Trx Systems, Inc.

Daniel Hakim

Carole Teolis

Benjamin E Funk

John George Karvounis

Jared Napora

Amrit Bandyopadhyay

Christopher Giles

Gilmer Blankenship

Eric Asher Kohn

Carol Ann Politi

Travis Young

Stuart Woodbury

Daniel Franchy

Jonathan Fetter Degges

Tim Wang

Carole A Teolis

Systems, methods and instructions for creating building models of physical structures is disclosed. The building model may be a collection of floors defined by outlines containing regions that may be offset relative to a main region, and a collection of connectors. Connectors may have connection points for tracking, routing and sizing. Connectors may indicate elevation changes through georeferenced structural features. Signal elements may also be features that provide corrections when tracking. Feature descriptors are data that describes the structural configuration and signal elements enabling them to be matched to previously collected data in a database. User interface elements assist a user of a tracking device in collecting floor information, structural features and signal features and validating certain collected information based on previously known information. The height of floors may also be inferred based on sensor data from the tracking device.

Methods for generating and updating building models

Validating and updating building models with path data

Mapping complex building models

Methods and systems are described for determining the elevation of tracked personnel or assets (trackees) that can take input from mounted sensors on each trackee (including barometric, inertial, magnetometer, radio frequency ranging and signal strength, light and GPS sensors), external constraints (including ranging constraints, feature constraints, and user corrections), and terrain elevation data. An example implementation of this method for determining elevation of persons on foot is described. But this method is not limited to computing elevation of personnel or to on foot movements.

Methods for resolving a location of tracked personnel or assets based on elevation or terrain constraints

Methods for resolving a location of tracked personnel or assets and refining path data

Methods resolving a location of tracked personnel or assets based on elevation

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for fusion of sensor and map data using constraint based optimization. In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method may include obtaining tracking data for a tracked subject, the tracking data including data from a dead reckoning sensor; obtaining constraint data for the tracked subject; and using a convex optimization method based on the tracking data and the constraint data to obtain a navigation solution. The navigation solution may be a path and the method may further include propagating the constraint data by a motion model to produce error bounds that continue to constrain the path over time. The propagation of the constraint data may be limited by other sensor data and/or map structural data.

Fusion of sensor and map data using constraint based optimization

A system and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets (collectively 'trackees'), both indoors and outdoors, is provided. Tracking data obtained from any number of sources utilizing any number of tracking methods (e.g., inertial navigation and signal-based methods) may be provided as input to a mapping application. The mapping application may generate position estimates for trackees using a suite of mapping tools to make corrections to the tracking data. The mapping application may further use information from building data, when available, to enhance position estimates. Indoor tracking methods including, for example, sensor fusion methods, map matching methods, and map building methods may be implemented to take tracking data from one or more trackees and compute a more accurate tracking estimate for each trackee. Outdoor tracking methods may be implemented to enhance outdoor tracking data by combining tracking estimates such as inertial tracks with magnetic and/or compass data if and when available, and with GPS, if and when available.

System and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets both indoors and outdoors

Disclosed herein is the use of Wi-Fi based location estimates of a mobile device to provide global offset corrections (including automated initialization) and enhanced navigation accuracy through delivery of heading corrections. In an embodiment, dead reckoning tracking data may be received for a tracked subject. The tracking data includes a plurality of tracking points forming a tracking path of the tracked subject. A Wi-Fi position system location estimate is also obtained. The Wi-Fi position system location estimate is one of a plurality of Wi-Fi position system location estimates correlated to the dead reckoning tracking data. And a tracking related parameter is determined based on the correlation of the dead reckoning tracking data to the Wi-Fi position system location estimate.

Wi-Fi enhanced tracking algorithms

A system and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets (collectively 'trackees'), both indoors and outdoors, is provided. Tracking data obtained from any number of sources utilizing any number of tracking methods may be provided as input to a mapping application. The mapping application generates position estimates for trackees using a suite of mapping tools to make corrections to the tracking data. The mapping application further uses information from building data, when available, to enhance position estimates. Indoor tracking methods including sensor fusion methods, map matching methods, and map building methods may be implemented compute a more accurate tracking estimate for trackees. Outdoor tracking methods may be implemented to enhance outdoor tracking data by combining tracking estimates such as inertial tracks with magnetic and/or compass data if and when available, and with GPS, if and when available.

A system and method for locating, tracking, and/or monitoring the status of personnel and/or assets ('trackees'), both indoors and outdoors, is provided. Tracking data obtained from various sources utilizing any number of tracking methods may be provided as input to a mapping application. The mapping application generates position estimates for trackees using a suite of mapping tools to make corrections to the tracking data. The mapping application further uses information from building data, when available, to enhance position estimates. Indoor tracking methods including sensor fusion methods, map matching methods, and map building methods may be implemented to take tracking data from one or more trackees and compute a more accurate tracking estimate for each trackee. Outdoor tracking methods may be implemented to enhance outdoor tracking data by combining tracking estimates such as inertial tracks with magnetic data, compass data, and/or with GPS, if and when available.

Growing community of inventors

Silver Spring, MD, United States of America

Daniel Hakim