An ultrasonic based indoor positioning system

Abstract

Localization is an important problem for robotics and mobile platforms. Although there is some globally accepted positioning systems (e.g., GPS, GLONASS) for outdoor environments, there is not such a system for indoor. In this study, an ultrasonic based positioning system (SESKON) is developed especially for indoor robotic applications. The SESKON uses only ultrasonic signals, so it differs from other positioning systems that are developed for indoor. The SESKON uses Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) technique for position calculation. TDOA is preferred since it does not require clock synchronization between receiver and transmitters. Tests are conducted to show the effectiveness of the developed SESKON system.