Pedestrian navigation system and method
First Claim
1. A system useful for determining a momentary positions in a pedestrian navigation, said system comprising a sensor arrangement, said sensor arrangement comprising:
- a control unit, a first on-foot pedestrian navigation module and a second on-foot pedestrian navigation module;
each of the modules including;
a)—
a module controller,b)—
a communication unit for enabling said control unit to send and receive data to and from said module, andc) at least a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit;
each sensor unit including;
(i) an up/down sensor adapted for sensing a state condition being an ‘
up’
condition or a ‘
down’
condition, wherein said state conditions associated with relative displacement of the module with respect to a surface;
(ii) a signal transmitter/receiver adapted for generating a propagating signal in response to an activation signal generated by said module controller;
said control unit is adapted for continuously;
1) receiving from said modules first data indicative of said state conditions;
2) determining a pedestrian motion model out of plurality of motion models based on at least said first data;
3) based on the so determined pedestrian motion model, selectively sending control signals to either or both of the communication units in said modules thereby triggering generation of activation signals and in response triggering the transmitter/receivers in said modules to generate propagation signals;
4) receiving from communication unit of at least one of said modules second data associated with receipt of said propagating signal by at least two other of the signal transmitter/receivers; and
5) using said second data to determine a momentary position of one or more of the modules.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An on-foot pedestrian navigation module useful for pedestrian navigation when operated with at least a control unit and another on-foot pedestrian navigation module, comprising (a) at least a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit, wherein each sensor unit including an up/down sensor adapted for sensing an ‘up’ condition and a ‘down’ condition associated with relative displacement of the module with respect to a surface, and a signal transmitter/receiver adapted, in response to an activation signal coming from a module controller, for generating a propagating signal (b) a module controller for controlling the operation of the module in response to a control signal coming from the control unit and (c) a communication unit for enabling said module to communicate with said at least the control unit and other module, thereby facilitating collecting motion data at the control unit and integrating the motion data with motion data coming from the other module, the motion data being indicative of a condition of each up/down sensor and receipt of the propagating signal by at least two sensor units of said other module, and wherein the motion data is useful for determining a momentary position of the pedestrian'"'"'s foot during motion.
33 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A system useful for determining a momentary positions in a pedestrian navigation, said system comprising a sensor arrangement, said sensor arrangement comprising:
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a control unit, a first on-foot pedestrian navigation module and a second on-foot pedestrian navigation module; each of the modules including; a)—
a module controller,b)—
a communication unit for enabling said control unit to send and receive data to and from said module, andc) at least a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit; each sensor unit including; (i) an up/down sensor adapted for sensing a state condition being an ‘
up’
condition or a ‘
down’
condition, wherein said state conditions associated with relative displacement of the module with respect to a surface;(ii) a signal transmitter/receiver adapted for generating a propagating signal in response to an activation signal generated by said module controller; said control unit is adapted for continuously; 1) receiving from said modules first data indicative of said state conditions; 2) determining a pedestrian motion model out of plurality of motion models based on at least said first data; 3) based on the so determined pedestrian motion model, selectively sending control signals to either or both of the communication units in said modules thereby triggering generation of activation signals and in response triggering the transmitter/receivers in said modules to generate propagation signals; 4) receiving from communication unit of at least one of said modules second data associated with receipt of said propagating signal by at least two other of the signal transmitter/receivers; and 5) using said second data to determine a momentary position of one or more of the modules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
for each module, a heel point located substantially beneath a heel area, a toes point located substantially beneath a toe area, a third point and a fourth point, constituting a plurality of eight points.
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14. The system according to claim 12, wherein said motion type is one from a group consisting of:
- forward stepping;
forward short-step walking;
long step walking;
backward stepping;
sidestepping;
footprint stepping;
standing;
running;
turning;
upstairs walking;
downstairs walking;
one foot and two feet upward jumping;
forward stepping along a narrow path; and
elevator and accelerator motion.
- forward stepping;
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15. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a navigation processing unit coupled to or integrated with said control unit, said navigation processing unit being adapted for performing a time of arrival (TOA) processing and determining at least momentary positions of the pedestrian during motion.
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16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU) for providing momentary inertial data and wherein said navigation processing unit is further adapted to use said momentary inertial data in processing a navigation solution relating to the pedestrian'"'"'s motion.
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17. The system according to claim 16, wherein:
- the inertial measuring unit is attached to at least one of said sensor units therefore enabling a continuous reduction of inertial drift errors of said IMU.
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18. The system according to claim 1, wherein said signal transmitter/receiver is an acoustic transducer and said propogating signal is an acoustic signal, enabling TOA (Time of Arrival) processing which is useful in determining momentary positions of the pedestrian during motion.
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19. The system according to claim 18, further comprising a navigation processing unit coupled to or integrated with the control unit, said navigation processing unit being adapted for performing said TOA processing and determining at least momentary positions of the pedestrian during motion.
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20. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a user interface module communicatively coupled to at least the navigation processing unit and having at least a display unit and a user input unit.
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21. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit for providing momentary GPS data, and wherein said navigation processing unit is further adapted to use said momentary GPS data in determining momentary positions of the pedestrian.
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22. The system according to claim 19, further comprising an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU) for providing momentary inertial data and wherein said navigation processing unit is further adapted to use said momentary inertial data in processing a navigation solution relating to the pedestrian'"'"'s motion.
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23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the inertial measuring unit is attached to at least one of said sensor units therefore enabling a continuous reduction of inertial drift errors of said IMU.
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24. The system according to claim 22, further comprising a magnetometer.
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25. The system according to claim 24, wherein said navigation solution includes at least one motion parameter from a group consisting of:
- position, velocity, acceleration, pitch, roll, and heading.
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26. The system according to claim 22, further comprising an inertial error corrector coupled to at least said GPS unit and magnetometer, said inertial error corrector being further coupled to or integrated with said navigation processing unit, said inertial error corrector being adapted for:
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receiving from the navigation processing unit a navigation signal indicative of momentary position, velocity and acceleration of the pedestrian; receiving IMU data, GPS data and magnetometer data and in response generating a correction signal applied to said navigation signal and being indicative of a position correction, velocity correction and an acceleration correction, thereby constituting a corrected navigation solution.
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27. The system according to claim 26, further comprising a ZUPT checker coupled to said error corrector, navigation processing unit and control unit, wherein said ZUPT checker is adapted for checking if a predetermined ZUPT validity condition is met and:
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if to the affirmative, continuing applying said correction signal to said navigation signal; and if to the alternative, applying a DR signal to said navigation signal until said ZUPT validity condition is met again, thereby reducing accumulation of inertial drift errors and increasing accuracy of said corrected navigation solution.
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28. A method useful for pedestrian navigation, comprising:
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(a) associating at least three touch points with heel area and toes area of said pedestrian'"'"'s left foot and right foot; (b) collecting up/down information about a relative displacement of each of said touch points with respect to a surface; (c) based on said up/down information and in accordance with a predetermined pedestrian motion model and a predetermined transmission/receiving scheme, generating a propagating wave at least at one of said touch points; (d) collecting information of receipt of said propagating wave at least by part of said touch points, this information including Time-of-Arrival information; thereby enabling TOA (Time of Arrival) processing which is useful in determining DR (Dead-Reckoning) momentary positions of the pedestrian during motion. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification