It sounds like they are trying to radically rethink INS though, and if they can dramatically cut drift it would be a huge win. A drift-free INS is the holy grail of location systems (IMO), and we don't necessarily require a 0-drift solution (just extremely low drift).
Though you are right, a system depending on some entirely other phenomenon for location would be even more exciting.
tl;dr: skating to where the puck will be, not where it is now.
I think they are positioning themselves for the ubiquity of location-based technologies.
By the end of 2013 I fully expect more energy efficient solutions to geolocation to be integrated in cellular phones or whatever we may see in terms of wireless connectivity. I also suspect there will be a social acceptance, if not necessarily embrace, of LBS. But in order to take advantage of the opportunity, they actually need to be in the field.
There are companies that have been doing this for a while.
Can you provide links? I'd like to see what they're up to.
I think you are slightly overestimating the capabilities of the technology,
No. I know how janky smartphone GPS is from personal experience, especially inside a structure. Big companies with deep pockets are working on Vernor Vinge's "localizers," however.
but largely overestimating the demand for this stuff over the way things are traditionally designed/built/inspected. It's not a killer use case that is forcing architecture/design/manufacturing firms to adopt the tech or die...it's currently still in gimmick stage, but is getting better slowly but surely
As you are implying, the demand is closely related to the jankyness event horizon. It's just like smartphones and tablets. They existed many years before the iPhone and iPad. However, prior to the iPhone and iPad, only propeller-heads wanted those things. There's a point at which the technology has matured to the point where it doesn't get in the way and it's actually nice to use. At that point, it will explode.
Skimming through the article this looks like better signal processing coupled with the usual sensor
fusion (from accelerometers and other sensors).
My knowledge of location systems only extends so far, but from what I know 3G, 4G and WiFi have not
introduced anything particularly remarkable here.
Wifi APs and various BSs are used as beacons (a la Skyhook), but their role doesn't extend
much beyond that.
Anyway, there is still hope that 5G or some IEEE standard will make a difference here.
They could perhaps provide something akin to a ground satellites, maybe at a very low frequency (to
get past obstacles), or/and perhaps using UWB (helps with multipath, TOA determination).
And then maybe we would have zeroish-time-to-fix, indoor-location on cheap, low-power devices.
I think the real value is for the devices that can move, such as that Tile. You have practical way of ensuring they don't move into a dead spot, and for trackers no way to ensure they don't go beyond range.
Very interesting link... From 5.4.3, it actually looks like their magnetic positioning system works better in an indoor environment with lots of magnetic perturbations.
I would not have expected that result, but thinking about it more it does make sense. They are estimating "where have I moved" using the local magnetic field, which is very different than how GPS works "where am I in relation to a fixed constellation".
Yes, and likewise, there is also UTDOA with cell signals, bluetooth, audio, RF, and even magnetic environments. There is a ton of improvement to be had using weighted, hybrid locations. But as usual, business and IP limitations will dominate over technical ones, so gathering all of these location methods into one system will be basically impossible for humanity.
You're forgetting how sensitive this location detection is, these days. Let's say you are moving in a direction roughly parallel to the circle carved out by a given signal strength. You could move quite a long ways without RSSI fluctuating much.
Have you ever thought of a commercial location tracking solution based off this tech? It’s another heavily, heavily crowded industry, but it has oddly high margins, and a basically-infinite battery life would be a huge selling point
The article is annoying, but the technology is impressive. Some videos of actual apps show a solid lock on position in the world.[1] Unclear how well this works when stressed, but at least in brightly lit areas with lots of edges the tracker can follow, it looks OK.
I really like this new approach to the positioning problem, especially since it doesn't require setting up wifi or shooting satellites into orbit.
Does anyone know why this couldn't be used for outside positioning, much like GPS? Is the information not detailed enough, or do we lack good enough sensors to detect the fine-grained differences especially given all the electromagnetic noise that modern cities for example create.
Edit: I just realized it's probably also because somebody would need to create a world-magnetic-field map, much like the street view cars driving all over the world.
I'm not really sure what you're proposing here. Any system that requires location-based setup seems obviously inferior to a system that rides in your ear and just works wherever you go.
Well, as in the beginning of wifi/cell networks and all such similar technologies, their priority was to make a first adequate and reliable system that reports position. And getting operators to adopt it. Defeating bad actors was not a major requirement.
Maybe if it's shown to be a great practical problem, they'll address it. If not, then no they won't. I'm guessing they won't.
>Are onboard accelerometers good enough to do dead reckoning positioning of the device within the building, provided they have good data to work from?
Sort of. Dead reckoning with accelerometers is only as good as the error correction. Accelerometers tend to gain error factor very quickly without using a form of sensor fusion such as a partnership with a magnetometer to cross reference things like yaw with.
"indoor gps" is a point of intense interest right now it seems like for in-shop marketing and other (evil) things.
>I'm hoping for precise indoor navigation, Google and Apple are currently working on that. All you'd have to do is walk around with your phone, measuring signal strength and then visualize that.
I'd wager there are _a lot_ more folks that that looking the problem. Its difficult to just use signal strength as this is heavily multi path dependent and time-varying as anything (e.g., moving your phone and hand around) within the environment changes.
There are results in the literature floating around that show some basic success, but nothing at all like the dreams of indoor GPS we're all hoping for. It's a fun problem space, but still in its infancy.
Though you are right, a system depending on some entirely other phenomenon for location would be even more exciting.
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