Ultra-wideband Localization System Research Articles

TDOA-based UWB indoor 1D localization via weighted sliding window filtering

Accurate localization of a person or object is a significant aspect in the field of industrial internet of things (IoT). Ultra-wideband (UWB) localization system, a promising technology, has been widely studied due to its high accuracy in 2D and 3D scenarios. Moreover, in narrow corridors and deep-well environments, the 1D localization is also an important application with the advantage of resource saving, however which attracts less attention. In this paper, we focus on the problem of 1D localization and propose a practical localization model with time difference of arrivals (TDOA). To solve the nonlinear 1D localization problem, we design an algorithm that integrates the dichotomous method and Newton's iterative method, which realizes an efficient solution. Meanwhile, in order to cope with the random errors in the real scenes, we introduce a sliding window algorithm to filter out the undesirable solutions. By observing the localization error map, we design a weighted sliding window algorithm to achieve further improvement of the localization accuracy. In addition, we derive the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for 1D localization of TDOA. Simulations and practical experiments show that our proposed algorithm greatly benefits the localization accuracy of 1D TDOA and provides strong support for its practical application.

Comparative Analysis of Integrated Filtering Methods Using UWB Localization in Indoor Environment.

This research delves into advancing an ultra-wideband (UWB) localization system through the integration of filtering technologies (moving average (MVG), Kalman filter (KF), extended Kalman filter (EKF)) with a low-pass filter (LPF). We investigated new approaches to enhance the precision and reduce noise of the current filtering methods-MVG, KF, and EKF. Using a TurtleBot robotic platform with a camera, our research thoroughly examines the UWB system in various trajectory situations (square, circular, and free paths with 2 m, 2.2 m, and 5 m distances). Particularly in the square path trajectory with the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) values (40.22 mm on the X axis, and 78.71 mm on the Y axis), the extended Kalman filter with low-pass filter (EKF + LPF) shows notable accuracy. This filter stands out among the others. Furthermore, we find that integrated method using LPF outperforms MVG, KF, and EKF consistently, reducing the mean absolute error (MAE) to 3.39% for square paths, 4.21% for circular paths, and 6.16% for free paths. This study highlights the effectiveness of EKF + LPF for accurate indoor localization for UWB systems.

An ultra wideband (UWB) localization system for automatic guided vehicles (agvs) in smart warehouses

As the main component of indoor positioning technology, UWB technology plays an important role in promoting the development of indoor and outdoor seamless positioning technology. This paper presents a proposed localization system of a propagation channel measurement campaign performed in a smart warehouse environment whose dimension is 100 meters * 100 meters and provides an extensive model for this environment. Three different arrangements of basestations are simulated to analyze the effects of basestation constellations and virtual racks are set up to determine the approximate line-of-sight (LOS) probability. At the same time, by considering the influences of varying transmit power, using weighting and using two-way ranging, the distribution of errors and the reliability threshold are drawn and the required bandwidths are determined. Finally, according to the simulation results, the optimal layout and modulation parameters are recommended, and improvements in channel models and algorithms for future work are concluded.

Compensating the NLoS Occlusion Errors of UWB for Pedestrian Localization With MIMU

The Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology has become a competitive choice for indoor pedestrian localization due to its advantages in accuracy, compact size, reliability, power efficiency, and easy setup. However, the None-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) occlusion caused by the human body parts and obstacles in its propagation path may introduce significant location errors that limit its performance and field of application. To handle the NLoS occlusion errors and promote the localization accuracy for complex indoor environments, a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU)-assisted UWB localization system with NLoS occlusion error compensation techniques is provided. Firstly, an NLoS occlusion detection method using the built-in channel information of the UWB transceivers and the variation pattern of anchor-node distance is proposed. Secondly, an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF)-based attitude computation and a Zero-Velocity Update (ZUPT)-based continuous gait segmentation are introduced for inertial navigation during occlusion intervals. Then, the UWB and IMU parameters are integrated with an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) framework to compensate for the occlusion error and improve the accuracy and robustness. Finally, a battery-powered miniature wearable device is developed and the proposed techniques are verified with experimental studies. The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the presented techniques, which provides a good reference for related Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

