Multi-sensor Systems For Pedestrian Navigation

Günther Retscher

Abstract:	Pedestrian navigation services require continuous positioning and tracking of a mobile user with a certain positioning accuracy and reliability. Especially navigating in urban environments and mixed indoor and outdoor areas is a very challenging task as pedestrians move in spaces where no one of the known location methods works continuously in standalone mode. A solution of the problem can only be found if different location technologies are combined in the sense of a modern multi-sensor system. In this paper suitable location technologies for pedestrian navigation are identified and investigated. These technologies include GNSS and indoor location services as well as cellular phone positioning for absolute position determination; dead reckoning sensors (e.g. magnetic compass, gyros and accelerometers) for measurement of orientation and travelled distance from a known start position as well as barometric pressure sensors for height determination. For location determination of a pedestrian in a multi-storey building the use of WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks) is investigated and the basic principle of operation is discussed. To achieve an integrated positioning determination with other sensors and a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor areas, the concept of a new multi-sensor fusion model based on an extended Kalman filter approach is presented. Finally, in a practical use case scenario the guidance of a pedestrian from public transport stops to our Department of the Vienna University of Technology is investigated. The results of this study showed that such a pedestrian navigation service can achieve a high level of performance.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004) September 21 - 24, 2004 Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, CA
Pages:	1076 - 1087
Cite this article:	Retscher, Günther, "Multi-sensor Systems For Pedestrian Navigation," Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004), Long Beach, CA, September 2004, pp. 1076-1087.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In