Moving body positioning device

• US 9,008,996 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2009
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Government of Japan)
• Original Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Government of Japan)
• Inventors: Kourogi, Masakatsu, Kurata, Takeshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): HWANG, TIMOTHY
• Application Number:
  US13/001,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20110106487A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,112 Days
• Field of Search: 702/142
• US Class Current: 702/142
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/00 Gyroscopes; Turn-sensitive devices using vibrating masses; Turn-sensitive devices without moving masses; Measuring angular rate using gyroscopic effects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/188 for accumulated errors, e.g. by coupling inertial systems with absolute positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• 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: G08G 1/005 including pedestrian guidance indicator

Abstract

In order to acquire positioning results (position and azimuth) of a moving body and reducing cumulative errors in integration processing of the positioning results, a moving body positioning apparatus includes: movement detecting means for detecting whether or not a moving body is moving; position acquiring means for acquiring a position of the moving body; integrating means for integrally processing a plurality of positions acquired by the position acquiring means as positioning results; and preprocessing means for preprocessing the positioning results to be inputted into the integrating means. In accordance with output from the movement detecting means, the preprocessing means inputs the positioning results obtained from the position acquiring means into the integrating means, which integrally processes the positioning results.

Claims

1. A moving body positioning apparatus comprising:

a section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled;

a position acquiring section for acquiring a plurality of positions of the moving body as positioning results;

a processor configured to integrally process the positioning results inputted therein; and

a processor configured to preprocess the positioning results that are to be inputted into the processor configured to integrally process,

the processor configured to preprocess inputting the positioning results obtained from the position acquiring section into the processor configured to integrally process based on output from the section for detecting or measuring, wherein

a first state in which the moving body is moving is distinguished from a second state in which the moving body is not moving by the processor configured to preprocess;

a data processing of the positioning results performed in the second state is different from a data processing of the positioning results performed in the first state,

wherein, in the second state, the processor configured to preprocess presents an information indicative of an absence of an output; and

depending on whether the moving body is moving or not, a positioning result, which needs adjustment, is selected,

wherein based on the detected or measured any one of (i), (ii), or (iii), the travel distance that the moving body has traveled is determined, and when the determined travel distance is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, the processor configured to preprocess selects one of the positioning results, previously received, as a representative value inputted to the processor configured to integrally process.

4. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein position information acquired by the position acquiring section is a position information which does not necessarily have a white-noise error characteristic with a mean vector of zero.

6. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a movement detecting section for detecting whether or not the moving body is moving.

7. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a movement speed measuring section for measuring the movement speed of the moving body.

8. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a travel distance measuring section for measuring the travel distance that the moving body has traveled.

2. A moving body positioning apparatus comprising:

a movement speed measuring section for measuring a movement speed of a moving body as measurement results;

a position acquiring section for acquiring a plurality of positions of the moving body as positioning results;

a processor configured to integrally process the positioning results and measuring results inputted therein; and

a processor configured to preprocess the positioning results that are to be inputted into the processor configured to integrally process,

the processor configured to preprocess inputting the positioning results obtained from the position acquiring section into the processor configured to integrally process based on output from the movement speed measuring section, wherein

a first state in which the moving body is moving is distinguished from a second state in which the moving body is not moving by the processor configured to preprocess;

a data processing of the positioning results performed in the second state is different from a data processing of the positioning results performed in the first state,

wherein, in the second state, the processor configured to preprocess presents an information indicative of an absence of an output; and

depending on whether the moving body is moving or not, a positioning result, which needs adjustment, is selected,

wherein when a travel distance, which the moving body has traveled since a most recent output, is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, the processor configured to preprocess selects one of the positioning results, previously received, as a representative value.

3. A moving body positioning apparatus comprising:

a section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled;

an absolute azimuth acquiring section for acquiring an absolute azimuth of the moving body;

a processor configured to integrally process azimuth of the moving body estimate results estimated from a plurality of absolute azimuths of the moving body acquired by the absolute azimuth acquiring section as orienting results; and

a processor configured to acquire positioning results and preprocess the positioning results that are to be inputted into the processor configured to integrally process,

the processor configured to acquire positioning results and preprocess the positioning results inputting absolute azimuth of the moving body estimate results obtained from the absolute azimuth acquiring section into the processor configured to integrally process based on output from the section for detecting or measuring,

wherein a first state in which the moving body is moving is distinguished from a second state in which the moving body is not moving by the processor configured to acquire positioning results and preprocess the positioning results,

a data processing performed in the second state is different from a data processing performed in the first state,

wherein, in the first state, the processor configured to acquire positioning results and preprocess the positioning results selects one of the absolute azimuth of the moving body estimate results as a representative; and

in the second state, the processor configured to acquire positioning results and preprocess the positioning results presents a notification indicative of an absence of an output.

5. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein azimuth information acquired by the absolute azimuth acquiring section is an azimuth information which does not necessarily have a white-noise error characteristic with a mean vector of zero.

9. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a movement detecting section for detecting whether or not the moving body is moving.

10. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a movement speed measuring section for measuring the movement speed of the moving body.

11. The moving body positioning apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the section for detecting or measuring any of (i) whether or not a moving body is moving, (ii) a movement speed of the moving body, and (iii) a travel distance that the moving body has traveled is a travel distance measuring section for measuring the travel distance that the moving body has traveled.