Smartphone indoor localization with accelerometer and gyroscope

Many people get lost easily in public places if they are not familiar with the environment. It would be very helpful to have an indoor localization system. Many researches in indoor localization can be found in the literature. However, they usually need to deploy sensors in the environment. It is costly and inconvenient. In this research, we propose to develop a smartphone indoor positioning application based on accelerometer and gyroscope data. The PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) method is used to build this application. Calibration points are marked both on the floor ground and on the map of the application. The user first finds a calibration mark, stand on it and face the right direction. He/she then place the android icon (representing the user) on top of the calibration point. When he/she starts to move, the android icon also moves on the map following the real-time estimates of step length and orientation change for each step from accelerometer and gyroscope data, respectively. Preliminary results in walking distance and orientation estimation show high accuracy. The application seems promising and useful as long as a map and calibration marks are built in advance.