Autonomous robot-assisted indoor wireless coverage characterization platform

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9668146-B2
Application number	US-201514694983-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2015
Priority date	Apr 25, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

A wireless coverage characterization platform uses an autonomous vehicle or robot, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle or other small robot, to autonomously collect key wireless coverage parameters for an indoor environment. One or more vehicles or robots are equipped with integrated simultaneous localization and mapping sensors as well as wireless signal measurement sensors. As a vehicle traverses the indoor environment, on-board processing components process the sensor measurement data to simultaneously build an indoor map of the environment and to learn the wireless coverage characteristics of the environment incrementally. The vehicle's navigation system guides the vehicle through the environment based on the sensor measurements and the learned indoor map until a complete map of the wireless signal strength at all locations throughout the environment is obtained. The system can identify areas of weak wireless coverage or interference sources and recommend access point device locations based on results of the survey.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising
a memory that stores executable components; and
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes the executable components, the executable components comprising:
a simultaneous localization and mapping component configured to measure topological information for a space within a range of an unmanned vehicle;
a map building component configured to generate, based on the topological information, estimated indoor map data describing a layout of an indoor environment and vehicle location data identifying a first location of the unmanned vehicle within the indoor environment;
a wireless channel measurement component configured to measure a strength of a wireless channel detected at the first location of the unmanned vehicle to yield wireless measurement data;
a wireless coverage characterization component configured to generate wireless coverage characterization data for the indoor environment incrementally based on the wireless measurement data, the estimated indoor map data, and the vehicle location data; and
a navigation control component configured to control a navigation path for the unmanned vehicle based on the estimated indoor map data, the vehicle location data, and the wireless coverage characterization data, wherein the navigation control component is further configured to:
determine which areas of the indoor environment have not been measured based on the wireless coverage characterization data and the estimated indoor map data,
select a second location within the indoor environment at which a wireless channel measurement is to be taken based on the areas of the indoor environment that have not been measured, and
determine the navigation path for the unmanned vehicle based on the second location, the estimated indoor map data, and the vehicle location data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the unmanned vehicle comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless coverage characterization data comprises a wireless signal strength map for the indoor environment.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the navigation control component is configured to control the navigation path to direct the unmanned vehicle to the second location based on the topological information, the wireless measurement data, and the wireless coverage characterization data.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless coverage characterization data at least one of identifies one or more areas within the indoor environment for which wireless channel strength is below a defined minimum strength level or identifies one or more locations of wireless interference sources within the indoor environment.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the wireless coverage characterization component is further configured to generate recommendation data identifying a recommended location of an access point device and a recommended configuration setting for the access point device determined to decrease the one or more areas within the indoor environment for which the wireless channel strength is below the defined threshold.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the executable components further comprise a communication component configured to receive, via a wireless connection, other topological information from another unmanned vehicle and other location data indicating a third location of the other unmanned vehicle, wherein the map building component is configured to update the estimated indoor map data based on the other topological information and the other location data.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the communication component is further configured to receive other wireless measurement data from the other unmanned vehicle, and wherein the wireless channel coverage characterization component is configured to update the wireless coverage characterization data incrementally based on the other wireless measurement data to yield updated wireless coverage characterization data.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the navigation component is configured to generate at least one of a direction signal, a thrust signal, or an acceleration signal for the unmanned vehicle based on the estimated indoor map data, the vehicle location data, and the wireless coverage characterization data.

10. A method, comprising:
measuring, by a system comprising at least one processor, topology data for a portion of an indoor environment within a sensing range of an unmanned vehicle;
creating, by the system based on the topology data, estimated indoor map data representing a map of the indoor environment and vehicle location data representing a location of the unmanned vehicle within the indoor environment;
measuring, by the system, a strength of a wireless communication signal at the location of the unmanned vehicle to yield wireless measurement data;
creating, by the system, wireless coverage characterization data for the indoor environment based on the wireless measurement data, the estimated indoor map data, and the vehicle location data; and
controlling, by the system, a navigation path of the unmanned vehicle based on the estimated indoor map data, the vehicle location data, and the wireless coverage characterization data, wherein the controlling comprises at least:
determining at least one area of the indoor environment that has not been measured based on the wireless coverage characterization data and the estimated indoor map data,
selecting another location within the indoor environment at which a wireless channel measurement is to be taken based on the at least one area of the indoor environment that has not been measured, and
determining the navigation path for the unmanned vehicle based on the other location, the estimated indoor map data, and the vehicle location data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the creating the wireless coverage characterization data comprises generating a wireless signal strength map for the indoor environment incrementally based as the wireless measurement data is incrementally measured.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the controlling the navigation path further comprises:
controlling the navigation path to direct the unmanned vehicle to the other location based on the estimated indoor map and the vehicle location data.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the creating the wireless coverage characterization data comprises at least one of
identifying one or more portions of the indoor environment at which the strength of the wireless communication signal is below a defined minimum strength, or
identifying one or more locations of wireless interference sources within the indoor environment.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, by the system via a wireless connection, other topology data from another unmanned vehicle and other location data identifying another location of the other unmanned vehicle; and
updating, by the system, the estimated indoor map data based on the other topology information and the other location data.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
receiving, by the system via the wireless connection, other wireless measurement data from the other unmanned vehicle; and
updating, by the system, the wireless coverage characterization data based on the other wireless measurement data.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the controlling the navigation path further comprises generating at least one of a direction signal, a thrust signal, or an acceleration signal for the unmanned vehicle based on the estimated indoor map data, the vehicle location data, and the

Assignees

• Univ Hong Kong Science & Tech

Inventors

• Lau Vincent Kin Nang

Classifications

• G05D2201/0207

  Physics · mapped topic

• H04W4/008

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G05D1/0274

  using mapping information stored in a memory device (navigation using map-matching G01C21/30) · CPC title

• G05D1/102

  specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft · CPC title

• H04W16/20 Primary

  for indoor coverage or short range network deployment · CPC title