A Walking Velocity Update technique for pedestrian dead-reckoning applications

Inertial sensors for pedestrian dead-reckoning (PDR) have been attracting considerable attention recently. Since accelerometers are prone to the accumulation of errors, a “Zero Velocity Update” (Z-UPT) technique [1], [2] was proposed as a means to calibrate the velocity of pedestrians. However, these inertial sensors must be mounted on the bottom of the foot, resulting in excessive vibration and errors when measuring speed or orientation. This paper proposes a self-calibrating PDR solution using two inertial sensors in conjunction with a novel concept called “Walking Velocity Update” (W-UPT). One inertial sensor is mounted on the lower leg to identify a point suitable for calibrating the walking velocity of the user (when its pitch value becomes zero), while another sensor is mounted on the upper body to track the velocity and orientation. We have developed a working prototype and tested the proposed system using actual data.