FCN-Attention: A deep learning UWB NLOS/LOS classification algorithm using fully convolution neural network with self-attention mechanism

ABSTRACT The Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Location-Based Service is receiving more and more attention due to its high ranging accuracy and good time resolution. However, the None-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) propagation may reduce the ranging accuracy for UWB localization system in indoor environment. So it is important to identify LOS and NLOS propagations before taking proper measures to improve the UWB localization accuracy. In this paper, a deep learning-based UWB NLOS/LOS classification algorithm called FCN-Attention is proposed. The proposed FCN-Attention algorithm utilizes a Fully Convolution Network (FCN) for improving feature extraction ability and a self-attention mechanism for enhancing feature description from the data to improve the classification accuracy. The proposed algorithm is evaluated using an open-source dataset, a local collected dataset and a mixed dataset created from these two datasets. The experiment result shows that the proposed FCN-Attention algorithm achieves classification accuracy of 88.24% on the open-source dataset, 100% on the local collected dataset and 92.01% on the mixed dataset, which is better than the results from other evaluated NLOS/LOS classification algorithms in most scenarios in this paper.

Deep learning-based ranging error mitigation method for UWB localization system in greenhouse

The intelligent devices in indoor agriculture put forward high requirements for localization. However, the narrow space and various obstacles in the greenhouse generate non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions for wireless signal propagation, which challenge the quality of localization. To solve this problem, we proposed a ranging error mitigation method using deep learning, based on the characteristic that channel impulse response (CIR) presents different response states under different NLOS conditions. The method took the CIR as input, trying to predict the ranging error of wireless module and then mitigated the positioning results. To obtain useful features from massive data, this paper adopted the state-of-art residual network model ECA-ResNet with a lightweight attention mechanism module as the deep learning framework. All the operations were executed in the ultra-wideband (UWB) localization system with five anti-interference and precise DWM1000 wireless transceivers. Through the training of the collected range dataset, the model performed well in a complex environment with MAE, RMSE and R2 of 0.1004 m, 0.1714 m and 0.7548. Integrated with the above model, the UWB localization system was tested for positioning in a greenhouse with multiple compartments. It showed that large estimated positioning errors were significantly mitigated, which maintained the usability of results in such a heavily obstructed environment.

A Self-Calibrating Localization Solution for Sport Applications with UWB Technology

This study addressed the problem of localization in an ultrawide-band (UWB) network, where the positions of both the access points and the tags needed to be estimated. We considered a fully wireless UWB localization system, comprising both software and hardware, featuring easy plug-and-play usability for the consumer, primarily targeting sport and leisure applications. Anchor self-localization was addressed by two-way ranging, also embedding a Gauss-Newton algorithm for the estimation and compensation of antenna delays, and a modified isolation forest algorithm working with low-dimensional set of measurements for outlier identification and removal. This approach avoids time-consuming calibration procedures, and it enables accurate tag localization by the multilateration of time difference of arrival measurements. For the assessment of performance and the comparison of different algorithms, we considered an experimental campaign with data gathered by a proprietary UWB localization system.

VULoc

Ultra-WideBand (UWB) localization has shown promising prospects in both academia and industry. However, accurate UWB localization for a large number of tags (i.e., targets) is still an open problem. Existing works usually require tedious time synchronization and labor-intensive calibrations. We present VULoc, an accurate UWB localization system with high scalability for an unlimited number of targets, which significantly reduces synchronization and calibration overhead. The key idea of VULoc is an accurate localization method based on passive reception without time synchronization. Specifically, we propose a novel virtual-Two Way Ranging (V-TWR) method to enable accurate localization for an unlimited number of tags. We theoretically analyze the performance of our method and show its superiority. We leverage redundant ranging packets among anchors with known positions to infer a range mapping for auto-calibration, which eliminates the ranging bias arising from the hardware and multipath issues. We finally design an anchor scheduling algorithm, which estimates reception quality for adaptive anchor selection to minimize the influence of NLOS. We implement VULoc with DW1000 chips and extensively evaluate its performance in various environments. The results show that VULoc can achieve accurate localization with a median error of 10.5 cm and 90% error of 15.7 cm, reducing the error of ATLAS (an open-source TDOA-based UWB localization system) by 57.6% while supporting countless targets with no synchronization and low calibration overhead.

