2017 International Conference on Communication, Control, Computing and Electronics Engineering (ICCCCEE), Khartoum, Sudan

Indoor Navigation Algorithm for Mobile Robot using Wireless Sensor

Networks

Osman Mudathir Elfadil, Y.M. Alkasim and Esra B. Abbas

The University of Nottingham, Omdurman Islamic University
Osmanmudathir. Elfadil@nottingham. ac. uk
yasserm89@hotmail. com
ersabshir@gmail. com

Abstract- there has been increasing research on the (NLOS), influence of obstacles like walls, equipment,
evolution of navigation and localization systems. Most of movement of human beings, doors, and other factors.
the proposed approaches are suitable for outdoor For the most popular localization and navigation systems
operation; a few techniques have been designed for indoor such as GPS works extremely well in outdoor positioning and
environments. This paper specifics the evolution of an navigation. Once the device is used in outside areas, where
indoor navigation system. It presents a general system there is sufficient satellite coverage for GPS, the location can
consisting of sensors and algorithms for localization and be determined well. However, once an area with insufficient
navigation which enables to operate indoors. This is done satellite coverage, the position becomes either invalid, or not
by using trilateration method which has been successfully accurate enough for navigational purposes. The industry
applied on complex nature of indoor environments. Set of already provides several solutions addressing the issue of
experiments presented to validate our system using indoor navigation. And, research is still ongoing, focusing on
MATLAB program. Testing established that good the ideal combination of solutions, as there is none yet, which
accuracy, sufficient for navigation, was accomplished. This can be considered ideal.
technique shows promise for future handheld indoor Localization is the technique to detect the position of an
navigation systems that can be used in any indoor object or a person. The localization problem is the process of
campuses. determining the position of an object within a specific region,
Keywords- Wireless sensor network, beacons; indoor. Position can be expressed in many ways depending on
localization, navigation. the application requirements also on the positioning system
I. INTRODUCTION specifications . Localization using radio signals has made a
Positioning system categorized depending on environment as huge attention in the fields of navigation and
indoor, outdoor, or mixed type. For Positioning in an outdoor Telecommunication.
environment, for example GPS has been used in a wide range Indoor localization system is a system that its aim to find
of applications including tracking, synchronization of the accurate position of objects inside a specific indoor region.
telecommunications networks, geodetic survey, transport The popularity of mobile computing stimulates extensive
navigation and guidance. It works very well in outdoor research on the localization of persons or assets. In present era
positioning. But, GPS does not perform well in indoors, and of mobile devices, location information is crucial in a wide
underground environments as the signal from the GPS range of applications, for example healthcare, manufacturing,
satellites is too weak to come across most buildings thus etc. In order to meet the user's needs, the location information
making GPS ineffective for indoor localization [1] . GPS of persons or assets are required which can be provided by
offers localization based on direct line-of-sight with at least indoor localization system. The localization systems identify
four satellites, providing accuracy up to three meters. the position of moving objects or devices with the help of
However, some limitations of GPS demands alternative some fixed nodes called beacons and mobile computing
localization methods. First, GPS is at the moment barely devices.
usable indoors, in cluttered urban areas and under dense IV. THE COMPONENTS OF LOCALIZATION
foliage. Second, while the cost for GPS equipment has been SYSTEMS
dropping over the years, it is still not suitable for mass­ Localization systems divided into three components:
produced cheap sensor. Third, GPS equipment requires both 1) Distance Estimation: This component is responsible for
hardware space and energy, which are the two limiting factors estimating information of distances jangles between three
for integration on miniaturized sensor boards. Indoor reference nodes (beacons) and object. Such information will
positioning [2] can be defined as system that provides a be used by the other components of the localization system.
precise position inside of a closed structure. By the complex 2) Position Computation: This component is responsible for
nature of indoor environments, the development of an indoor computing an object position based on the available
localization technique is always associated with a set of information of distances/angles and positions of the reference
challenges like smaller dimensions, high none line of sight nodes.

