Methods resolving a location of tracked personnel or assets based on elevation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10598487-B2
Application number	US-201916555731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2019
Priority date	Jun 12, 2012
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for determining the elevation of tracked personnel or assets (trackees) that can take input from mounted sensors on each trackee (including barometric, inertial, magnetometer, radio frequency ranging and signal strength, light and GPS sensors), external constraints (including ranging constraints, feature constraints, and user corrections), and terrain elevation data. An example implementation of this method for determining elevation of persons on foot is described. But this method is not limited to computing elevation of personnel or to on foot movements.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method for determining a path of a tracked computing device, comprising:
obtaining sensor data, including pressure data, from the tracked computing device;
estimating an initial location of the tracked computing device, based on the sensor data;
generating path information comprising a plurality of location points, each location point determined based on changes to the sensor data indicative of a displacement relative to a last estimated location point;
estimating elevation data along one or more segments of the path based on the pressure data;
comparing the elevation data with local terrain elevation to determine an elevation offset along the one or more segments; and
refining the path information based on the elevation offset.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor data further comprises at least one of location data, inertial sensor data, magnetometer data, radio frequency ranging data, signal strength, light data, and GPS data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracked computing device is one of a smartphone, a wireless communication device, and a wearable computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the elevation offset is based on local terrain elevation data along the path.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the local terrain elevation data is obtained from at least one of a known building model, footprint data, previously obtained sensor data from one or more tracked computing devices, and a reference database.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the local terrain elevation data is accessible from at least one of a memory of the tracked computing device and a server in communication with the tracked computing device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a current position of the tracked computing device based on the refined path information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein refining the path information comprises:
updating the estimated elevation data with the elevation offset; and
refining one or more location points based on the updated elevation data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the path information and location points are dynamically generated.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location points are generated at predetermined intervals of time.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the elevation offset is based on an altitude elevation constraint determined by a range measurement to at least one of a static tracked computing device and a dynamic tracked computing device.

12. A system for determining a path of a tracked computing device, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory bearing instructions that, when executed on the processor, cause the computing system to at least:
obtain sensor data, including pressure data, from the tracked computing device;
estimate an initial location of the tracked computing device, based on the sensor data;
generate path information comprising a plurality of location points, each location point determined based on changes to the sensor data indicative of a displacement relative to a last estimated location point;
estimate elevation data along one or more segments of the path based on the pressure data;
compare the elevation data with local terrain elevation to determine an elevation offset along the one or more segments; and
refine the path information based on the elevation offset.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the sensor data further comprises at least one of location data, inertial sensor data, magnetometer data, radio frequency ranging data, signal strength, light data, and GPS data.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the tracked computing device is one of a smartphone, a wireless communication device, and a wearable computing device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the elevation offset is based on local terrain elevation data along the path.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the local terrain elevation data is obtained from at least one of a known building model, footprint data, previously obtained sensor data from one or more tracked computing devices, and a reference database.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the local terrain elevation data is accessible from at least one of a memory of the tracked computing device and a server in communication with the tracked computing device.

18. The system of claim 12 , further comprising determining a current position of the tracked computing device based on the refined path information.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein refining the path information comprises:
updating the estimated elevation data with the elevation offset; and
refining one or more location points based on the updated elevation data.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the path information and location points are dynamically generated.

21. The system of claim 12 , wherein the location points are generated at predetermined intervals of time.

22. The system of claim 12 , wherein the elevation offset is based on an altitude elevation constraint determined by a range measurement to at least one of a static tracked computing device and a dynamic tracked computing device.

Assignees

• Trx Systems Inc

Inventors

• Karvounis John
• Napora Jared
• Funk Benjamin E
• Hakim Daniel
• Giles Christopher
• Teolis Carole

Classifications

• G01C5/00

  Measuring height; Measuring distances transverse to line of sight; Levelling between separated points; Surveyors' levels (G01C3/20, G01C3/30 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01C21/206

  specially adapted for indoor navigation · CPC title

• G01C5/06 Primary

  by using barometric means · CPC title