Two-Aircraft Indoor Target Positioning Without Base Stations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing indoor positioning methods in buildings suffer from low accuracy, poor stability, and interference issues, and require extensive base station deployment, while outdoor GNSS signals are unavailable indoors due to building shielding, making real-time target positioning in emergencies challenging.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing two aircraft equipped with GNSS devices, direction-finding devices, and barometers to calculate the position of an indoor target by measuring signal yaw angles and barometric pressures, eliminating the need for indoor base stations and leveraging directional radio signals for precise location determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If prior indoor positioning methods (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB) are used, then positioning can be achieved, but positioning accuracy is low and stability is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces aircraft as intermediary objects to perform positioning measurements. Instead of using fixed indoor base stations, the aircraft fly around the building and serve as mobile measurement platforms, carrying direction-finding devices to measure signal angles from the target, thereby achieving high-accuracy positioning without requiring indoor infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electronic indoor base station system with an aerial mobile system. By substituting fixed ground-based infrastructure with flying platforms equipped with direction-finding devices, the system achieves better accuracy and stability while avoiding the limitations of indoor signal propagation
2Measurement precision
If UWB method is used for high accuracy positioning, then positioning accuracy reaches 10 cm-level, but many positioning base stations need to be deployed and specific UWB tags are required
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft serve as mobile intermediaries that carry direction-finding devices, eliminating the need for deploying numerous fixed base stations. The aircraft fly around the building and collect angular measurement data from multiple positions, achieving high-accuracy positioning through geometric calculation without requiring dense infrastructure deployment
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static base stations to dynamic mobile platforms. The aircraft move around the building, collecting measurement data from multiple dynamic positions, which allows accurate positioning with fewer platforms while avoiding the signal penetration limitations of fixed indoor base stations
3Measurement precision
If GNSS is used for outdoor positioning, then positioning can be achieved, but signals are unavailable indoors due to building shielding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the positioning measurement from the ground dimension to the aerial dimension. By deploying aircraft in three-dimensional space around the building, the system bypasses the building's shielding effect that blocks ground-level GNSS signals, enabling positioning functionality both outdoors and around the building structure
Solution Approach 2:
The aircraft act as mobile measurement intermediaries that operate in the aerial space around the building. They carry direction-finding devices that measure signals from the target through the air, avoiding the building shielding problem that affects ground-based GNSS reception indoors
4Measurement precision
If indoor positioning base stations are deployed, then positioning can be achieved, but they become unusable due to damage in disaster events
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft serve as mobile, external positioning platforms that operate from outside the building. In disaster scenarios, the aircraft can still fly around the damaged building and perform positioning measurements, providing continuous positioning capability even when indoor infrastructure is destroyed
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of placing positioning infrastructure inside the building where it is vulnerable to damage, the system inverts the approach by placing measurement platforms outside the building in aerial space. The aircraft fly around the building to perform measurements, making the positioning system resilient to indoor disasters
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances positioning accuracy, stability, and interference resistance, enabling effective real-time targeting of personnel within buildings during emergencies without requiring indoor base stations, thus improving safety and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
obtaining position coordinates A1=(x1, y1, z1) of the first aircraft in real time by the first GNSS positioning device; and obtaining position coordinates A2=(x2, y2, z2) of the second aircraft in real time by the second GNSS positioning device
Implementation Method 2
receiving, by the first direction-finding device, the signal sent by the positioning tag, and measuring a yaw angle in a direction of the signal source as a1; similarly, receiving, by the second direction-finding device, the signal sent by the positioning tag, and measuring a yaw angle in a direction of the signal source as a2
Implementation Method 3
measuring, by the first barometer, a barometric pressure at a position of the first aircraft as p1, and measuring, by the second barometer, a barometric pressure at a position of the indoor target as Pd; and according to the position coordinates of the first aircraft, a principle that the barometric pressure decreases by 100 Pa for every 9 meters rise, and a difference between the two barometric pressures, obtaining an altitude zd of the indoor target
Data Source
AI summary
A method for positioning a target in a building based on the assistance of two aircraft includes the following steps: allowing two aircraft with respective direction-finding devices to fly around a building, and sending a signal by a positioning tag carried by an indoor target; measuring projections of directions of the signal source on a horizontal plane respectively by the two aircraft, and indicating a position of the indoor target on the horizontal plane by an intersection of the two projections; and according to a difference between barometric pressures of the indoor target and the aircraft, obtaining an altitude of the target to further obtain position coordinates of the target. The method avoids deploying an indoor positioning base station, and improves the positioning accuracy, stability and anti-interference performance.