ETH - Indoor Positioning & Indoor Navigation


10:15 - 10:45	Ferdinand Packi (presenting author), Frederik Beutler, Uwe D. Hanebeck: Wireless Acoustic Tracking for Extended Range Telepresence Telepresence systems enable a user to experience virtual or distant environments by providing visual feedback, e.g., using a head-mounted display (HMD). While most common designs use dedicated input devices like joysticks or a space mouse, the approach followed in the present work takes the users position and viewing direction as an input, as he walks freely in his local surroundings. This is achieved using acoustic tracking, where the users pose (position and orientation) is estimated on the basis of ranges measured between a set of wall-fastened loudspeakers and a microphone array fixed on the users HMD. To allow natural user motion, a wearable, fully wireless telepresence system is introduced. All signal processing, coordinate transform and visualization is performed on-line, aboard the mobile tracking unit. The increase in comfort compared to wired solutions is eminent, as the users awareness is taken away from distracting cables during walking. Also the lightweight design and small dimensions contribute to ergonomics, as the total of components fits well into a small backpack.

10:45 - 11:15	Thomas Janson, Christian Schindelhauer, Johannes Wendeberg (presenting author, at University Freiburg): Self-Localization Application for iPhone using only Ambient Sound Signals We present an application for the self-localization of a group of smartphones in an anchor-less environment. The ambient sound in proximity of the devices is recorded and the time difference of arrival (TDOA) is computed using audio processing to detect discrete sound events. No device or signal positions are given and no further anchor points are known. Only a wireless network is needed for time synchronization and for timestamp exchange among the devices. We developed two new approaches to solve the self-localization problem for the given TDOA information. The Ellipsoid TDOA method introduces a closed form solution assuming the signals originate from far distances. The Iterative Cone Alignment method solves iteratively a non-linear optimization problem of sound source and device positions by using a physical spring-mass simulation. Both algorithms are integrated into an intuitive application for Apple iPhone and the results are displayed in an interactive OpenGL visualization.

11:15 - 11:30	Stefan Zorn (presenting author), Richard Rose, Alexander Götz, Robert Weigel: A Novel Technique for Mobile Phone Localization for Search and Rescue Applications Recent statistics show an increase in environmental disasters, a fact which is also perceivable to the public as reports of avalanches, earthquakes and landslides mount in media coverage. Search and Rescue with modern localization techniques consequently attracts attention from scientific and industrial sides. This paper introduces one part of the I-LOV project, endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany, in which partners from relief organizations, universities and industry investigate enhancements to disaster handling and victim rescue. Future developments in the area of mobile phone detection by field intensity measurements will be addressed in this paper.

11:30 - 11:45	Hideo Makino (presenting author), Daigo Ito, Kentaro Nishimori, Makoto Kobayashi, Daisuke Wakatsuki: Pedestrian Indoor Positioning Method Using Fluorescent Light Communication and Autonomous Navigation We developed an indoor positioning and footstep-width correction method that is employed while walking. This method employs ordinary indoor illumination apparatuses, i.e., fluorescent lights, as a special visible light communication tool. An experimental system comprises an integrated tri-axis accelerometer and magnetic sensor (Aichi Seiko, AMI603SD), a gyro-sensor, a specially developed visible light sensor, and a PDA. In the experiments, the prepared experimental environment is a rectangular shape corridor. There are 15 signal-transmission-type fluorescent lights installed in the ceiling of the corridor along the experiment route, and the receiving test is conducted 5 times continuously (5 rounds) in the same corridor. When error correction is employed, there is no problem due to the accumulation of the error. The average error is 0.77 m and the maximum error is 3.96 m. In addition, the error in the footsteps is corrected to less than 5% on average (0.03 m).

11:45 - 12:00	Eri Umino (presenting author), Hideo Makino, Kentaro Nishimori, Takayuki Kaneda, Makoto Kobayashi, Daisuke Wakatsuki: Basic Study of Indoor Robot Control Using Fluorescent Light Communications We investigate a robot control method using the location information sent by a fluorescent light communication platform. More specifically, we confirm the operation of the downlink route that acquires location information through fluorescent lights using a specially developed optical receiver, and the uplink route that feeds back in real time to the host computer an acknowledgement signal according to the downlink signal. In the developed system, a miniature LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot is used as the target. The actual experimental environment incorporates 22 signal-transmission-type fluorescent light units at Niigata University. The results confirm that the IDs sent through the fluorescent lights were displayed sequentially on the robot LCD over the route that the robot traversed. Moreover, it was confirmed that the infrared communication device was able to transmit information from the robot to the host computer.

Oral Presentations (Poster Teasers)

Friday, September 17
Auditorium D8


12:00 - 12:02	Xiaohan Liu (presenting author), Hideo Makino, Kenichi Mase: Indoor Location Estimation Using Visible Light Communication: Practicality and Expandability (Poster Teaser) We proposed an indoor location estimation method using Visible Light Communication (VLC) and triangulation. According to the performance of the practical VLC system in Niigata University, including the tube type fluorescent light system and the compact fluorescent down light system, we discuss the practicality and expandability on the three components: server component, light component, and receiver component. Several applications based on the presented indoor location estimation method such as a robot control system are suggested. We also give consideration to combining VLC with other technologies such as RFID and mesh networks.

12:02 - 12:04	Daniel Hauschildt (presenting author) and Nicolaj Kirchhof: Advances in Thermal Infrared Localization: Challenges and Solutions (Poster Teasers) Indoor localization is one of the major components to provide location based services in indoor environments. Over the last years, several indoor localization systems have been proposed, however, most of them require people to wear some kind of tag or sender. In this paper, a passive indoor localization system is described, which is solely based on passive thermal infrared sensing sensors. Consequently, the thermal radiation of humans can be exploited and no additional tag is required. On the one hand, this paper gives a short introduction to passive thermal infrared localization and its challenges. On the other hand, state of the art solutions are presented. This includes human-assisted semi-automatic calibration algorithm, single-target localization and multi-target localization and tracking.

12:04 - 12:06	Keita Atsuumi (at the Mechanical Control Laboratory, Hiroshima, presenting author) and Manabu Sano: Indoor IR Azimuth Sensor using a Linear Polarizer (Poster Teaser) We propose an Infrared-Ray (IR) type azimuth sensor system for the use in indoor environments. The feature of this sensor is an adequate conic shaped linear polarizer film. Because of the measurement error is accumulated with time, an azimuth information supplied by the angular velocity sensor (gyroscope) is unreliable. In addition, most indoor environments like an office or a factory are using many iron based materials for furniture or reinforced concrete, it is difficult to measuring the geomagnetism. Our sensor system can produce a position which measured from the non-drift azimuth information only by installing one landmark. We make a prototype of the sensor based on this technique and conduct the measurement experiment.

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