Artificial Neural Network Approach to Guarantee the Positioning Accuracy of Moving Robots by Using the Integration of IMU/UWB with Motion Capture System Data Fusion.

This study presents an effective artificial neural network (ANN) approach to combine measurements from inertial measurement units (IMUs) and time-of-flight (TOF) measurements from an ultra-wideband (UWB) system with OptiTrack Motion Capture System (OptiT-MCS) data to guarantee the positioning accuracy of motion tracking in indoor environments. The proposed fusion approach unifies the following advantages of both technologies: high data rates from the MCS, and global translational precision from the inertial measurement unit (IMU)/UWB localization system. Consequently, it leads to accurate position estimates when compared with data from the IMU/UWB system relative to the OptiT-MCS reference system. The calibrations of the positioning IMU/UWB and MCS systems are utilized in real-time movement with a diverse set of motion recordings using a mobile robot. The proposed neural network (NN) approach experimentally revealed accurate position estimates, giving an enhancement average mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 17.56% and 7.48% in the X and Y coordinates, respectively, and the coefficient of correlation R greater than 99%. Moreover, the experimental results prove that the proposed NN fusion is capable of maintaining high accuracy in position estimates while preventing drift errors from increasing in an unbounded manner, implying that the proposed approach is more effective than the compared approaches.

The LOS/NLOS Classification Method Based on Deep Learning for the UWB Localization System in Coal Mines

A localization system is one of the basic requirements for coal mines. Ultra-wideband (UWB), as a technology with broad application prospects, is considered to have great potential in the absence of satellite signals, especially in the underground mine environment, as it can provide rescue assistance. However, state-of-the-art UWB position systems in coal mines cannot efficiently differ the line-of-sight from all communication links, which results in deterioration of the localization accuracy. In this paper, we propose a LOS/NLOS classification method based on a deep learning algorithm. Specifically, we utilize the Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) to generate diagnostic data for frame transmission under non-line-of-sight (NLOS) condition. Then, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is adopted to identify the NLOS communication. Finally, the trilateral centroid positioning algorithm (TCPA) based on ranging data is used to verify the effect of our method for a localization system in coal mines. Field experiments show that our method can accurately differ the LOS/NLOS with the accuracy of 91.19%. The TCPA algorithm with our method can obtain 3.11% improvement compared with the scenario without using our method.

UWB-based Real-Time 3D High Precision Localization System

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) positioning technique featuring high accuracy and low cost has been drawing increasing interest. Angel of arrival (AOA), time difference of arrival (TDOA) and time of arrival (TOA) are common methods for positioning. With DecaWave1000 ranging systems, which applies TOA method, sub-meter accuracy can be achieved easily. However, the traditional DW1000 UWB localization system is unscalable and the ranging stability remains improving. In this paper, a brand new Scalable Multi-Base Multi-Tag (SMBMT) scheme based on traditional DW1000 UWB localization system is proposed to improve the system’s efficiency and scalability. Then an effective data processing algorithm Data Kalman Filter is offered using ranging information only, to diminish the ranging error in the system. By changing the system equation, Data KF is also able to optimize the dynamic trajectory. Finally, the proposed system is tested and the algorithm is analysed. The result shows that not only does applying SMBMT scheme improves the scalability and ranging efficiency of UWB localization system but also increases the accuracy and stability in positioning.

Phase Difference Based Precise Indoor Tracking of Common Mobile Devices Using an Iterative Holographic Extended Kalman Filter