978-1-5090-1809-3/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

3) Localization Algorithm: This is the main component of a central position. The choice of which method to use also
localization system. It determines how the available effects the final performance of the localization system. Such
information will be manipulated in order to allow most or all a choice depends on the available information and on the
the objects to estimate their positions. processor limitations. In the subsequent sections, the cited
methods will be studied. After that, some general comments
A. Distance Estimation will be made regarding this component and its methods [3] . To
The distance/angle estimation is acquired by identifying the locate an object that is in the field a system was created that
distance or angle between two nodes. Such estimates uses radio frequency signals. The strength of the radio
constitute an important component of the localization systems, frequency signal is measured between the object and the
because they are used by the position computation and also by readers that are stationed in the field. Once the signal strength
the localization algorithm. is gathered, it can be converted into a distance using the
Various methods can be used to estimate information. Some of distance formula which will be explained in previous section.
them are very precise, but with higher costs, while others are When the distances have been calculated they are plugged into
not accurate, but already obtainable on most sensor nodes. a system on quadratic equations called trilateration.
Here are some of the main methods used by the localization Using trilateration makes it is possible to find the tagged
systems for distances/angles estimation: object on the XY plane and it will also allow us to find the z
• Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) techniques axis of the object as well. If the distances from unknown
measure the power of the signal at the receiver. location to three reference points or more are known, the
Based on the known transmit power, the effective location of the unknown point can be obtained using
propagation loss can be calculated. Theoretical and geometrical calculations known as (trilateration) or
empirical models are used to translate this loss into a (multilateration) as shown in figure. 1 here, the unknown
distance estimate. This method mainly used for RF location is obtained as the point of intersection of three circles
signals. It has both advantages and disadvantages. centered at the reference points having radii equal to the
The main advantage is the low cost, because most distances from these reference points. Assume that there are
receivers are qualified for estimating the received three beacons with known positions (xj,Yj), i = 1, . . . , 3, and
signal strength. The disadvantages of this method are unknown position (xu 'Yu), and perfect distance values r .i , i
the results in higher inaccuracies of distance
= 1, . . . , 3.
estimations because it is very susceptible to noise and
From the Pythagoras theorem, a set of three equations (1)
interference, also necessity of estimating constant
follows:
that depends on environment conditions.
(X i xul + 6'1 Yu) = 11: ' for i = 1, 3
- -
.", ,
(1)
• Time of flight methods (ToA or TDoA) record the
time-of-arrival (ToA) or time-difference-of-arrival
(TDoA). Propagation time can be instantly translated
into distance, based on the known signal propagation
speed. These methods can be applied to many
different signals, for example infrared, acoustic, RF
and ultrasound.
• Angle -of -Arrival (AoA) systems estimate the angle
at which signals are received and use simple
geometric relationships to calculate node
positions.Direction signal may be provided by
directional radio antennas or an array of receivers
usually three or more that are uniformly separated.
Both require considerable additional circuitry on the
nodes. Unfortunately requirement of using directional
antennas makes this method very impractical for
wireless sensor network application. Figure. l: Trilateration method
B. Position Computation:
The prior part discussed how to estimate the distance between C. Localization Algorithms
two objects or devices. If an object knows its distances to Positioning algorithm illustrates the method of processing the
mUltiple devices at known locations, one may estimate its available information so as to estimate the target's location as
location. When a node has enough information of shown as in the flow chart in figure 2. The major metrics for
distances/angles and positions, it can calculate its own position evaluating its performance are its complexity, memory
using one of the methods that will be studied in this section. requirements and accuracy. The localization algorithm is the
Various methods can be used to calculate the position of a major component of a localization system. This component
node. Such methods include trilateration, multilateration, resolves how the information of positions and distances will
triangulation, probabilistic approaches, bounding box, and the
be manipulated so as to permit most or all the nodes to Obstacle
estimate their positions.

