Crowd-assisted micro-navigation

• US 9,702,705 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2014
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chakraborty, Dipanjan, Mittal, Sumit, Sharma, Parikshit
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, John R
• Assistant Examiner(s): McPherson, James M
• Application Number:
  US14/582,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20160187138A1
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for crowd-assisted micro-navigation are provided herein. A method includes determining a navigation route between a first user device and a second user device within a given environment; defining a virtual boundary to surround the navigation route; implementing a first set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to (i) detect movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary and (ii) generate an alert upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary; and implementing a second set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to measure a wireless signal received from the first user device to enable triangulation of the location of the first user device, in response to the alert.

Claims

1. A method, comprising steps of:

determining a navigation route between a first user device and a second user device within a given environment, wherein the determining step is executed by a module of a navigation computing device connected at least to (i) the first user device, (ii) the second user device, and (iii) one or more databases;

defining a virtual boundary to surround the navigation route, wherein the defining step is executed by a module of the navigation computing device;

implementing a first set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to (i) detect movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary and (ii) generate an alert upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary, wherein implementing the first set of one or more additional user devices is executed by a module of the navigation computing device connected to the first set of one or more additional user devices; and

implementing a second set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to measure the strength of a wireless signal received from the first user device to enable triangulation of a location of the first user device, in response to the alert, wherein implementing the second set of one or more additional user devices is executed by a module of the navigation computing device connected to the second set of one or more additional user devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the alert comprises transmitting a trigger for the alert to a server.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising:

limiting a number of oscillations of the first user device throughout the navigation route.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the first set of one or more additional user devices comprises selecting the one or more additional user devices for the first set based on distance from the virtual boundary, wherein the distance from the virtual boundary comprises a distance such that the first user device is observable to the first set of one or more additional user devices only when the first user device crosses the virtual boundary.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more additional user devices comprises one or more static beacons positioned at one or more fixed locations within the given environment.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

providing guidance to the first user device to return the first user device to within the virtual boundary upon generation of the alert by the first set of one or more additional user devices, wherein the guidance is based on the triangulation of the location of the first user device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the navigation route is based on location estimates provided by a positioning technology on the first user device and the second user device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the navigation route is based on information pertaining to one or more obstacles present in the given environment, wherein the one or more obstacles comprise at least one of people and one or more structural components present within the given environment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein defining the virtual boundary comprises determining a given amount of deviation, by the first user device, from the navigation route.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more additional user devices further transmits an instruction to the first user device to move back within the virtual boundary upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the first set of one or more additional user devices comprises transferring exclusive detection control from one user device in the first set of one or more additional user devices to one or more other user devices in the first set of one or more additional user devices as the first user device progresses from a first monitoring zone within the navigation route to a second monitoring zone within the navigation route.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the first set of one or more additional user devices comprises selecting a given number of additional user devices for the first set of one or more additional user devices, wherein the given number of additional user devices is sufficient for detection of a given number of one or more separate navigating user devices.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting movement of the first user device comprises utilizing a sensor comprising at least one of a wireless data exchange sensor, an accelerometer and a global positioning system (GPS) sensor.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of one or more additional user devices comprises one or more additional user devices having coordinates that are known to the navigation computing device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user device comprises a smart phone associated with a first person present within the given environment, wherein the second user device comprises a smart phone associated with a second person present within the given environment, wherein each user device in the first set of one or more additional user devices comprises a smart phone associated with an additional person present within the given environment, and wherein each user device in the second set of one or more additional user devices comprises a smart phone associated with an additional person present within the given environment.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions comprising:

determining a navigation route between a first user device and a second user device within a given environment;

defining a virtual boundary to surround the navigation route;

implementing a first set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to (i) detect movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary and (ii) generate an alert upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary; and

implementing a second set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to measure the strength of a wireless signal received from the first user device to enable triangulation of a location of the first user device, in response to the alert.

17. A system comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured for;

determining a navigation route between a first user device and a second user device within a given environment;

defining a virtual boundary to surround the navigation route;

implementing a first set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to (i) detect movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary and (ii) generate an alert upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary; and

implementing a second set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to measure the strength of a wireless signal received from the first user device to enable triangulation of a location of the first user device, in response to the alert.

18. A crowd-assisted navigation device comprising:

a navigation service module, executing on the crowd-assisted navigation device, to;

determine a navigation route between a first user device and a second user device within a given environment; and

define a virtual boundary to surround the navigation route;

a collaboration service module, executing on the crowd-assisted navigation device, to;

implement a first set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to (i) detect movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary and (ii) generate an alert upon detection of movement of the first user device outside of the virtual boundary; and

implement a second set of one or more additional user devices within the given environment to measure the strength of a wireless signal received from the first user device to enable triangulation of a location of the first user device, in response to the alert; and

a coordination module, executing on the crowd-assisted navigation device, to coordinate communication between the navigation service module and the collaboration service module;

wherein the navigation service module, the collaboration service module, and the coordination module are coupled to (i) a graphical user interface for user manipulation of the crowd-assisted navigation device and (ii) a display for presentation to a user.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the collaboration service module is executed on the crowd-assisted navigation device to:

learn a map of the given environment; and

use the map to model one or more attenuation coefficients.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the collaboration service module is executed on the crowd-assisted navigation device to:

utilize the one or more attenuation coefficients in connection with one or more additional user devices to detect a proximity of the first user device.