• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.420-427
• /
• 2010

This paper describes a localization method based on Monte Carlo Localization approach for a mobile robot. The method uses range data which are measured from ultrasound transmitting beacons whose locations are given a priori. The ultrasound receiver on-board a robot detects the range from the beacons. The method requires several beacons, theoretically over three. The method proposes a sensor model for the range sensing based on statistical analysis of the sensor output. The experiment uses commercialized beacons and detector which are used for trilateration localization. The performance of the proposed method is verified through real implementation. Especially, it is shown that the performance of the localization degrades as the sensor update rate decreases compared with the MCL algorithm update rate. Though the method requires exact location of the beacons, it doesn't require geometrical map information of the environment. Also, it is applicable to estimation of the location of both the beacons and robot simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2004.11c
• /
• pp.529-531
• /
• 2004

For localization, it is very important for an autonomous mobile robot to be able to recognize indoor environment and match an object it detect to an object within a map developed either online or offline. Given the map defining the locations of geometric beacons like wall and comer existing in the robot operation environment, this paper presents a stereo ultrasonic sensor based method that can be conveniently used in recognizing the geometric beacons. The stereo ultrasonic sensor used in the experiment consists of an ultrasonic transmitter and two ultrasonic receivers placed symmetrically about the transmitter. Experiment shows that the proposed method is more efficient in recognizing wall and coner than the conventional method of using multiple number of transmitter-receiver pairs.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.366-371
• /
• 2005

For an autonomous mobile robot localization, it is very important for the robot to be able to recognize indoor environment and match a detected object to an object defined within a map developed either online or of offline. Given the map defining the locations of geometric beacons like wall and corner existing in the robot operation environment, this paper presents a stereo ultrasonic sensor based method practically applicable in recognizing the geometric beacons in real-time. The stereo ultrasonic sensor used in the experiment consists of an ultrasonic transmitter and two ultrasonic receivers placed symmetrically about the transmitter Experimental results are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method is more efficient in recognizing wall and coner than the conventional method of using multiple number of transmitter-receiver pairs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 1993.10a
• /
• pp.570-574
• /
• 1993

This paper proposes a new method of estimating the position and heading angle of a mobile robot moving on a flat surface. The proposed localization method utilizes two passive beacons and a single rotating ultrasonic sensor. The passive beacons consist of two cylinders with different diameters and reflect the ultrasonic pulses coming from the sonar sensor mounted on the mobile robot. The geometric parameter set of beacon is acquired from the sonar scan data obtained at a single mobile robot location using a new data processing algorithm. Form this parameter set, the position and heading angle of the mobile robot is determined directly. The performance and validity of the proposed method are evaluated using two beacons and a single sonar sensor attached at the pan-tilt device mounted on a mobile robot, named LCAR, in our laboratory.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.62-69
• /
• 2019

In this paper, we propose iZone system for safe walking of children. The proposed system recognizes the state that a child is down a roadway as a dangerous situation. And then it informs the surrounding adults and guardians of the child in the event of a dangerous situation. The iZone system consists of the iZone device that attaches to a child's bag or clothing, the iZone app for children, the iZone server, and external beacons. The proposed system uses the ultrasonic sensor of the iZone device and the GPS coordinates and external beacons information by the children's smartphone to determine the dangerous situation. The proposed system uses external beacons to calibrate the GPS coordinates. Moreover, it determines whether the child is down the roadway in sidewalk by measuring the height difference between the roadway and the sidewalk using ultrasonic sensor.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.430-433
• /
• 2006

Wireless sensor network plays a prominent role in tracking the location of the target outdoor and indoor. This paper describes the implementation of the passive indoor location tracking system using ultrasonic and RF technologies that provides accurate location in the form of user space and position in three dimensions. Our system used a combination of RF and ultrasonic technologies to provide a location-support service to users and applicants. Ceiling-mounted beacons were spread through the building, publishing location information on an RF signal. The person carried a listener and the listener determined the location by calculating the distance from three beacons using triangulation algorithm.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.1119-1123
• /
• 2006

Wireless sensor network plays a prominent role in tracking the location of the target outdoor or indoor. This paper describes the implementation of the passive indoor location tracking system using ultrasonic and RF technologies that provides accurate location in the form of user space and position in three dimensions. Our system used a combination of RF and ultrasonic technologies to provide a location-support service to users and applicants. Ceiling-mounted beacons were spread through the building, publishing location information on an RF signal. The person carried a listener and the listener determined the location by calculating the distance from three beacons using triangulation algorithm.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.1775-1780
• /
• 2005

One of the most important factors so that mobile objects can achieve their purpose is the information about their positions. In this paper, we propose an improved beacon system, to which ultrasonic sensors are attached, for the indoor localization of mobile objects. We have researched so that it can cover the wider space and estimate more accurate positions than the existent beacon systems. The existent beacon systems have the constraint that one beacon cannot cover wide area since ultrasonic sensors have limits in the angle of signal (beam-angle) on which their signal strength depends. Hence, we used the active beacon which consists of a pan-tilt mechanism and a beacon module. The active beacon system can always aim at mobile objects in order to transmit the strongest signal of the ultrasonic sensors into the objects using the pan-tilt mechanism. In addition, this system is inexpensive because it can decrease the number of beacons by about a half of the beacons of the existent system. Finally, the results show what is the difference between the active beacon system and existent beacon systems, and how accurate it is.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.293-299
• /
• 2010

The multiple block localization method in a wide area for multiple robots using iGS is proposed in this paper. The iGS is developed for the indoor global localization using ultrasonic and RF sensors. To measure the distance between a mobile robot and a beacon, the tag on the mobile robot wakes up one beacon to send out the ultrasonic signal and measures the traveling time from the beacon to the mobile robot. As the number of robots is increased, the sampling time of localization also becomes longer. Note that only one robot can localize its own position calling beacons one by one during each of the sampling interval. This is a severe constraint for the localization of multiple robots in a wide area. This paper proposes an efficient localization algorithm for the multiple robots in a wide area which can be divided into multiple blocks. For a given block, a master beacon is designated to synchronize robots. By the access of the synchronization signal, each beacon in the selected group sends out an ultrasonic signal. When the robots in the block receive the ultrasonic signal, they can calculate their own locations based on the distances to the beacons, which are obtained by the multiplication of flight time and velocity of the ultrasonic signal. The efficiency of the algorithm is verified through the real experiments.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.280-285
• /
• 2011

Recently, with the development of service robots and the concept of ubiquitous, the position estimation of mobile objects has received great interest. Some of the localization schemes are introduced, which provide the relative location of the moving objects subjected to accumulated errors. To implement a real time localization system, a new absolute position estimation method for a mobile robot in indoor environment is proposed. Design and implementation of the localization system comes from the usage of active beacon systems (based upon RFID technology). The active beacon system is composed of an RFID receiver and an ultra-sonic transmitter. The RFID receiver gets the synchronization signal from the mobile robot and the ultra-sonic transmitter sends out the traveling signal to be used for measuring the distance. Position of a mobile robot in a three dimensional space can be calculated basically from the distance information from three beacons and the absolute position information of the beacons themselves. In some case, the mobile robot can acquire the ultrasonic signals from only one or two beacons, due to the obstacles located along the moving path. In this paper, a position estimation scheme using fewer than three sensors is developed. Also, the extended Kalman filter algorithm is applied for the improvement of position estimation accuracy of the mobile robot.