urban mobility, both in transport and pedestrian movement. The sustainable development of cities is also intrinsically linked to urban planning and mobility strategies. The tasks of navigation and orientation in cities are something that we resort to today with great frequency, especially in unknown cities and places. Current navigation solutions refer to the precision aspect as a big challenge, especially between buildings in city centers. In this paper, we focus on the segment of visually impaired people and how they can obtain information about where they are when, for some reason, they have lost their orientation. Of course, the challenges are different and much more challenging in this situation and with this population segment. GPS, a technique widely used for navigation in outdoor environments, does not have the precision we need or the most beneficial type of content because the information that a visually impaired person needs when lost is not the name of the street or the coordinates but a reference point. Therefore, this paper includes the proposal of a conceptual architecture for outdoor positioning of visually impaired people using the Landmark Positioning approach.5311-8814-F0ED | Sara Maria da Cruz Maia de Oliveira PaivaN/

Indoor Navigation of Emergency Agents

Existing indoor navigation solutions usually rely on pre-installed sensor networks, whereas emergency agents are interested in fully auto-deployable systems. In this paper, an almost self-deployable solution based on Radio-frequency identification tags and inertial Micro Electro Mechanical Sensors is presented. The benefits of the solution are evaluated and compared with the pure inertial positioning system

Gait analysis of older adults: Gait characteristics calculation and environmental factors

Background: Gait characteristics are good indicators for physical health. Early detection improves clinical outcomes. The main influences on gait characteristics come from health factors, individual factors and environmental factors. While health and individual factors are widely researched, the environmental factors have been largely disregarded. This thesis aims to support the health monitoring research with a smartphone-based gait characteristics calculation and shine some light on environmental factors. Methods: GPS and inertial measurement unit (IMU) data is pre-processed with GPS noise filters, step detection and bout detection. This allows for the calculation of the gait characteristics gait speed, step length, step time and cadence. These characteristics are put in context with more intermediate characteristics and external data. Results: The GPS data was already filtered, so additional filtering did not yield better results. A high accuracy for step detection was found, with consistent undercounting. The calculated gait characteristics were higher than in other literature, but within a reasonable range. Few correlations were significant. The stop characteristics could be linked directly to most gait characteristics. The surface of asphalt could be linked to a reduced number of stops and stop time. Conclusion: The correlation between stops and gait characteristics is potentially great news. If stops can be directly linked to health, then a simple IMU would be sufficient for health monitoring. This would improve health monitoring in areas with degraded GPS signals, like inside buildings. However, many limitations were found that may be reduced with future research

VR-Fit: Walking-in-Place Locomotion with Real Time Step Detection for VR-Enabled Exercise

With recent advances in mobile and wearable technologies, virtual reality (VR) found many applications in daily use. Today, a mobile device can be converted into a low-cost immersive VR kit thanks to the availability of do-it-yourself viewers in the shape of simple cardboards and compatible software for 3D rendering. These applications involve interacting with stationary scenes or moving in between spaces within a VR environment. VR locomotion can be enabled through a variety of methods, such as head movement tracking, joystick-triggered motion and through mapping natural movements to translate to virtual locomotion. In this study, we implemented a walk-in-place (WIP) locomotion method for a VR-enabled exercise application. We investigate the utility of WIP for exercise purposes, and compare it with joystick-based locomotion in terms of step performance and subjective qualities of the activity, such as enjoyment, encouragement for exercise and ease of use. Our technique uses vertical accelerometer data to estimate steps taken during walking or running, and locomotes the user’s avatar accordingly in virtual space. We evaluated our technique in a controlled experimental study with 12 people. Results indicate that the way users control the simulated locomotion affects how they interact with the VR simulation, and influence the subjective sense of immersion and the perceived quality of the interaction. In particular, WIP encourages users to move further, and creates a more enjoyable and interesting experience in comparison to joystick-based navigation