Experimental characterization of radio signal propagation in indoor environments with application to estimation and control

Abstract

We study radio signal propagation in indoor environments using low-power devices leveraging the Zigbee and Bluetooth specifications. We present results from experiments where two robots equipped with radio signal devices and enabled to control and localize autonomously in an indoor hallway and laboratory environment densely sample RSSI at various times over several days. We show that simulated RSSI measurements using existing radio signal models and experimentally gathered RSSI measurements match closely, suggesting that for robotics applications requiring predicted RSSI, low-power radio signal devices are a well-posed sensing modality.