Satellite positioning may be interrupted due to deliberate interference or natural causes, such as space weather. Furthermore, satellite signals are not always available indoors, even though it is vital to know the location of rescue personnel in a building, for example.
Portable sensors offer the possibility of positioning without a satellite signal, but their accuracy deteriorates the longer the positioning takes. New solutions to this problem are offered by the dissertation of researcher Maija Mäkelä, Cooperative Methods and Algorithms for Infrastructure-free Positioning, which combines portable sensors and distance measurements between members of the group positioned. The result is a cooperative positioning solution that maintained its accuracy longer than the original.
“In the cooperative positioning solution investigated, positioning accuracy is improved and positioning errors can be corrected by combining different methods, such as distance measurements and machine learning. The solution can be applied to positioning both pedestrians, cars and drones,” says researcher Maija Mäkelä from FGI at the National Land Survey of Finland.
There is a need for developing alternative positioning methods
One of the key research areas of the FGI at the National Land Survey of Finland is the safe and reliable use of positioning. The National Land Survey of Finland is currently running projects focusing on GNSS interference resilience and methods to mitigate its effects.
Further information
Maija Mäkelä, M.Sc.Eng, Researcher, National Land Survey of Finland, +358 50 338 7354, firstname.lastname@nls.fi