Synergism of INS and PDR in Self-Contained Pedestrian Tracking With a Miniature Sensor Module

Abstract

This paper presents a sensor-based pedestrian tracking technology that does not rely on any infrastructure. The information about human walking is monitored by a sensor module composed of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers. The acquired information is used by an algorithm proposed in this paper to accurately compute the position of a pedestrian. Through the application of human kinetics, the algorithm integrates two traditional technologies: strap-down inertial navigation and pedestrian dead-reckoning. Based on the algorithm, this paper presents several methods to improve the accuracy of pedestrian tracking through reducing the integral drift which is the main cause of errors in inertial navigation. These methods have been carefully investigated through theoretical study, simulation and field experiment. The results indicate accurate tracking is achievable through the application of both the proposed algorithm and methods. Evidently, it is feasible to develop self-contained pedestrian tracking system using inertial/magnetic sensors, eliminating the need for complicated and normally expensive infrastructure that most existing tracking systems rely on.