Indoor Navigation Using Point of Sale Anchor Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional navigation systems, such as strapdown Inertial Navigation Systems (SINS) and Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR), face performance degradation in indoor environments due to sensor drift and lack of robustness, especially when GNSS signals are unavailable, and struggle to integrate point of sale data for accurate positioning.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that order anchor points based on navigation solutions from portable devices, using sensor data to derive trajectories, associate known positions with maps, characterize turns, generate candidate paths, score paths with a multi-objective function, and select a solution path to correctly order anchor points, thereby improving navigation accuracy in indoor environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensor-based navigation (SINS/PDR) is used for indoor positioning, then positioning can be achieved without GNSS signals, but performance degrades due to sensor drift and accumulated errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses point of sale data as feedback to correct and reset accumulated sensor drift errors. When a user purchases an item, the known location of that item provides a reference point that resets the cumulative errors from inertial sensors, allowing the navigation system to maintain accuracy over extended periods without GNSS signals.
Solution Approach 2:
Point of sale data acts as an intermediary between the sensor-based navigation system and the physical environment. The purchase transactions provide indirect location information that mediates the positioning process, allowing the system to correct its position without direct environmental sensors or external reference systems.
2Measurement precision
If point of sale data is integrated with sensor navigation, then navigation accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases due to data integration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a portable device that the user already carries for multiple functions: it serves as both the sensor-based navigation system and the point of sale data collection device. This eliminates the need for separate specialized equipment and reduces overall system complexity while maintaining improved navigation accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The retail venue's existing point of sale system serves the dual purpose of processing transactions and providing navigation reference data. The system uses its own transaction data to improve its navigation accuracy without requiring external reference systems or additional infrastructure.
3Measurement precision
If anchor points are used to correct sensor-based solutions, then positioning accuracy is enhanced, but loss of information occurs regarding the order and timing of anchor point visits
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously tracks the user's trajectory using sensor data throughout the shopping trip, rather than only at discrete anchor points. This continuous tracking preserves the temporal sequence of events while still using point of sale data for accuracy correction, maintaining both precision and temporal information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system derives and stores the complete trajectory using sensor data before using point of sale data to identify anchor points. This preliminary trajectory derivation ensures that the temporal and spatial context of each anchor point visit is already captured, preventing loss of ordering information when anchor points are subsequently identified.
Data Source
AI summary
Anchor points associated with point of sale information may be ordered by segmenting a trajectory derived from sensor data defined by adjacent turns to generate candidate links for each segment from which possible paths for the trajectory are derived. Each derived possible path may be scored with a multi-objective function using a global optimization algorithm to select a solution path from the derived possible paths that may be used to order a plurality of anchor points.