Indoor pedestrian localisation solution based on anemometry sensor integration with a smartphone

The paper deals with the design, calibration and experimental validation of a novel infrastructure-less solution dedicated to indoor pedestrian localisation issues. The approach involves aerodynamic fluid computation for instantaneous speed estimation of a pedestrian handling a smartphone. For this purpose, a differential pressure-based MEMS anemometer is integrated to an Android smartphone by means of a dedicated PIC 32 bits microcontroller. Measurements of the pedestrian orientation are ensured by a gyroscope sensor coupled with the smartphone. Consequently, both instantaneous speed and heading measurements are combined to the dead reckoning technique for estimating the 2D relative position of the user. Theoretical modeling is conducted in order to calibrate and quantify the accuracy of the sensor. In situ experiments along straight paths demonstrate that the sensors coupled with a smartphone achieve pedestrian localisation with average accuracy of less than 6 % of the total travelled distance.