Ultrasonic Local Positioning System Research Articles

Dynamic Adjustment of Weighted GCC-PHAT for Position Estimation in an Ultrasonic Local Positioning System.

Ultrasonic local positioning systems (ULPS) have been brought to the attention of researchers as one of the possibilities that can be used for indoor localization. Acoustic systems combine a suitable trade-off between precision, ease of development, and cost. This work proposes a method for measuring the time of arrival of encoded emissions from a set of ultrasonic beacons, which are used to implement an accurate ULPS. This method uses the generalized cross-correlation technique with PHAT filter and weighting factor β (GCC-PHAT-β). To improve the performance of the GCC-PHAT-β in encoded emission detection, the employment is proposed of mixed-medium multiple-access techniques, based on code division and time division multiplexing of beacon emissions (CDMA and TDMA respectively), and to dynamically adjust the PHAT filter weighting factor. The receiver position is obtained by hyperbolic multilateration from the time differences of arrival (TDoA) between a reference beacon and the rest, thus avoiding the need for receiver synchronization. The results show how the dynamic adaptation of the weighting factor significantly reduces positioning errors from 20 cm to 2 cm in 80% of measurements. The simulated and real experiments prove that the proposed algorithms improve the performance of the ULPS in situations with lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) than 0 dB and in environments where the multipath effect makes it difficult to correctly detect the encoded ultrasonic emissions.

Evaluation of Multi-Sensor Fusion Methods for Ultrasonic Indoor Positioning

Indoor positioning systems have become a feasible solution for the current development of multiple location-based services and applications. They often consist of deploying a certain set of beacons in the environment to create a coverage volume, wherein some receivers, such as robots, drones or smart devices, can move while estimating their own position. Their final accuracy and performance mainly depend on several factors: the workspace size and its nature, the technologies involved (Wi-Fi, ultrasound, light, RF), etc. This work evaluates a 3D ultrasonic local positioning system (3D-ULPS) based on three independent ULPSs installed at specific positions to cover almost all the workspace and position mobile ultrasonic receivers in the environment. Because the proposal deals with numerous ultrasonic emitters, it is possible to determine different time differences of arrival (TDOA) between them and the receiver. In that context, the selection of a suitable fusion method to merge all this information into a final position estimate is a key aspect of the proposal. A linear Kalman filter (LKF) and an adaptive Kalman filter (AKF) are proposed in that regard for a loosely coupled approach, where the positions obtained from each ULPS are merged together. On the other hand, as a tightly coupled method, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is also applied to merge the raw measurements from all the ULPSs into a final position estimate. Simulations and experimental tests were carried out and validated both approaches, thus providing average errors in the centimetre range for the EKF version, in contrast to errors up to the meter range from the independent (not merged) ULPSs.

LOCATE-US: Indoor Positioning for Mobile Devices Using Encoded Ultrasonic Signals, Inertial Sensors and Graph-Matching.

Indoor positioning remains a challenge and, despite much research and development carried out in the last decade, there is still no standard as with the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) outdoors. This paper presents an indoor positioning system called LOCATE-US with adjustable granularity for use with commercial mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets. LOCATE-US is privacy-oriented and allows every device to compute its own position by fusing ultrasonic, inertial sensor measurements and map information. Ultrasonic Local Positioning Systems (U-LPS) based on encoded signals are placed in critical zones that require an accuracy below a few decimeters to correct the accumulated drift errors of the inertial measurements. These systems are well suited to work at room level as walls confine acoustic waves inside. To avoid audible artifacts, the U-LPS emission is set at 41.67 kHz, and an ultrasonic acquisition module with reduced dimensions is attached to the mobile device through the USB port to capture signals. Processing in the mobile device involves an improved Time Differences of Arrival (TDOA) estimation that is fused with the measurements from an external inertial sensor to obtain real-time location and trajectory display at a 10 Hz rate. Graph-matching has also been included, considering available prior knowledge about the navigation scenario. This kind of device is an adequate platform for Location-Based Services (LBS), enabling applications such as augmented reality, guiding applications, or people monitoring and assistance. The system architecture can easily incorporate new sensors in the future, such as UWB, RFiD or others.

Characterization of an Ultrasonic Local Positioning System for 3D Measurements.

