Localization, Route Planning, and Smartphone Interface for Indoor Navigation

Low-cost navigation solutions for indoor environments have a variety of real-world applications ranging from emergency evacuation to mobility aids for people with disabilities. Primary challenges for commercial indoor navigation solutions include robust localization in the absence of GPS, efficient route-planning and re-planning techniques, and effective user interfaces for resource-constrained platforms like smartphones and mobile phones. In this chapter, we present an architecture for indoor navigation using an Android smartphone that integrates three core components of localization, map-representation, and user interface towards a robust and effective solution for guiding a variety of users, from sighted to the visually impaired to their intended destination. Specifically, we developed a navigation solution that combines complementary localization algorithms [10] of dead reckoning (DR) and WiFi signal strength fingerprinting (SSI) with enhanced route-planning algorithms to account for the sensory and mobility constraints of the user to efficiently plan safe routes and communicate the route information with sufficient resolution to address the needs of the users. To evaluate the feasibility of our solution, we develop a prototype application on a commercial smartphone and tested it in multiple indoor environments. The results show that the system was able to accurately estimate user location to within 5 m and subsequently provide effective navigation guidance to the user.