Coded Marker Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional navigation systems face challenges in providing accurate and continuous location information in GPS-denied environments, such as urban areas, due to limited computational resources and adaptability issues with existing solutions like image processing and dead reckoning.
Innovation Solution
A navigation system that uses coded markers placed within the environment, where a camera captures images of these markers, and video analytics processes them to determine the navigator's position, correlating this information with a map database and supplementing it with GPS data when available.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If image processing or video analytics scene matching is used to determine position, then location information can be obtained in GPS denied environments, but extensive computational resources and large scenery databases are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential features (coded markers) from the complex scene matching approach. Instead of processing entire scenes and maintaining large databases of scenery, the system extracts discrete coded markers with known locations, significantly reducing computational requirements while maintaining location determination capability in GPS denied environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the navigation environment into discrete reference points (coded markers) with known locations, rather than treating the entire scene as a complex matching problem. This segmentation allows the system to determine position by identifying markers and calculating geometric relationships, reducing the need for extensive computational resources and large databases.
2Duration of action of moving object
If dead reckoning calculations are used to locate the navigator, then continuous location information can be obtained, but displacement and heading errors accumulate over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by periodically updating the navigator's position using coded markers with known locations. Between marker sightings, dead reckoning provides continuous position estimates, but the system continuously corrects these estimates using the fixed reference points of the markers, preventing error accumulation and maintaining location accuracy over time.
3Reliability
If scene matching is used for position determination, then location can be obtained in urban environments, but the system cannot adapt to rapid and frequent changes in speed and direction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the position determination system dynamic by using coded markers that can be rapidly identified and processed as the navigator changes speed and direction. The system dynamically adjusts to varying motion conditions by continuously identifying markers and updating position calculations, allowing rapid adaptation to changes in speed and direction without the limitations of scene matching approaches.
Data Source
AI summary
A navigation system and method for determining a location of a navigator in a navigation environment using coded markers located within the navigation environment. In one example, the navigation system includes a camera apparatus configured to obtain an image of a scene containing images of at least one coded marker in a navigation environment, video analytics configured to read the at least one coded marker, and a processor coupled to the video analytics and configured to determine a position fix of a navigator based on a known location of the at least one coded marker.