Indoor location and positioning systems (ILPS) are used to locate and track people, as well as mobile and/or connected targets, such as robots or smartphones, not only inside buildings with a lack of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) signals but also in constrained outdoor situations with reduced coverage. Indoor positioning applications and their interest are growing in certain environments, such as commercial centers, airports, hospitals or factories. Several sensory technologies have already been applied to indoor positioning systems, where ultrasounds are a common solution due to its low cost and simplicity. This work proposes a 3D ultrasonic local positioning system (ULPS), based on a set of three asynchronous ultrasonic beacon units, capable of transmitting coded signals independently, and on a 3D mobile receiver prototype. The proposal is based on the aforementioned beacon unit, which consists of five ultrasonic transmitters oriented towards the same coverage area and has already been proven in 2D positioning by applying hyperbolic trilateration. Since there are three beacon units available, the final position is obtained by merging the partial results from each unit, implementing a minimum likelihood estimation (MLE) fusion algorithm. The approach has been characterized, and experimentally verified, trying to maximize the coverage zone, at least for typical sizes in most common public rooms and halls. The proposal has achieved a positioning accuracy below decimeters for 90% of the cases in the zone where the three ultrasonic beacon units are available, whereas these accuracies can degrade above decimeters according to whether the coverage from one or more beacon units is missing. The experimental workspace covers a large volume, where tests have been carried out at points placed in two different horizontal planes.

Calibration of Beacons for Indoor Environments based on a Digital Map and Heuristic Information

This paper proposes an algorithm for calibrating the position of beacons which are placed on the ceiling of an indoor environment. In this context, the term calibration is used to estimate the position coordinates of a beacon related to a known reference system in a map. The positions of a set of beacons are used for indoor positioning purposes. The operation of the beacons can be based on different technologies such as radiofrequency (RF), infrared (IR) or ultrasound (US), among others. In this case we are interested in the positions of several beacons that compose an Ultrasonic Local Positioning System (ULPS) placed on different strategic points of the building. The calibration proposal uses several distances from a beacon to the neighbor walls measured by a laser meter. These measured distances, the map of the building in a vector format and other heuristic data (such as the region in which the beacon is located, the approximate orientation of the distance measurements to the walls and the equations in the map coordinate system of the line defining these walls) are the inputs of the proposed algorithm. The output is the best estimation of the position of the beacon. The process is repeated for all the beacons. To find the best estimation of the position of the beacons we have implemented a numerical minimization based on the use of a Genetic Algorithm (GA) and a Harmony Search (HS) methods. The proposal has been validated with simulations and real experiments, obtaining the positions of the beacons and an estimation of the error associated that depends on which walls (and the angle of incidence of the laser) are selected to make the distance measurements.

Multipath Compensation Algorithm for TDMA-Based Ultrasonic Local Positioning Systems

This paper proposes a multipath compensation algorithm (MCA) to enhance the performance of an ultrasonic local positioning system under adverse multipath conditions. The proposed algorithm is based on the accurate estimation of the environment impulse response from which the corresponding line of sight for each channel is obtained. Experimental results in two different environments and with different conditions have been conducted in order to evaluate the performance of this proposal. In both environments, results confirm the expected improvements, even under severe multipath conditions where positioning errors have been reduced from 44 to 9 cm for the 95% of the measurements.

Simultaneous calibration and navigation (SCAN) of multiple ultrasonic local positioning systems

This paper proposes a Simultaneous Calibration and Navigation (SCAN) algorithm of a multiple Ultrasonic Local Positioning Systems (ULPSs) that cover an extensive indoor area. The idea is the development of the same concept than SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), in which a Mobile Robot (MR) estimates the map while it is navigating. In our approach, the MR calibrates the beacons of several ULPSs while it is moving inside the localization area. The concept of calibration is the estimation of the position of the beacons referenced to a known map. The scenario is composed of some calibrated ULPSs that we denote as Globally Referenced Ultrasonic Local Positioning Systems (GRULPSs) that are located in strategic points like entrances covering the start and the end of a possible trajectory in the environment. Additionally, there are several non-calibrated ULPSs named Locally Referenced Ultrasonic Local Positioning Systems (LRULPSs) that are placed around the localization area. The proposal uses a MR with odometer for calibrating the beacons of the LRULPSs while it is navigating on their coverage area and go from one GRULPS to another. The algorithm is based on multiple filters running in parallel (one filter for each LRULPS and another one for the GRULPSs) that estimate the global and local trajectories of the MR (one trajectory for each local reference system of the LRULPSs) fusing the information related to the Ultrasound Signals (US) and the odometer of the MR. The position of the beacons of the LRULPSs are obtained by a transformation vector for each LRULPS that converts the local coordinates to the global reference system. This transformation vector is calculated using several points of a local trajectory and the corresponding points of the global one. The method is independent of the type of filter, provided that it works properly with non-linear systems and possibly non-Gaussian noise. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and H-∞ Filter have been tested, in simulations and real experiments, in order to compare their performance in this case.

FPGA-Based Architecture for Managing Ultrasonic Beacons in a Local Positioning System

During past decades, local positioning systems (LPSs) have become more and more important for different robotic and automation applications, as well as for service-oriented developments. One of the emerging technologies for that purpose is ultrasounds, since they provide positioning errors in the range of centimeters with low-cost deployments. Nevertheless, they present some drawbacks, which constrain their use and spreading. The performance of ultrasonic LPS (ULPS) can be significantly enhanced by applying encoding techniques to ultrasonic transmissions. The use of encoding techniques and the deployment of multiple beacon units require the availability of more sophisticated control modules capable of carrying out a suitable configuration of the system operation and processing the ultrasonic transmissions in these complex environments. In this way, this paper presents the design of a system in charge of managing a beacon unit used for the deployment of ULPS in wide spaces. The design consists of a system-on-chip architecture based on a field-programmable gate array device. The proposed system allows the flexible run-time configuration of a beacon unit in terms of the data to be transmitted and the bandwidth and frequencies used. The design has been successfully validated in an ULPS installed in a highly complex environment, where a robot has been correctly positioned during navigation.

Partially Constrained Extended Kalman Filter for Navigation Including Mapping Information

Near-optimal states estimation in dynamic systems with Gaussian noise has been extensively applied in research using Kalman filtering (KF). This method is especially useful in technological applications that use noisy data from several sensors or need the estimation of an optimal state vector in systems with multiple observations. A particular situation is that in which some constraints are applied to the state vector, for instance, assigning predetermined values to a part of the state vector or imposing a particular relationship between some variables of the state vector. This paper deals with the application of an extended KF (EKF) for mobile robot (MR) indoor navigation fusing the relative positioning obtained with the robot odometry with the absolute positioning measured with a set of ultrasonic local positioning systems. The novelty of the system lies on the use of a map description as additional information, in such a way that the estimation of the trajectory of MR does not cross walls or other physical instances at any time. If after a vector state estimation such a situation is detected, an analytical method is used to impose some constraints to a part of the state vector so the physical restrictions are considered. The proposal has been compared to a numerical method based on constrained optimization (using the function fmincon of MATLAB) or based on the use of a particle filter (PF) that is often used to solve this kind of problems. Simulated and real test has been carried out to show the effectiveness of the method, obtaining our approach a better performance in terms of accuracy compared with the traditional EKF at the expense of a minor increase in complexity, and obtaining a better performance compared with PF.

Positioning of a mobile robot based on odometry and a new ultrasonic LPS

Odometry is a method that calculates the position and heading angle of a mobile robot using encoders attached to the wheels of the robot. Errors in the position and heading angle in odometry continuously increase as the operating time and moving distance increase. The solution to overcome these accumulated errors is to periodically compensate with the external absolute position information. An ultrasonic local positioning system (LPS) consists of multiple ultrasonic transmitters located in the environment and an ultrasonic receiver. In this study, ultrasonic transmitters are in a line at one side, and four transmitters are grouped for a coverage area. In order to measure the time of flights (TOFs) for an ultrasonic signal, the receiver predicted the transmitted time from each transmitter using a hyperbolic model. Four transmitters emit ultrasonic signals sequentially, and then the receiver calculates the position using the present measured distance and the pre-measured distance. In order to extend the distance that is measured, the receiver collects the ultrasonic signal and executes cross correlation with a sinusoidal signal. The measured distance data of the previous step causes the position error. This error is compensated for by the predicted distance data using a bilinear interpolation method. An extended Kalman filter is designed to combine odometry, a compass sensor, and an ultrasonic LPS. The proposed system provides reliable and accurate position and heading information, regardless of the operating time and moving distance.

Efficient trilateration algorithm using time differences of arrival

This work presents a novel hyperbolic algorithm to compute the absolute position of a mobile node (tag) in a Local Positioning System (LPS) based on the transmission of encoded signals from a set of beacons and computing the TDOA (Time Differences of Arrival) at the receiver. The new algorithm exploits the properties of Cayley–Menger bideterminants to obtain accurate position location without requiring synchronization among emitters and receivers. Three different resolution approaches for this algorithm are presented here, one of them considering some geometrical constraints. In comparison with traditional methods, such as minimization of non-linear equations by the Gauss–Newton algorithm, this proposal achieves a similar performance with a lower computational load, i.e. is more efficient in this sense. The performance of the algorithm has been validated both by simulation (taking into account the order of complexity for a generic number of beacons) and by real tests in an ultrasonic LPS.

Doppler-tolerant receiver for an ultrasonic LPS based on Kasami sequences

This paper presents the design of a novel receiver for a broadband ultrasonic Local Positioning System (LPS). As in other devices based on matched filtering of the transmitted encoded signals, this receiver features high robustness to noise and multiple access capability. Unlike previous solutions, the proposed receiver is capable of detecting beacons emissions despite being installed in a fast moving device, and it also provides estimation of its velocity. The system has been implemented in an FPGA-based architecture. An experimental analysis of performance has been carried out. Firstly using a set of test signals synthetically generated to simulate different positions and velocities of the receiver. Secondly, a set of real signals obtained with a prototype have been used. The simulated results show the capability of the system to detect the encoded signals emitted by the LPS infrastructure when the device is moving at velocities of up to 3m/s under low SNR conditions. The real results confirm the improved system capability, but also make evident the negative influence that phenomena such as the transducers response and multipath propagation can have on system performance.