Measurimg distance betwee.D Path of Robot communication range

. positi01!l
bea C OI!l5 & 11Ilbo....-n of sensor no des
Dj
Figure. 3: Navigation of mobile robot through the path (S-P-Q-
W-X-D).
Several sensors are attached to the ceiling and form wireless
sensor network. In our navigation system for mobile robot,
sensor nodes act as signposts and according to their routing
paths they inform the object of the next node to pass through.
Calcu!a te the· milmcmm And the object follows each sensor node along the routing
path and interchange distance information with at least three
sensor nodes. One sensor node with Rx is mounted on the top
of the mobile object or mobile device.
The coordinates of each sensor node have to be known
(BeClfPfl nod�)}fmd thus localization techniques are necessary
in this algorithm. One of the features of our navigation system
Figure. 2: Flowchart diagram for the estimation position is that it allows for a number of objects for navigation at the
method. same time. In addition, this is also suitable for indoor
navigation. The complete indoor navigation algorithm for
V. INDOOR NAVIGATION mobile objects is shown in flow chart in figure. 4.
The proposed navigation algorithm for mobile object depends
on the use of beacon nodes assist object to know his location
and destination and then compute his path. Mobile object,
known as a node, has the ability to move within the sensor
field. All sensors in the network are beacon nodes which are
known as coordinates. Once the beacons nodes are deployed,
the beacons broadcasting messages that contain it, coordinates
to the mobile object. When a free mobile object receives more
than three messages from the beacons nodes, and measures
distances by using either TDoA or RSSI then it can compute
its position, using the trilateration method. This position is
known as the initial position. The object computes its path
(distance d and direction "8") by comparing between the initial
position and the destination position. The object moves in the
path from the initial place to its final destination through a
number of points in order be able to overcome the obstacles in
its path where the robot determines its path from one point to
another by comparing the current position with the next point
position as shown in Figure. 3. The Robot moves through the
obstacles by computing its path periodically and repeats the
foregoing procedures until it arrives at its destination.

Figure. 4: Flow chart diagram for navigation algorithm.

 VI. SIMULAnONS 2) Determine the path with an obstacle (the reality
The performance of the determination of posItIOn and situation) :
direction on the surface of the earth using (trilateration) The method calculates the direct path between the current
method is evaluated through simulation experiments. position and destination, if there is an obstacle the algorithm
Numbers of simulation experiments conditions conducted will calculate all the distance between the current position and
using MATLAB, to evaluate performance of the current all others beacons to estimate the minimum distance then shift
position and destination to estimate path according to the the current position to the nearest beacon (sensor) and making
Number of beacons with known coordinates. a new path between the new current position and the
The program calculates the distances between current position destination, this case will frequently happen until the path
and destination firstly without any obstacle. If there is an being without any obstacle as shown in figure. 5.
obstacle then it will change the path to nearest beacon by This method is more precise and calculates the distances from
Fig. 4: Flow chart diagram for navigation system calculate all any point and any destination where the path can be calculated
the distance between the current position and all others even in the presence of obstacles and can be applied in any
beacons to estimate the minimum distance and making a new enclosed places.
path between the new current position and the destination, this
case will frequently happen until the path be without any VII. CONCOLUSION
obstacle. In proposed navigation algorithm, the robot can navigate
1) Determine the path without obstacle (ideal): autonomously with aid of a sensors network and additional
We have to define our initial position and destination, finding entity such as middle ware-server is not needed. So this
the destination will be achieved by calculating the distance system can be constructed at low cost, and high accuracy.
and direction between the initial position and the destination Navigation and routing algorithm adapted to obstacles across
using euclidean function (2) and (3): the path or the route and from navigation the robot will choose
minimum path and avoid obstacles. In this method the mobile
robot is allowed to navigate without the need for compass, or
GPS while interacting with neighboring sensor nodes. One of
- I. (YD-Y ,) the features of our navigation system, which it allows for a
Di !' e ct:i o n SI = tan (3)
XD-X , number of robots for navigation at the same time. In addition,
robot navigation is allowed with the localizations of the robot
This method determines the path between the initial position and sensor nodes, which greatly expands its application area.
and the destination via calculating the distances between all
nodes and the initial position then draw the path. The results
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