Method for determining the position of moving objects

• US 9,250,078 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2012
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Deutsches Zentrum Fuer Luft- Und Raumfahrt E.V.
• Original Assignee: Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft- und Raumfahrt EV
• Inventors: Kaiser, Susanna, Khider, Mohammed, Robertson, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, SHARDUL D
• Application Number:
  US14/119,347
• Publication Number:
  US 20140100776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,365 Days
• Field of Search: 701/518, 701/523, 701/480, 382/153, 342/450
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/16 by integrating acceleration or speed, i.e. inertial navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/188 for accumulated errors, e.g. by coupling inertial systems with absolute positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation

Abstract

Method for determining the position of moving objects, wherein the object has a sensor or an apparatus for determining odometry data, having the steps of: transmitting the odometry data to a calculation device, estimating the location and position of the object with the aid of the calculation device, creating a diffusion matrix on the basis of the estimated location and position taking into account environmental data, determining a contour line on the basis of the diffusion matrix, determining the distances between the position and the contour line for different orientations, in particular each orientation, and calculating a probability density function on the basis of the distances determined.

Claims

1. A method for determining the position of a moving object having a sensor, comprising:

transmitting odometry data from the sensor to a calculation device, estimating, via the calculation device, an orientation and position of the object, wherein the calculation device comprises a filter, creating a diffusion matrix based on the estimated orientation and position taking into account environmental data, determining a contour line based on the diffusion matrix, determining distances between the position and the contour line for different orientations, calculating a probability density function based on the distances, and determining a current orientation and position of the object via the filter based on a previously determined probability density function.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the filter comprises a particle filter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the contour line is determined by a defined threshold value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the distances between the position and the contour line takes into account the environmental data to determine undisturbed distances.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising correcting the position by determining further orientation and position data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation and the position are corrected in rest phases of the object by setting a velocity of the filter to zero in rest phases.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the filter uses an EKF filter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the filter is a cascaded filter system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the probability density function is calculated in advance taking into account the environmental data and is stored in a database.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental data include building and/or area plans.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein information about the frequency of use of ways is taken into account.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined probability density functions are used in the general prediction of orientations of moving persons and objects.

13. A method for determining the position of a moving object having a sensor, comprising:

transmitting odometry data from the sensor to a calculation device, estimating, via the calculation device, an orientation and position of the object, wherein the calculation device comprises a filter, creating a diffusion matrix based on the estimated orientation and position taking into account environmental data, determining a contour line based on the diffusion matrix, determining distances between the position and the contour line for different orientations, and calculating a probability density function based on the distances, wherein the orientation and the position are corrected in rest phases of the object by setting a velocity of the filter to zero in rest phases.