The 3D indoor localization of low-cost standard mobile devices represents an important research topic. Since the implementation of ultra-wideband localization systems requires elaborated hardware, a localization concept based on phase-difference-of-arrival (PDOA) evaluation of narrow band communication signals at spatially distributed antennas is favorable in many applications. Typically, PDOA measurements are used to estimate the angle-of-arrival (AOA) at several receivers, which are then combined via multiangulation. However, AOA estimation requires far field conditions, thereby limiting measurement sensitivity, and distorts measurements in a non linear fashion. To overcome these limitations, this paper proposes the iterative holographic extended Kalman filter (IHEKF), which directly evaluates the phase differences between spatially distributed antenna pairs. The IHEKF requires neither a specific waveform nor emitter–receiver synchronization and, therefore, represents a good candidate for localization within communication systems such as 5G/6G. Since the evaluation of phase differences is affected by phase ambiguity, the IHEKF is designed so that closely spaced antenna pairs are evaluated first and then more distant antennas are included successively to improve accuracy. The IHEKF’s capabilities are demonstrated via a 24 GHz narrow band measurement setup with strong multipath propagation, providing outstanding localization accuracy in the millimeter range without consuming any notable RF signal bandwidth.

A Novel Movable UWB Localization System Using UAVs

Recently, interest in ultrawideband (UWB)-based localization systems has increased in various application fields. However, since UWB anchors are usually fixed, they work only within the limited range that UWB measurement signals can reach. To address this issue, a swarm flight system with movable UWB anchors is developed. One ground station controls multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), each of which is equipped with a UWB anchor and real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS) capabilities, and collects the precise (centimeter-level) positions of the UWB anchor UAVs through RTK-GPS. In this way, the constraints of existing UWB systems can be alleviated by changing the UWB anchor positions in real time as desired by the user. In addition, this paper proposes a novel localization algorithm using only time-of-flight (TOF) measurements from UWB signals, heading information from an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), and altitude information from a barometer. The results of UAV flight tests show that the proposed algorithm provides better localization performance than existing algorithms.

ULoc

A myriad of IoT applications, ranging from tracking assets in hospitals, logistics, and construction industries to indoor tracking in large indoor spaces, demand centimeter-accurate localization that is robust to blockages from hands, furniture, or other occlusions in the environment. With this need, in the recent past, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) based localization and tracking has become popular. Its popularity is driven by its proposed high bandwidth and protocol specifically designed for localization of specialized "tags". This high bandwidth of UWB provides a fine resolution of the time-of-travel of the signal that can be translated to the location of the tag with centimeter-grade accuracy in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, we find that high latency and high-power consumption of these time-of-travel methods are the major culprits which prevent such a system from deploying multiple tags in the environment. Thus, we developed ULoc, a scalable, low-power, and cm-accurate UWB localization and tracking system. In ULoc, we custom build a multi-antenna UWB anchor that enables azimuth and polar angle of arrival (henceforth shortened to '3D-AoA') measurements, with just the reception of a single packet from the tag. By combining multiple UWB anchors, ULoc can localize the tag in 3D space. The single-packet location estimation reduces the latency of the entire system by at least 3×, as compared with state of art multi-packet UWB localization protocols, making UWB based localization scalable. ULoc's design also reduces the power consumption per location estimate at the tag by 9×, as compared to state-of-art time-of-travel algorithms. We further develop a novel 3D-AoA based 3D localization that shows a stationary localization accuracy of 3.6 cm which is 1.8× better than the state-of-the-art two-way ranging (TWR) systems. We further developed a temporal tracking system that achieves a tracking accuracy of 10 cm in mobile conditions which is 4.3× better than the state-of-the-art TWR systems.

Peer-to-Peer Relative Localization of Aerial Robots With Ultrawideband Sensors

Robots in swarms take advantage of localization infrastructure, such as a motion capture system or global positioning system (GPS) sensors to obtain their global position, which can then be communicated to other robots for swarm coordination. However, the availability of localization infrastructure needs not to be guaranteed, e.g., in GPS-denied environments. Likewise, the communication overhead associated with broadcasting locations may be undesirable. For reliable and versatile operation in a swarm, robots must sense each other and interact locally. Motivated by this requirement, we propose an onboard relative localization framework for multirobot systems. The setup consists of an anchor robot with three onboard ultrawideband (UWB) sensors and a tag robot with a single onboard UWB sensor. The anchor robot utilizes the three UWB sensors to estimate the tag robot's location by using its onboard sensing and computational capabilities solely, without explicit interrobot communication. Because the anchor UWB sensors lack the physical separation that is typical in fixed UWB localization systems, we introduce filtering methods to improve the estimation of the tag's location. In particular, we utilize a mixture Monte Carlo localization (MCL) approach to capture maneuvers of the tag robot with acceptable precision. We validate the effectiveness of our algorithm with simulations as well as indoor and outdoor field experiments on a two-drone setup. The proposed mixture MCL algorithm yields highly accurate estimates for various speed profiles of the tag robot and demonstrates superior performance over the standard particle filter and the extended Kalman filter.

UWB Based Relative Planar Localization with Enhanced Precision for Intelligent Vehicles

Along with the rapid development of advanced driving assistance systems for intelligent vehicles, essential functions such as forward collision warning and collaborative cruise control need to detect the relative positions of surrounding vehicles. This paper proposes a relative planar localization system based on the ultra-wideband (UWB) ranging technology. Three UWB modules are installed on the top of each vehicle. Because of the limited space on the vehicle roof compared with the ranging error, the traditional triangulation method leads to significant positioning errors. Therefore, an optimal localization algorithm combining homotopy and the Levenberg–Marquardt method is first proposed to enhance the precision. The triangular side lengths and directed area are introduced as constraints. Secondly, a UWB sensor error self-correction method is presented to further improve the ranging accuracy. Finally, we carry out simulations and experiments to show that the presented algorithm in this paper significantly improves the relative position and orientation precision of both the pure UWB localization system and the fusion system integrated with dead reckoning.

Distance Measurements in UWB-Radio Localization Systems Corrected with a Feedforward Neural Network Model

An ultra-wideband (UWB) localization system is an alternative in a GPS-denied environment. However, a distance measurement with UWB modules using a two-way communication protocol induces an orientation-dependent error. Previous research studied this error by looking at parameters such as the received power and the channel response signal. In this paper, the neural network (NN) method for correcting the orientation-induced distance error without the need to calculate the signal strength, obtain the channel response or know any parameters of the antenna and the UWB modules is presented. The NN method utilizes only the measured distance and the tag orientation, and implements an NN model obtained by machine learning, using measurements at different distances and orientations of the two UWB modules. The verification of the experimental setup with 12 anchors and a tag shows that with the proposed NN method, 5 cm better root mean square error values (RMSEs) are obtained for the measured distance between the anchors and the tag compared to the calibration method that did not include orientation information. With the least-square estimator, 14 cm RMSE in 3D is obtained with the NN model corrected distances, with a 9 cm improvement compared to when raw distances are used. The method produces better results without the need to obtain the UWB module’s diagnostics parameters that are required to calculate the received signal strength or channel response, and in this way maintain the minimum packet size for the ranging protocol.

Error Reduction for Static Localization

This article describes methods for reducing the position measure-ment error of ultra-wideband localization system - DecaWave TREK1000. The static localization accuracy of this system can achieve 10cm. The local-ization algorithm introduced in this paper can improve it up to 1 centimeter. We could achieve such good accuracy, thanks to experiments that were car-ried out in various environmental conditions. This allowed us to identify the nature of the measurement error and design the correct set of filters.

Static and Dynamic Evaluation of an UWB Localization System for Industrial Applications

Many applications in the context of Industry 4.0 require precise localization. However, indoor localization remains an open problem, especially in complex environments such as industrial environments. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of Ultra WideBand (UWB) localization systems. The aim of this article is to evaluate the performance of a UWB system to estimate the position of a person moving in an indoor environment. To do so, we implemented an experimental protocol to evaluate the accuracy of the UWB system both statically and dynamically. The UWB system is compared to a ground truth obtained by a motion capture system with a millimetric accuracy.

Static and Dynamic Evaluation of an UWB Localization System for Industrial Applications

Many applications in the context of Industry 4.0 require precise localization. However, indoor localization remains an open problem, especially in complex environments such as industrial environments. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of Ultra WideBand (UWB) localization systems. The aim of this article is to evaluate the performance of a UWB system to estimate the position of a person moving in an indoor environment. To do so, we implemented an experimental protocol to evaluate the accuracy of the UWB system both statically and dynamically. The UWB system is compared to a ground truth obtained by a motion capture system with a millimetric accuracy.