Impact of a Photodiode’s Angular Characteristics on RSS-Based VLP Accuracy

Photodiode (PD)-based Visible Light Positioning (VLP)-based localisation systems seem propitious for the low-cost tracking and route-configurable navigation of automated guided vehicles, found in warehouse settings. Delivering the required high accuracy, currently necessitates measuring and fitting the received power - distance relation. This paper shows that accurately modelling the PD receiver’s angular characteristics obsoletes this calibrating fit, while still providing accurate positioning estimates. A new responsivity model <italic>Square (SQ)</italic> is proposed, which is a function of the square of the incidence angle rather than its cosine. Both its aptitude in matching real-life propagation and its associated localisation accuracy are verified using two extensive measurement sets, each detailing the propagation of a PD moving across a 2D plane 3 m below a 4-LED plane. <italic>SQ</italic> is compared to the responsivity and calibration fit models available in the literature. In conjunction with model-based fingerprinting positioning, <italic>SQ</italic> outscores the Lambertian and generalised Lambertian model in terms of the 90^th percentile root-mean-square error (rMSE) <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p_{90}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> by 45.36 cm (83.1%) and 0.84 cm (8.4%) respectively for the non-Lambertian-like receiver. <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$SQ$ </tex-math></inline-formula> exhibits an equivalent performance as the generalised Lambertian model for the Lambertian-like photodiode. Accounting for the appropriate receiver model can also boost trilateration’s rMSE. A 50^th percentile rMSE reduction of respectively 1.87 cm and 2.66 cm is found in the setup.