Dec 17 2008
VTI Technologies has announced a novel MEMS-based pedestrian navigation solution demonstrator. Making its debut at CES 2009, the small wearable device can track the position, speed and distance of a pedestrian. It relies solely on the information provided from the sensors within the device, and is thus ideal for navigating in areas when there is no GPS reception, such as indoors.
Enabled by VTI’s Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology and proprietary algorithms the system uses a VTI ultra-low power 3 axis accelerometer for computing the pedestrian's speed and distance. Drawing a mere 10µA of current this extremely low power consuming 3-axis acceleration sensor is ideal for use in small battery operated devices. The computed speed and distance information is passed on to a heading and position module which utilizes VTI's gyro technology, in addition to third-party magnetic sensor technology. The heading sensors' data, speed and distance are then transmitted over Bluetooth radio to a personal computer where the pedestrian's movements can be tracked on a map in real time.
"Sensor based navigation opens up exciting new possibilities for complementing traditional GPS navigation in situations where satellite coverage is unavailable, or where coverage so limited that the results will be inaccurate. You could e.g. extend location based services into shopping malls, or utilize it for security and sports performance monitoring applications" says Sten Stockmann, Marketing Director at VTI.