• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1139-1145
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• 2008

A robust position sensing system is proposed in this paper for a ubiquitous mobile robot which moves indoors as well as outdoors. The Differential GPS (DGPS) which has a position estimation error of less than 5 m is a general solution when the mobile robot is moving outdoor, while an active beacon system (ABS) with embedded ultrasonic sensors is reliable as an indoor positioning system. The switching from the outdoor to indoor or vice versa causes unstable measurements on account of the reference coordinates and algorithm changes. To minimize the switching time in the position estimation and to stabilize the measurement, a robust position sensing system is proposed. In the system, to minimize the switching delay, the door positions are stored and updated in a database. Using the database, the approaching status of the mobile robot from indoor to outdoor or vice versa has been checked and the switching conditions are prepared before the mobile robot actually moves out or moves into the door. The reliability and accuracy of the robust positioning system based on DGPS and ABS are verified and demonstrated through the real experiments using a mobile robot prepared for this research.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.179-184
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• 2010

In this paper, we analyze and simulate the performance of RAKE receiver for ultra wide band (UWB) systems in indoor multipath radio channel. Pulse position modulation-time hopping (PPM-TH) signal is considered. And we also consider three types of RAKE receivers, which are ideal RAKE, selective RAKE, and partial RAKE receivers. The indoor channel is modeled as the modified Saleh and Valenzuela (SV) model which has been proposed as a UWB channel model by the IEEE group, IEEE 802.15.SG3a.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.357-364
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• 2020

Indoor localization using an artificial marker plays a key role for a robot to be used in a service environment. A number of researchers have predefined the positions of markers and attached them to the positions in order to reduce the error of the localization method. However, it is practically impossible to attach a marker to the predetermined position accurately. In order to visualize the position of an object in the environment based on the marker attached to them, it is necessary to consider a change of marker's position or the addition of a marker because of moving the existed object or adding a new object. In this paper, we studied the method to estimate the artificial marker's global position for the visualization of environment. The system calculates the relative distance from a reference marker to others repeatedly to estimate the marker's position. When the marker's position is changed or new markers are added, our system can recognize the changed situation of the markers. To verify the proposed system, we attached 12 markers at regular intervals on the ceiling and compared the estimation result of the proposed method and the actual distance. In addition, we compared the estimation result when changing the position of an existing marker or adding a new marker.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2007

For many applications particularly in navigation system, a three-dimensional representation improves the usability of information. This paper introduces 3D Graphical User Interface (GUI) of indoor location tracking system, 3D Navigation View. The application provides users a 3D visualization of the indoor environments they are exploring, synchronized with the physical world through spatial information obtained from indoor location tracking system. It adopts widely used Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) to construct, represent, distribute and render 3D world of indoor environments over Internet. Java, an all-purpose programming language is integrated to comprehend spatial information received from indoor location tracking system. Both are connected through an interface called External Authoring Interface (EAI) provided by VRML. Via EAI, Java is given the authority to access and manipulate the 3D objects inside the 3D world that facilitates the indication of user's position and viewpoint in the constructed virtual indoor environments periodically.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2016

Visible light communication (VLC) using LED lamps is suitable for implementing an indoor positioning system in an indoor environment where the global positioning system (GPS) signal does not reach. In this paper, we present an indoor positioning system for mobile robots using a VLC beacon and fuzzy rules. This system consists of an autonomous mobile robot, VLC modules, and device application software. Fuzzy rules are applied to plan the global and local paths along which the mobile robot navigates indoors. The VLC transmitter modules are attached to the wall or the ceiling as beacons to transmit their own location information. The variable pulse position modulation (VPPM) algorithm is used to transmit data, which is a new modulation scheme for VLC providing a dimming control mechanism for flicker-free optical communication. The mobile robot has a receiver module to receive the location information while performing its mission in the environment where VLC transmitters are deployed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1083-1094
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• 2012

Commercialized location estimation System with high accuracy is widely used for various services. However, if the systems aren't completely installed in an indoor, location estimation accuracy tend to be very poor. In this paper, indoor location estimation algorithm to improve the accuracy of object location, by correcting the location information obtained from a system that does not fully install, is proposed. In this paper, UWB-based Ubisense system that provides high position accuracy in an indoor environment was utilized. In conclusion, this paper was able to improve the positioning accuracy, by correcting that information about the location of the measured object in position estimation system.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.441-449
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• 2021

With advances in autonomous vehicles, there is a growing demand for more accurate position estimation. Especially, this is a case for a moving robot for the indoor operation which necessitates the higher accuracy in position estimation when the robot is required to execute the task at a predestined location. Thus, a method for improving the position estimation which is applicable to both the fixed and the moving object is proposed. The proposed method exploits the initial position estimation from Bluetooth beacon signals as observation signals. Then, it estimates the gravitational acceleration applied to each axis in an inertial frame coordinate through computing roll and pitch angles and combining them with magnetometer measurements to compute yaw angle. Finally, it refines the control inputs for an object with motion dynamics by computing acceleration on each axis, which is used for improving the performance of Kalman filter. The experimental assessment of the proposed algorithm shows that it improves the position estimation accuracy in comparison to a conventional Kalman filter in terms of average error distance at both the fixed and moving states.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1941-1948
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• 2004

This paper presents a novel design of indoor airship having a passive wheeled mechanism and its stationary position control. This wheeled blimp can work both on the ground using wheeled vehicle part and in the air using the floating capability of the blimp part. The wheeled blimp stands on the floor keeping its balance using a caster-like passive wheel mechanism. In tele-guidance application, stationary position control is required to make the wheeled blimp naturally communicate with people in standing phase since the stationary blimp system responds sensitively to air flow even in indoor environments. To control the desired stationary position, a computed torque control method is adopted. By performing a controller design through dynamic analysis, the control characteristics of the wheeled blimp system have been found and finally the stable control system has been successfully developed. The effectiveness of the controller is verified by experiment for the real wheeled blimp system.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.10a
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• pp.601-604
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• 1994

This paper describes an effective method to estimate a position of an automous vehicle equipped with a single CCD-camera along indoor passageways. Using the sequential image data from the self-movement of the vehicle, the position is estimated by integrating the approximated motion parameters. The detection of the yaw angle that is one of the motion parameter is difficult in general, e.g. slip or error for noise, therefore the different detection is presented, which is, without shaft encoders, based on a projection function for 2D-image data and a cross-correlation function so as to be robust for noise. The approximated geometric function to estimate the position is used to reduce the computational effort. To verify the effectiveness of the method, the analysis and the computational results are shown through the simulations. Furthermore, the experimental results by using the test vehicle for the real indoor passageway are shown.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.379-384
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• 2013

We propose a new global positioning method for the indoor mobile robots. The multiple indoor lights fixed in ceiling are used as the landmarks of positioning system. The ceiling images are acquired by the fisheye lens camera mounted on the moving robot. The position and orientation of the lights are extracted by binarization and labeling techniques. Also the boundary lines between ceiling and walls are extracted to identify the order of each light. The robot position is then calculated from the extracted position and known position of the lights. The proposed system can increase the accuracy and reduce the computation time comparing with the other positioning methods using natural landmark. Experimental results are presented to show the performance of the method.