1. Using WiFi for Positioning
Location based services (LBS) allow users to navigate in unfamiliar areas, find difficult places and attach coordinates to specific items of interest. An important element of LBS is the positioning technology (PT). GPS is popular but it does not work well in the indoor environment. Robust LBS, requires other technologies such as wireless WiFi, traditionally a data transfer technology. The coverage of the Wi-Fi signals is increasing rapidly, in areas such as the Sydney CBD, the UNSW campus and public hospitals. WiFi positioning uses a vector of received signal strength (SS) from several WiFi access points (AP) – a technique called “fingerprinting”. This project will investigate the feasibility of navigating the UNSW campus using Wi-Fi only with a possible extension to Wi-Fi plus GPS. A demo system on a PDA running windows mobile 2003 is the goal of this project. The positioning algorithm may run in the PDA or on a server. The user’s location will be shown on the campus map. The investigator will working closely with Dr. Binghao Li and a PhD student under the instruction of A/Prof. Andrew Dempster. The small research group leaded by Andrew has worked in Wi-Fi and other positioning techniques for several years.
Contacts: A/Prof Andrew G. Dempster, Phone: 93856890; Fax: 93237493
Email: a.dempster@unsw.edu.au
Dr Binghao Li; Phone: 93854174 : Fax 93137493
Email: binghao.li@unsw.edu.au
2. Open Source Software Development for UNSW FPGA-based GPS Receiver
A unique opportunity exists to join a small team of researchers developing open source firmware for the UNSW designed GPS receiver – ‘Namuru’. The proposed work entails testing and improving existing open source GPS firmware running on a Nios II soft core processor on an Altera FPGA chip on the Namuru circuit board. When complete, the results of this work will be made available to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) research community alongside the Namuru receiver as a complete open source GNSS research platform.
The primary requirements are skills in embedded code development in ‘C/C++’, an interest in GNSS, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology and Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS). The work will begin with an orientation to the technology followed by an investigation of the issues that need to be addressed. After this, the core work, including testing and documentation, will begin. The student would work closely with Peter Mumford, a researcher at the School of Surveying, who developed the Namuru platform.
Contact: Peter Mumford: Phone: 93854189 Fax 93137493
Email: p.mumford@unsw.edu.au
3. A low-cost portable navigation system combining satellite navigation and MEMS inertial sensors
The major disadvantages of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are signal blockage due to obstructions and the low power of the signals. Combining GNSS with a self-contained inertial navigation system (INS) provides an ideal solution, which can not only address the weakness of GNSS, but also bound the INS error that grows with the time when the INS works alone. The rapid development of small, low power, low cost microelectromechanical sensors (MEMS) makes the integration of MEMS inertial sensors and GNSS especially attractive. The objective of this project is to develop a prototype system to fuse GNSS and MEMS inertial sensors. The work could include:
- Building the prototype system on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) platform;
- Analysing the GPS data and MEMS inertial data;
- Porting the integration algorithm to the Altera’s FPGA development board;
- Laboratory and field tests.
The outcome of the project can be used in many applications including, unmanned automotive vehicles, robotic navigation/control, mobile phones, athletic training, aerospace guidance and navigation. The successful applicant will work with the senior researcher:
Dr. Yong Li
Satellite Navigation and Positioning (SNAP) Lab
School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems
University of New South Wales
Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Tel: 61 2 9385 4173; Fax: 61 2 9313 7493
Email: yong.li@unsw.edu.au
WWW: http://www.gmat.unsw.edu.au/snap
4. The Effects of Multipath on Locata Positioning
Locata is a small Australian company that has developed an exciting new location technology. It operates using “pseudolites” – ground-based transmitters that can be used in the same way as GPS satellites. Its accuracy, in mm, outperforms any similar technology.
One of the most serious problems faced by Locata is multipath, because reflections off the ground can interfere with the wanted line-of-sight signal. The system itself attempts to mitigate this problem by using several frequencies and more than one transmit antenna.
This project would suit a student interested in electronics, radio propagation and/or satellite-style navigation. The task would entail setting up the Locata network of transmitters, conducting experiments where multipath is present and absent, analysing the results and writing up the results for presentation, probably at a conference. The work will be overseen by Nonie Politi, who is employed by UNSW to work solely on Locata, and senior researcher Andrew Dempster. UNSW has access to more Locata equipment than anywhere else in the world and has the ambition of being the world centre of excellence in this technology.
Contacts: A/Prof Andrew G. Dempster; Phone : 93856890 Fax : 93137493
Email: a.dempster@unsw.edu.au
Mr Nonie Politi; Phone 93854526; Fax 93137493
Email: nonie@unsw.edu.au
5. Atmospheric Effects in a Locata Network
Locata is a small Australian company that has developed an exciting new location technology. It operates using “pseudolites” – ground-based transmitters that can be used in the same way as GPS satellites. Its accuracy, in mm, outperforms any similar technology.
When making measurements that result in mm-level positional accuracy, every error source must be accounted for. One of the limiting factors in using a radio-based system at ground level to measure distance is that the time of flight of the signals is affected by atmospheric effects – humidity, pressure and temperature.
This project would suit a student interested in electronics, radio propagation and/or satellite-style navigation. The task would entail setting up the Locata network of transmitters, conducting experiments where networks of different sizes are used, so that paths of different lengths occur, allowing the atmospheric effects to be solved. In each case, a weather station will be used to characterise the atmospheric conditions. The results will then be analysed written up for presentation, probably at a conference. The work will be overseen by Nonie Politi, who is employed by UNSW to work solely on Locata, and senior researcher Bruce Harvey. UNSW has access to more Locata equipment than anywhere else in the world and has the ambition of being the world centre of excellence in this technology.
Contact staff: Dr Bruce Harvey; Phone : 93854178 ; Fax : 93137493
Email: b.harvey@unsw.edu.au
Mr Nonie Politi; Phone: 93854526; Fax : 93137493
Email: nonie@unsw.edu.au
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