Characterization of a Flexible UWB Sensor for Indoor Localization

This paper presents research to develop an ultrawideband ranging sensor for personnel indoor localization based on the measurement of the pulse round-trip time. An approach combining flexibility, a high measurement update rate, and asynchronous operation with digital processing capability has been employed in the design of the sensor. The principle of operation, the architecture of the realized sensor, and the experimental setup are described. Finally, the results of a ranging calibration and validation test are presented and discussed. In the validation procedure, a root-mean-square error of 29 cm and a maximum absolute error of 81 cm with an operational range of approximately 10 m were observed.