Platform for Teaching Sensor Fusion Using a Smartphone*

Aplatform for sensor fusion consisting of a standard smartphone equippedwith the specially developedSensorFusion app is presented. The platform enables real-time streaming of data over WiFi to a computer where signal processing algorithms, e.g., the Kalman filter, can be developed and executed in a Matlab framework. The platform is an excellent tool for educational purposes and enables learning activitieswheremethods based onadvanced theory canbe implemented and evaluatedat lowcost. The article describes the appanda laboratory exercise developedaround these new technological possibilities. The laboratory session is part of a course in sensor fusion, a signal processing continuation course focused on multiple sensor signal applications, where the goal is to give the students hands on experience of the subject. This is done by estimating the orientation of the smartphone, which can be easily visualized and also compared to the built-in filters in the smartphone. The filter can accept any combination of sensor data fromaccelerometers, gyroscopes, andmagnetometers to exemplify their importance. This way different tunings and tricks of important methods are easily demonstrated and evaluated on-line. The presented framework facilitates this in a way previously impossible.