Although GPS has been considered a ubiquitous outdoor localization technology, we are still far from a similar technology for indoor environments. While a number of technologies have been proposed for indoor localization, such as WiFi and GSM-based techniques, they are isolated efforts that are way from a true ubiquitous localization system. A ubiquitous indoor positioning system is envisioned ...

The Wells-Riley equation for modelling airborne infection in indoor environments is incorporated into an SEIR epidemic model with a short incubation period to simulate the transmission dynamics of airborne infectious diseases in ventilated rooms. The model enables the effect of environmental factors such as the ventilation rate and the room occupancy to be examined, and allows the long-term imp...

This technical note presents a behavior-based navigation method for a mobile service robot with a three-wheeled omnidirectional mobile platform. A heuristic fuzzy Kohonen clustering network (FKCN) is presented to obtain laser area weights and desired robot motion heading for all types of indoor environments. An efficient behavior-based navigation structure is then proposed to merge the heuristi...

by JEREMY TARVER (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT The semi-autonomous wheelchair uses a multi-layered intelligent agent architecture designed to provide people with severe multiple disabilities navigational assistance in indoor environments. This paper describes the addition of computer vision capabilities to the semiautonomous wheelchair. Specifically an intelligent agent des...

The paper describes several approaches and experimental results for learning a map of an indoor environment, using a combination of odometry, sonar range sensors, and vision. The aim of the presented research work is consistent real-time map-learning in indoor-environments with low-cost sensors and limited computational resources and without installations in the environment itself. Therefore, w...

The foundation of any orientation and navigation system for the blind is an accurate determination of the user’s position and the location of objects within his environment. This is also the reason why most available systems have weaknesses or even fail. In order to address this problem, we previously focused on indoor environments. One reason for this approach is that localization within indoo...

In this paper, we present an algorithm to identify types of places and objects from 2D and 3D laser range data obtained in indoor environments. Our approach is a combination of a collective classification method based on associative Markov networks together with an instance-based feature extraction using nearest neighbor. Additionally, we show how to select the best features needed to represent...

A framework for positioning and tracking problems in indoor environments using particle filters has been developed and applied to a WLAN location determination technique. The use of Kalman filter or particle filtering represents an interesting way to handle the variations of the signal strength measurements. The second one, being more generic, can also aggregate in a simple way different inform...

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated a handful of instruments as Federal Reference or Federal Equivalency Methods (FRM and FEM, respectively) for the monitoring of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). More commonly used for indoor exposure assessment studies are optical scanning devices such as the DustTrak (TSI) due to the their portability and affordability. It is recommend...

Dust storms have impacts on both human and physical environments, associated with an increase in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) concentrations. Most studies on exposure to PM have focused on the outdoor air, while information on indoor pollution, is still lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of desert dust events on PM concentrations in indoor environments. A total of o...