Evaluation of zero-velocity detectors for foot-mounted inertial navigation systems

A study of the performance of four zero-velocity detectors for a foot-mounted inertial sensor based pedestrian navigation system is presented. The four detectors are the acceleration moving variance detector, the acceleration magnitude detector, the angular rate energy detector, and a novel generalized likelihood ratio test detector, refereed to as the SHOE. The performance of each detector is assessed by the accuracy of the position solution provided by the navigation system employing the detector to perform zero-velocity updates. The results show that for leveled ground forward gait at a speed of 5 km/h, the angular rate energy detector and the SHOE give the highest performance, with a position accuracy of 0.14% of the travelled distance. The results also indicate that during leveled ground forward gait, the gyroscope signals hold the most reliable information for zero-velocity detection.