In a positioning system (100) for estimating the position of a mobile device (7), a processing system (9) receives external-range data, representative of a range between the mobile device and an external unit (2, 3, 4, 5), and acceleration data representative of acceleration of the mobile device due to its movement as it is carried by a person (6). The acceleration data is processed in a step-detection algorithm to determine step-distance data representative of a time series of step-data-based distances travelled by the mobile device, and step-distance data is processed to determine a step-data-based position estimate for the mobile device. A position estimate for the mobile device is determined by solving an optimisation problem comprising a first cost term based on distance to positions located at said range from the external unit, and a second cost term based on distance to the step-data-based position estimate or to positions located at a step-data-based distance from said step-data-based position estimate.

In a positioning system (100) for estimating the position of a mobile device (7), a processing system (9) receives external-range data, representative of a range between the mobile device and an external unit (2, 3, 4, 5), and acceleration data representative of acceleration of the mobile device due to its movement as it is carried by a person (6). The acceleration data is processed in a step-detection algorithm to determine step-distance data representative of a time series of step-data-based distances travelled by the mobile device, and step-distance data is processed to determine a step-data-based position estimate for the mobile device. A position estimate for the mobile device is determined by solving an optimisation problem comprising a first cost term based on distance to positions located at said range from the external unit, and a second cost term based on distance to the step-data-based position estimate or to positions located at a step-data-based distance from said step-data-based position estimate.

The invention relates to a method for locating a sound event (S) by measuring the reception times at which at least three receivers (2, 3) receive signals representative of a sound wave emitted during the sound event (S), in particular receivers (2, 3) that have a known position or are fitted with a geolocation module configured to provide the position of the receiver (2, 3), the method comprising the steps that consist in: a) determining, for each receiver (2, 3), the reception time of a signal representative of the wave emitted during the sound event (S), referred to as sound signal; b) calculating, for at least two pairs of receivers (2, 3), a difference in the distances between the receivers (2, 3) of the pair and the sound event (S) based on the reception times of the sound signals; and c) determining the position of the sound event (S), by trilateration, on the basis of the one or more differences in the calculated distances and the position of the receivers (2, 3) at the corresponding reception times.

The invention relates to a method for locating a sound event (S) by measuring the reception times at which at least three receivers (2, 3) receive signals representative of a sound wave emitted during the sound event (S), in particular receivers (2, 3) that have a known position or are fitted with a geolocation module configured to provide the position of the receiver (2, 3), the method comprising the steps that consist in: a) determining, for each receiver (2, 3), the reception time of a signal representative of the wave emitted during the sound event (S), referred to as sound signal; b) calculating, for at least two pairs of receivers (2, 3), a difference in the distances between the receivers (2, 3) of the pair and the sound event (S) based on the reception times of the sound signals; and c) determining the position of the sound event (S), by trilateration, on the basis of the one or more differences in the calculated distances and the position of the receivers (2, 3) at the corresponding reception times.

In a positioning system, a plurality of transmitter units (2, 3, 4, 5) transmit respective locating signals which are received at a mobile receiver unit (7). A processing system (7; 9) identifies the transmitter unit that transmitted each locating signal, and determines, for each transmitter unit, range data representative of a respective distance between the transmitter unit and the mobile receiver unit. The processing system determines a position estimate for the mobile receiver unit (7) by solving an optimisation problem that depends on i) the range data determined for the plurality of transmitter units, ii) data representative of the positions of the plurality of transmitter units in an environment (1), and iii) data representative of a position of a surface (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e; 601, 602) in the environment, by optimising for an objective function comprising a cost term that depends on a distance between the surface and the position estimate.

In a positioning system, a plurality of transmitter units (2, 3, 4, 5) transmit respective locating signals which are received at a mobile receiver unit (7). A processing system (7; 9) identifies the transmitter unit that transmitted each locating signal, and determines, for each transmitter unit, range data representative of a respective distance between the transmitter unit and the mobile receiver unit. The processing system determines a position estimate for the mobile receiver unit (7) by solving an optimisation problem that depends on i) the range data determined for the plurality of transmitter units, ii) data representative of the positions of the plurality of transmitter units in an environment (1), and iii) data representative of a position of a surface (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e; 601, 602) in the environment, by optimising for an objective function comprising a cost term that depends on a distance between the surface and the position estimate.

A method and system for enabling the determination of a position of a receiver within a space includes transmitting a beacon signal from each of a plurality of beacon devices located at different locations within the space. The beacon signal transmitted from each beacon device has a unique information component and may have a unique frequency pattern of multiple frequencies. Each beacon signal can be distinguishable from the beacon signals transmitted from any other of the beacon devices based on the combination of its unique information component and its unique frequency pattern. The beacon signals are received at a receiver. At the receiver, for each beacon signal of a working subset, time-delay information of the received beacon signal is determined and multilateration is applied to determine the position of the receiver based on the location of each beacon device of the working subset.

A method and system for enabling the determination of a position of a receiver within a space includes transmitting a beacon signal from each of a plurality of beacon devices located at different locations within the space. The beacon signal transmitted from each beacon device has a unique information component and may have a unique frequency pattern of multiple frequencies. Each beacon signal can be distinguishable from the beacon signals transmitted from any other of the beacon devices based on the combination of its unique information component and its unique frequency pattern. The beacon signals are received at a receiver. At the receiver, for each beacon signal of a working subset, time-delay information of the received beacon signal is determined and multilateration is applied to determine the position of the receiver based on the location of each beacon device of the working subset.

The present disclosure provides a positioning method and system for an underwater cleaning robot, an apparatus, and a storage medium, and relates to the field of cleaning robots. The method includes: obtaining position information of the underwater cleaning robot relative to a base station; and determining a position of the underwater cleaning robot based on position information of a positioning sensor connected to the base station and the position information of the underwater cleaning robot relative to the base station. The method can improve the positioning accuracy of the underwater cleaning robot to a certain extent.

There may be provided a method for proximity sensing by a computerized device, the method may include transmitting, by at least one transmitter of a computerized device and during at least one transmission window, one or more transmitted signals, the one or more transmitted signals comprise a transmitted ultrasonic signal; operating at least one receiver of the computerized device to receive, during at least one reception window, one or more received signals that were reflected or scattered due to the transmitting; processing the received signals to provide a processing result, when receiving the received signals by the receiver during the at least one reception window; and determining a proximity of one or more objects to the computerized device based on at least one out of (a) an absence of received signals during the at least one receive window, and (b) the processing results.