Next Generation Smart Navigation Technology – From Systems to Smart Agents

下一代智能导航技术 — 从系统到智能代理

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-03595
• 负责人: Noureldin, Aboelmagd
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: Royal Military College of Canada
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=565966
• 关键词: Next; Generation; Smart; Navigation; Technology

The recent advances in information and communication technologies necessitate the development of reliable positioning and navigation (POS/NAV) systems. Wireless positioning technologies including Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) like GPS in open sky and wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) indoors are presently widely used for POS/NAV applications. However, they still suffer from several shortcomings such as signal blockage, interference and multipath in some challenging environments. Integration of GNSS/WLANs with other sensors (like accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers) can bridge the accuracy gaps in such challenging environments. However, current integrated POS/NAV systems still depend on traditional methods (like Kalman or particle filtering). These methods suffer from significant limitations in integrating other sophisticated sources of information such as digital maps, knowledge bases, geographical information systems, image bases, and other sensors like vision and laser scanners. This gap calls for a paradigm shift in the traditional concept of navigation. The new concept has to transform the POS/NAV technology from the traditional view of individual and isolated application-specific systems toward the concept of smart navigation agents that can read, process, interpret, infer, learn from, adapt to, communicate and integrate a wide range of information and sensors measurements. The strategic long-term goal of this research is to establish and realize a reliable and accurate POS/NAV platform customizable to several applications to enhance the safety, security and quality of life. To achieve this goal, this project targets integrating GNSS/WLAN technologies with number of emerging sensors/systems that have not been sufficiently explored for POS/NAV purposes. The integration of such growing number of sensors/technologies is a challenge that cannot be addressed using only traditional methods like Kalman or particle filtering. Therefore, this research aims at designing an efficient framework for integrated POS/NAV based on modern soft computing techniques. This framework will lead to developing navigation agents that can smartly manage and coordinate this heterogeneous set of sensors/technologies into a consistent, accurate, and robust smart navigation system. Moreover, this project targets the realization and the deployment of the developed smart navigation agents in different mobile platforms for several applications utilizing the recent advances in computation capabilities and the availability of the above-mentioned sensors and sources of information. This project offers a fundamental conceptual change in the filed of multi-sensor integrated navigation. A POS/NAV system that can work seamlessly on both outdoor and indoor environments and on different mobile platforms has the potential to become a ubiquitous and enabling technology for many applications. The significance of this research is in the opportunities it opens to enhance quality of life in many areas. For instance, people with disabilities and limited mobility will enjoy an enhanced autonomy and safety. Car industry will benefit from a POS/NAV system that increases driving efficiency and enhances both driver’s experience and safety. Unmanned vehicles widely used in national defence and mining industry seeking meter level accuracy will also benefit from the proposed POS/NAV technology. Furthermore, students and researchers acquiring knowledge in the above technologies will be a great asset to the academia and industry in Canada.

信息和通信技术的最新进展要求开发可靠的定位和导航（POS/NAV）系统。包括全球导航卫星系统（GNSS）（如开放天空中的GPS）和室内无线局域网（WLAN）的无线定位技术目前广泛用于POS/NAV应用。然而，它们在一些具有挑战性的环境中仍然遭受一些缺点，例如信号阻塞、干扰和多径。GNSS/WLAN与其他传感器（如加速度计、陀螺仪和磁力计）的集成可以弥补此类挑战性环境中的精度差距。然而，目前的综合POS/NAV系统仍然依赖于传统的方法（如卡尔曼或粒子滤波）。这些方法在集成其他复杂的信息源（例如，数字地图、知识库、地理信息系统、图像库和其他传感器（如视觉和激光扫描仪））方面受到显著的限制。这一差距要求对传统的导航概念进行范式转变。新概念必须将POS/NAV技术从传统的个人和孤立的特定应用系统的观点转变为智能导航代理的概念，智能导航代理可以读取，处理，解释，推断，学习，适应，通信和集成广泛的信息和传感器测量。本研究的战略性长期目标是建立和实现一个可靠和准确的POS/NAV平台，可定制为多种应用程序，以提高安全性，保障性和生活质量。为了实现这一目标，该项目的目标是将GNSS/WLAN技术与一些新兴的传感器/系统相结合，这些传感器/系统尚未充分用于POS/NAV目的。集成越来越多的传感器/技术是一项挑战，无法仅使用卡尔曼或粒子滤波等传统方法来解决。因此，本研究的目的是设计一个有效的框架集成POS/NAV基于现代软计算技术。该框架将导致开发导航代理，可以智能地管理和协调这一异构的传感器/技术集到一个一致的，准确的，强大的智能导航系统。此外，该项目的目标是实现和部署开发的智能导航代理在不同的移动的平台上的几个应用程序，利用最近的进展计算能力和上述传感器和信息源的可用性。该项目在多传感器组合导航领域提供了一个基本的概念变化。一个可以在室外和室内环境以及不同的移动的平台上无缝工作的POS/NAV系统有可能成为许多应用的普遍存在的支持技术。这项研究的意义在于它为提高许多领域的生活质量提供了机会。例如，残疾人和行动不便的人将享有更高的自主性和安全性。汽车行业将从POS/NAV系统中受益，该系统可提高驾驶效率并增强驾驶员的体验和安全性。广泛用于国防和采矿业的无人驾驶车辆也将受益于拟议的POS/NAV技术。此外，获得上述技术知识的学生和研究人员将成为加拿大学术界和工业界的巨大财富。