System and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets both indoors and outdoors

• US 9,046,373 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TRX Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TRX Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Bandyopadhyay, Amrit, Hakim, Daniel, Funk, Benjamin E., Kohn, Eric Asher, Teolis, Carole A., Blankenship, Gilmer L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Amin, Bhavesh V
• Application Number:
  US13/616,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20150019124A1
• Time in Patent Office: 991 Days
• Field of Search: 701/434, 340/539.11, 340/521, 340/573.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 17/38 Testing, calibrating, or compensating of compasses
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1652 with ranging devices, e.g. LIDAR or RADAR
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1654 with electromagnetic compass
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3438 Rendez-vous, i.e. searching a destination where several users can meet, and the routes to this destination for these users; Ride sharing, i.e. searching a route such that at least two users can share a vehicle for at least part of the route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/015 between indoor and outdoor environments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A system and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets (collectively “trackees”), both indoors and outdoors, is provided. Tracking data obtained from any number of sources utilizing any number of tracking methods may be provided as input to a mapping application. The mapping application generates position estimates for trackees using a suite of mapping tools to make corrections to the tracking data. The mapping application further uses information from building data, when available, to enhance position estimates. Indoor tracking methods including sensor fusion methods, map matching methods, and map building methods may be implemented compute a more accurate tracking estimate for trackees. Outdoor tracking methods may be implemented to enhance outdoor tracking data by combining tracking estimates such as inertial tracks with magnetic and/or compass data if and when available, and with GPS, if and when available.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of reducing errors in inertial tracking data, the method being implemented by a computer that includes a physical processor, the method comprising:

obtaining, as input, a building outline polygon for a building;

determining grid angles for the building, the grid angles comprising the angles at which straight edges, having a length greater than a predetermined threshold length, of the building outline polygon are oriented;

obtaining, as input, tracking data for a trackee obtained from inertial sensors, wherein the tracking data includes a collection of tracking points forming a tracking path of the trackee; and

correcting a heading of at least a portion of the tracking path of the trackee utilizing the determined grid angles.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the corrected portion of the tracking path of the trackee to be displayed via a graphical user interface associated with the computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained tracking data comprises previously-acquired, stored data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the building outline polygon is obtained from a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold length is ten meters.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dividing the building outline polygon into building partitions based on the determined grid angles.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each building partition is associated with an expected hallway orientation or angle.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

utilizing the building partitions to correct a heading of at least a portion of the tracking path of the trackee.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining one or more sensor signatures for a building partition based on tracking data acquired while the trackee was present in a portion of the building defined by the building partition.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

storing the one or more signatures for the building partition for later use in location determination.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensor signatures include a magnetic sensor data profile.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensor signatures include a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) profile.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a route that represents the shortest path between the trackee and a second trackee using a combination of tracking points; and

displaying the determined route on the graphical user interface associated with the computer.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an event based on the tracking data, wherein the event corresponds to one of a path type, or a motion type; and

generating a new building feature based on the event if the event cannot be matched to an existing building feature.

15. A system for reducing errors in inertial tracking data, the system comprising:

a computer processor configured to;

obtain, as input, a building outline polygon for a building;

determine grid angles for the building, the grid angles comprising the angles at which straight edges, having a length greater than a predetermined threshold length, of the building outline polygon are oriented;

obtain, as input, tracking data for a trackee obtained from inertial sensors, wherein the tracking data includes a collection of tracking points forming a tracking path of the trackee; and

correct a heading of at least a portion of the tracking path of the trackee utilizing the determined grid angles.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

cause the corrected portion of the tracking path of the trackee to be displayed via a graphical user interface.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the obtained tracking data comprises previously-acquired, stored data.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the building outline polygon is obtained from a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined threshold length is ten meters.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

divide the building outline polygon into building partitions based on the determined grid angles.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein each building partition is associated with an expected hallway orientation or angle.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

utilize the building partitions to correct a heading of at least a portion of the tracking path of the trackee.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

determine one or more sensor signatures for a building partition based on tracking data acquired while the trackee was present in a portion of the building defined by the building partition.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

store the one or more signatures for the building partition for later use in location determination.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more sensor signatures include a magnetic sensor data profile.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more sensor signatures include a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) profile.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

determine a route that represents the shortest path between the trackee and a second trackee using a combination of tracking points; and

display the determined route on the graphical user interface associated with the computer.

28. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

determine an event based on the tracking data, wherein the event corresponds to one of a path type, or a motion type; and

generate a new building feature based on the event if the event cannot be matched to an existing building feature.

29. A Non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising executable code for reducing errors in inertial tracking data, the computer executable code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to:

obtain, as input, a building outline polygon for a building;

determine grid angles for the building, the grid angles comprising the angles at which straight edges, having a length greater than a predetermined threshold length, of the building outline polygon are oriented;

obtain, as input, tracking data for a trackee obtained from inertial sensors, wherein the tracking data includes a collection of tracking points forming a tracking path of the trackee; and

correct a heading of at least a portion of the tracking path of the trackee utilizing the determined grid angles.