An indoor localization system in a multiblock workspace

As service robots and other ubiquitous technology have evolved, an increasing need for the autonomous navigation of mobile objects has arisen. In a large number of localization schemes, the absolute-position estimation method, which relies on navigation beacons or landmarks, has been widely used as it has the advantages of being economical and accurate. However, only a few of these schemes have expanded their application to complicated workspaces, or those that have many rooms or blocks. As the navigation of mobile objects in complicated workspaces is vital for ubiquitous technology, multiblock navigation is necessary. This article presents methodologies and techniques for the multiblock navigation of the indoor localization system with active beacon sensors. This new indoor localization system design includes ultrasonic attenuation compensation, dilution-of-precision analysis, and a fault detection and isolation algorithm using redundant measurements. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008