Localization and Driving Behavior Classification with Smartphone Sensors in Direct Absence of Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Global navigation satellite systems have tremendous impact and potential in the development of intelligent transportation systems and mobility services and are expected to deliver significant benefits, including increased capacity, improved safety, and decreased pollution. However, there are situations in which there might not be direct location information about vehicles, for example, in tunnels and in indoor facilities such as parking garages and commercial vehicle depots. Various technologies can be used for vehicle localization in these cases, and other sensors that are currently available in most modern smartphones, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, can be used to obtain information directly about the driving patterns of individual drivers. The objective of this research is to present a framework for vehicle localization and modeling of driving behavior in indoor facilities or, more generally, facilities in which global navigation satellite system information is not available. Localization technologies and needs are surveyed and the adopted methodology is described. The case studies, which use data from multiple types of sensors (including accelerometers and gyroscopes from two smartphone platforms as well as two reference platforms), provide evidence that the opportunistic smart-phone sensors can be useful in identifying obstacles (e.g., speed humps) and maneuvers (e.g., U-turns and sharp turns). These data, when cross-referenced with a digital map of the facility, can be useful in positioning the vehicles in indoor environments. At a more macroscopic level, a methodology is presented and applied to determine the optimal number of clusters for the drivers’ behavior with a mix of suitable indexes.