Using distributed magnetometers to increase IMU-based velocity estimation into perturbed area

We address the problem of position estimation for a rigid body using an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a set of spatially distributed magnetometers. We take advantage of the magnetic field disturbances usually observed indoors. This is particularly relevant when GPS is unavailable (e.g. during military operations in urban areas). We illustrate our technique with several experimental results obtained with a Kalman filter. We also present our testing bench which consists of low cost sensors (IMU and magnetometers).