The Effectiveness of UWB-Based Indoor Positioning Systems for the Navigation of Visually Impaired Individuals

UWB has been in existence for several years, but it was only a few years ago that it transitioned from a specialized niche to more mainstream applications. Recent market data indicate a rapid increase in the popularity of UWB in consumer products, such as smartphones and smart home devices, as well as automotive and industrial real-time location systems. The challenge of achieving accurate positioning in indoor environments arises from various factors such as distance, location, beacon density, dynamic surroundings, and the density and type of obstacles. This research used MFi-certified UWB beacon chipsets and integrated them with a mobile application dedicated to iOS by implementing the near interaction accessory protocol. The analysis covers both static and dynamic cases. Thanks to the acquisition of measurements, two main candidates for indoor localization infrastructure were analyzed and compared in terms of accuracy, namely UWB and LIDAR, with the latter used as a reference system. The problem of achieving accurate positioning in various applications and environments was analyzed, and future solutions were proposed. The results show that the achieved accuracy is sufficient for tracking individuals and may serve as guidelines for achievable accuracy or may provide a basis for further research into a complex sensor fusion-based navigation system. This research provides several findings. Firstly, in dynamic conditions, LIDAR measurements showed higher accuracy than UWB beacons. Secondly, integrating data from multiple sensors could enhance localization accuracy in non-line-of-sight scenarios. Lastly, advancements in UWB technology may expand the availability of competitive hardware, facilitating a thorough evaluation of its accuracy and effectiveness in practical systems. These insights may be particularly useful in designing navigation systems for blind individuals in buildings.