Velocity bias compensation for swimmer position tracking

• US 10,641,905 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2018
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Tuck, David, Koenig, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Akonai, Olumide Ajibade
• Application Number:
  US15/892,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20190086552A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/00 Measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, persons, animals or other moving solid bodies, e.g. using odometers, using pedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/80 using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/00 Measuring speed of fluids, e.g. of air stream; Measuring speed of bodies relative to fluids, e.g. of ship, of aircraft application of speed-measuring devices for measuring volume of fluid G01F
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/22 using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/19 Sporting applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/40 Correcting position, velocity or attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity

Abstract

Techniques are provided for determining a moving body'"'"'s position and velocity in the presence of motion of a measuring device relative to the body. For example, a swimmer'"'"'s position and velocity may be determined by compensating for bias that may result from a swimmer'"'"'s arm swing. This may help avoid over-estimating a swimmer'"'"'s velocity that results in inaccurate position estimation along the swimmer'"'"'s path. To compensate for the swimmer'"'"'s arm swing, an estimate of translational velocity due to arm rotation may be removed, e.g., from pseudo-range rates (PRRs) from satellite positioning system measurements, to reduce the systematic bias errors. A scale factor is applied to an estimated velocity of the swimmer'"'"'s body to estimate the velocity of a mobile device on the swimmer'"'"'s wrist, e.g., while above water.

Claims

1. A mobile device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to;

obtain a first estimated body velocity;

determine a compensated velocity by adjusting the first estimated body velocity to account for a device-to-body motion of the mobile device relative to a body;

determine an estimated Doppler value using the compensated velocity and a satellite velocity; and

determine a second estimated body velocity based on the estimated Doppler value and a measured Doppler value.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein to determine the compensated velocity, the processor is configured to multiply the first estimated body velocity by a scale factor.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to determine the compensated velocity of the body in response to a speed of the mobile device being above a threshold.

4. The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to determine a value of the scale factor based on the speed of the mobile device.

5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine an estimated water current velocity of a water current.

6. The mobile device of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine the estimated water current velocity by comparing an expected travel distance and an expected travel direction with a measured travel distance and a measured travel direction.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to use a default velocity as the first estimated body velocity for an initial determination of the second estimated body velocity, and to use a previously-determined second estimated body velocity for the first estimated body velocity for subsequent determinations of the second estimated body velocity.

8. A method comprising:

obtaining a first estimated body velocity;

determining a compensated velocity by adjusting the first estimated body velocity to account for a device-to-body motion of a mobile device relative to a body;

determining an estimated Doppler value using the compensated velocity and a satellite velocity; and

determining a second estimated body velocity based on the estimated Doppler value and a measured Doppler value.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the compensated velocity comprises multiplying the first estimated body velocity by a scale factor.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the compensated velocity comprises determining whether a speed of the mobile device is above a threshold.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the first estimated body velocity is performed in response to the speed of the mobile device being above the threshold.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a value of the scale factor based on the speed of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining an estimated water current velocity of a water current in which the body is disposed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the estimated water current velocity comprises comparing an expected travel distance and an expected travel direction with a measured travel distance and a measured travel direction.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the compensated velocity, determining the estimated Doppler value, and determining the second estimated body velocity are all performed by the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the first estimated body velocity comprises a previously-determined second estimated body velocity.

17. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to instruct a processor to:

obtain a first estimated body velocity;

determine a compensated velocity by adjusting the first estimated body velocity to account for a device-to-body motion of a mobile device relative to a body;

determine an estimated Doppler value using the compensated velocity and a satellite velocity; and

determine a second estimated body velocity based on the estimated Doppler value and a measured Doppler value.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine the compensated velocity are configured to instruct the processor to multiply the first estimated body velocity by a scale factor.

19. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine the estimated velocity of the body are configured to instruct the processor to determine whether a speed of the mobile device is above a threshold.

20. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine the compensated velocity comprise instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine a value of the scale factor based on the speed of the mobile device.

21. The storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine an estimated water current velocity of a water current.

22. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine the estimated water current velocity are configured to instruct the processor to compare an expected travel distance and an expected travel direction with a measured travel distance and a measured travel direction.

23. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions configured to instruct the processor to determine the compensated velocity are configured to instruct the processor to use a default velocity as the first estimated body velocity for an initial determination of the second estimated body velocity, and to use a previously-determined second estimated body velocity for the first estimated body velocity for subsequent determinations of the second estimated body velocity.

24. A mobile device comprising:

means for obtaining a first estimated body velocity;

means for determining a compensated velocity by adjusting the first estimated body velocity to account for a device-to-body motion of the mobile device relative to a body;

means for determining an estimated Doppler value using the compensated velocity and a satellite velocity; and

means for determining a second estimated body velocity based on the estimated Doppler value and a measured Doppler value.

25. The mobile device of claim 24, wherein the means for determining the compensated velocity are for multiplying the first estimated body velocity by a scale factor.

26. The mobile device of claim 25, wherein the means for determining the estimated velocity of the body comprise means for determining whether a speed of the mobile device is above a threshold.

27. The mobile device of claim 26, wherein the means for determining the compensated velocity comprise means for determining a value of the scale factor based on the speed of the mobile device.

28. The mobile device of claim 24, further comprising means for determining an estimated water current velocity of a water current in which the body is disposed.

29. The mobile device of claim 28, wherein the means for determining the estimated water current velocity comprise means for comparing an expected travel distance and an expected travel direction with a measured travel distance and a measured travel direction.

30. The mobile device of claim 24, wherein the means for obtaining the first estimated body velocity are configured to use a default value as the first estimated body velocity for an initial determination of the second estimated body velocity, and to use a previously-determined value of the second estimated body velocity for the first estimated body velocity for subsequent determinations of the second estimated body velocity.