Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft-und Raumfahrt E.v.

Michael Angermann

Patrick Robertson

Bernhard Krach

Alexander Steingass

Christian Wasel

The invention relates to a method for creating a map relating to location-related data on the likelihood of the future movement of a person in a spatial environment, such as a building, forest, tunnel system or public place, and in particular a shopping center, airport or train station. In the method according to the invention, at least one person is supplied with one or more sensors (e.g. inertial sensors, rotation rate sensors, optical sensors) for odometrical measurement (odometry) (e.g. attached to a shoe), wherein the odometry has errors due to inherent measurement inaccuracies of the sensor(s) (e.g. angle deviations, length deviations). The at least one person moves by foot through the spatial environment. Information regarding the pedestrian step lengths and/or pedestrian step direction and/or orientation of the sensor or the person (called odometry information Z) is determined from the measurement signals of the sensor(s). Based on said odometry information, a map is created using a Bayesian estimator (e.g. particle filter, Rao-Blackwellized particle filter, Kalman filter, Mone-Cario hypothesis filter or combined forms of such filters), the state-variable space thereof (e.g. hypothetical space of the particle of a particle filter) comprising both the current pedestrian step (pedestrian step length and optionally movement direction change as well) of the person U, odometry errors E (e.g. drift parameters with respect to the determined pedestrian step lengths and/or pedestrian step direction and/or orientation of the sensor or the person) and also the location-related data on the probabilities of the future movement of the person.

Method for creating a map relating to location-related data on the probability of future movement of a person

A data communications system including a local beacon ('), on the one side ,being programmable and/or communicating with controlling and/or information communicating infrastructure means (), for example a central service provider or the Internet and/or with one or more further local beacons and which, on the other side, contains for wireless communication with one or more end devices () located in its vicinity a transceiver combination or in special cases a transmitter only and which is located in or in place of a electric lighting equipment () is characterized in accordance with the invention in that the local beacon is provided with a smart cache and/or processing functionality for the data to be communicated wireless. The data communications system in accordance with the invention can be put to use for both communication and navigation by end device users.

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Graefelfing, Germany

Michael Angermann