Correlator Implementation for Orthogonal CSS Used in an Ultrasonic LPS

This paper presents a new architecture for the correlation of orthogonal complementary sets of sequences (OCSS) and their performance in an ultrasonic local positioning system (U-LPS). OCSS are sets of sequences whose addition of correlation functions has ideal properties, that makes interference-free code-division multiple access (CDMA) possible. They can be used to encode the signals emitted by a CDMA-based U-LPS, enhancing the performance of such systems in terms of immunity against noise, multipath propagation, and near-far effect. Also, the orthogonality of the codes offers an operation resistance to multiaccess interference, which endows the U-LPS with the capability of simultaneous emission from different beacons. On the other hand, the detection of OCSS codes can be performed by means of efficient algorithms. This paper presents an optimization of previous proposals allowing the simultaneous correlation of OCSS by using fewer operations and memory elements. Furthermore, the hardware implementation of the proposed optimization is also addressed, and an U-LPS based on this proposal is presented.

Analysis of Doppler Effect on the Pulse Compression of Different Codes Emitted by an Ultrasonic LPS

This work analyses the effect of the receiver movement on the detection by pulse compression of different families of codes characterizing the emissions of an Ultrasonic Local Positioning System. Three families of codes have been compared: Kasami, Complementary Sets of Sequences and Loosely Synchronous, considering in all cases three different lengths close to 64, 256 and 1,024 bits. This comparison is first carried out by using a system model in order to obtain a set of results that are then experimentally validated with the help of an electric slider that provides radial speeds up to 2 m/s. The performance of the codes under analysis has been characterized by means of the auto-correlation and cross-correlation bounds. The results derived from this study should be of interest to anyone performing matched filtering of ultrasonic signals with a moving emitter/receiver.

Measuring Time-of-Flight in an Ultrasonic LPS System Using Generalized Cross-Correlation

In this article, a time-of-flight detection technique in the frequency domain is described for an ultrasonic Local Positioning System (LPS) based on encoded beacons. Beacon transmissions have been synchronized and become simultaneous by means of the DS-CDMA (Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access) technique. Every beacon has been associated to a 255-bit Kasami code. The detection of signal arrival instant at the receiver, from which the distance to each beacon can be obtained, is based on the application of the Generalized Cross-Correlation (GCC), by using the cross-spectral density between the received signal and the sequence to be detected. Prior filtering to enhance the frequency components around the carrier frequency (40 kHz) has improved estimations when obtaining the correlation function maximum, which implies an improvement in distance measurement precision. Positioning has been achieved by using hyperbolic trilateration, based on the Time Differences of Arrival (TDOA) between a reference beacon and the others.

LPS Auto-Calibration Algorithm with Predetermination of Optimal Zones

Accurate coordinates for active beacons placed in the environment are required in Local Positioning Systems (LPS). These coordinates and the distances (or differences of distances) measured between the beacons and the mobile node to be localized are inputs to most trilateration algorithms. As a first approximation, such coordinates are obtained by means of manual measurements (a time-consuming and non-flexible method), or by using a calibration algorithm (i.e., automatic determination of beacon coordinates from ad hoc measurements). This paper presents a method to calibrate the beacons’ positions in a LPS using a mobile receiver. The method has been developed for both, spherical and hyperbolic trilateration. The location of only three test points must be known a priori, while the position of the other test points can be unknown. Furthermore, the paper describes a procedure to estimate the optimal positions, or approximate areas in the coverage zone, where the test-points necessary to calibrate the ultrasonic LPS should be placed. Simulation and experimental results show the improvement achieved when these optimal test-points are used instead of randomly selected ones.

이중 주파수와 코드를 이용한 초음파 위치 인식 시스템 구현

This paper presents real-time algorithm for an ultrasonic Local Positioning System(LPS). An ultrasonic LPS consists of 4 transmitters and n receivers. Each transmitter transmits an sequential ultrasonic signal to avoid interference of ultrasonic signal. This method is a noneffective application for a fast object. Because receiver detects four sequential transmissive ultrasonic signal and calculates a position. This paper proposes the method which 4 transmitters transmit simultaneous ultrasonic signal and each transmitter distinguished by frequencies and codes. And Auto-Correlation Function(ACF) method separates codes from an ultrasonic echo signal which is interference of each transmitter`s code. If the receiver uses only ACF method, it is difficult to implement real time application for increased computation. This paper implements LPS using dual frequencies and ACF method. Using dual frequencies reduces codes length. The reduced codes length save computation in ACF. To prove this algorithm by experiment, high performance DSP(digital signal processor) used. The result shows the performance of the designed system is good enough positioning.