Using Building Plans and Self-Contained Sensors with GNSS Initialization for Indoor Navigation

This article presents a method for indoor pedestrian navigation based on low-cost inertial sensors and building plan information with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based initialization. The inertial sensors are utilized in a step-detecting mechanization and the position is estimated with a particle filter using the building as a motion constraint. In the article it is demonstrated that the method is capable of tracking a pedestrian when initialized indoors using a high-sensitivity GNSS receiver. Field test results show that building plan constraints are efficient in preventing the inherent error accumulation of dead-reckoning type navigation systems, thus enabling autonomous dead reckoning for prolonged periods of time. The proposed method does not rely on local infrastructure or signals of opportunity such as wireless LAN observations, and is thus suitable for, e.g., first responders.