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NO348791B1 - System, method and computer programs for determining positions of devices distributed within a space - Google Patents

System, method and computer programs for determining positions of devices distributed within a space Download PDF

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Publication number
NO348791B1
NO348791B1 NO20231054A NO20231054A NO348791B1 NO 348791 B1 NO348791 B1 NO 348791B1 NO 20231054 A NO20231054 A NO 20231054A NO 20231054 A NO20231054 A NO 20231054A NO 348791 B1 NO348791 B1 NO 348791B1
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Norway
Prior art keywords
pair
type
distance
devices
data processing
Prior art date
Application number
NO20231054A
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Norwegian (no)
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NO20231054A1 (en
Inventor
Jonathan Eide
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Botanist As
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Publication date
Application filed by Botanist As filed Critical Botanist As
Priority to NO20231054A priority Critical patent/NO348791B1/en
Priority to PCT/NO2024/050208 priority patent/WO2025075509A1/en
Publication of NO20231054A1 publication Critical patent/NO20231054A1/en
Publication of NO348791B1 publication Critical patent/NO348791B1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/0009—Transmission of position information to remote stations
    • G01S5/0018—Transmission from mobile station to base station
    • G01S5/0036—Transmission from mobile station to base station of measured values, i.e. measurement on mobile and position calculation on base station
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/14—Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/0284—Relative positioning
    • G01S5/0289—Relative positioning of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W64/00—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W64/00—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
    • H04W64/003—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management locating network equipment
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/0278—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves involving statistical or probabilistic considerations

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Position Fixing By Use Of Radio Waves (AREA)

Description

SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR DETERMINING POSITIONS OF DEVICES DISTRIBUTED WITHIN A SPACE
The present disclosure relates to a system, methods and computer programs useful for determining positions of devices distributed within a space.
Obtaining data from a plurality of spatially distributed devices is a useful capability in many practical contexts. For example, it can be useful to configure and optimize an irrigation process of an agricultural field based on soil moisture measurements obtained by devices with sensors spatially distributed on the field. In another example, it can be valuable to configure a set of cooling actuators in a cold storage warehouse based on temperature measurements obtained by devices with sensors spatially distributed throughout the warehouse.
In this context, it can be challenging to determine the positions of spatially distributed devices.
Some known systems include components for determining the geographical positions of the system’s spatially distributed components. For example, the position of a spatially distributed sensor can be obtained by using a receiver for a satellite positioning system such as the American Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, and the European Union's Galileo. With the obtained current position, it is possible to encapsulate sensor measurements with a geographical position and then transmit the encapsulated position and measurement data for further analysis by a computational device. However, an approach involving satellite-based positioning usually requires consuming significant amounts of power over time by the individual system components. This is highly disadvantageous due to the likely need to use embedded power sources, such as batteries, which demands a high effort to maintain the system with all embedded power sources sufficiently charged. Also, included electronic components for satellite-based positioning significantly increase the cost and computational requirements of each individual system component.
A known system is described in US20150192557A1, which discloses a telemetry system for distributed soil moisture content measurement. The disclosed system includes sensors distributed spatially, in which the individual sensors are not provided with a GPS receiver. Instead (as explained in paragraph [0062] of US20150192557A1), the user installing a sensor is required to record the physical location of each sensor according to a GPS receiver as typically available on mobile computing devices adaptable to interface with the telemetry system. Although this known approach reduces the power consumption of a sensor over time, it still requires a high effort when installing the system. For example, positioning hundreds of sensors manually is likely to result in significant errors. Also, the installation process of a plurality of sensors is made inefficient by the requirement to record the installation position every time a sensor is installed or moved, which results in a solution that is burdensome to install and/or maintain.
Additional known difficulties with existing solutions may be appreciated in view of the following description.
The invention will now be disclosed and has for its object to remedy or to reduce at least one of the drawbacks of the known art, or at least provide a useful alternative to the known art. The object is achieved through features, which are specified in the description below and in the claims that follow. The invention is defined by the independent patent claims, and the dependent claims define advantageous embodiments.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system comprising at least two devices of a first type, at least three devices of a second type, and a data processing means. Each device comprises a wireless communication interface for communicating directly with another device. The data processing means comprises a memory configurable with:
- for each of the devices of the first type, a variable position; and
- for each of the devices of the second type, a known position.
A first pair of devices includes a device of the first type and a device of the second type, the devices of the first pair being spatially separable by a first distance. At least one device of the first pair is adapted to communicate with the data processing means, the at least one device of the first pair being configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the first distance by communicating directly with the other device of the first pair; and
- transmitting the estimated first distance to the data processing means.
The data processing means is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated first distance; and
- based on the received estimated first distance, updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type of the first pair.
A second pair of devices includes two devices of the first type, the devices of the second pair being spatially separable by a second distance. At least one device of the second pair is adapted to communicate with the data processing means, the at least one device of the second pair being configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the second distance by communicating directly with the other device of the second pair; and
- transmitting the estimated second distance to the data processing means.
The data processing means is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated second distance; and
- based on the received estimated second distance, updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
Thus, it is possible to determine the positions of devices of the first type in an efficient manner. The devices of the first type need to estimate the first distance and then transmit the estimated first distance to the data processing means. This allows achieving a system that uses devices of the first type with a low power consumption and/or low cost, which makes it ideal for applications of the system in which a high number of devices of the first type is needed, such as one hundred or more devices scattered, for example, throughout an area with one hectare.
Advantageously, as more updates are made to the stored variable positions of the devices of the first type, the lower will be the error between the variable positions and respective real positions. In practice, it has been observed that it is typically possible to obtain a position accuracy with a maximum error of between 5 and 10 meters.
Favorably, determining the positions of the devices of the first type after their installation makes it possible to achieve a simplified installation process. For example, it becomes straight forward to use automated methods for placing devices on a field, such as by using stick-setting machines. Additionally, the devices may be installed by airdropping from an aircraft such as a plane or a drone. Thus, the system enables an efficient installation to be carried out while achieving a low power consumption over time for the purpose of determining positions.
Optionally, the step of estimating the first distance, by the at least one device of the first pair, comprises measuring a round-trip time between the devices of the first pair.
Optionally, the wireless communication interface comprises any of:
- a Bluetooth Low Energy communication interface;
- a Zigbee communication interface;
- a Z-Wave communication interface;
- a Wi-Fi HaLow communication interface; or
- a 6LoWPAN communication interface.
Optionally, each device of the first type comprises at least one sensor for measuring a Volumetric Water Content of a soil, and/or each device of the second type comprises at least one sensor for measuring a Volumetric Water Content of a soil.
Optionally, the step of estimating the second distance, by the at least one device of the second pair, comprises measuring a round-trip time between the devices of the second pair.
Optionally, each device of the first type, each device of the second type, and the data processing means are configured to cooperate so as to form a mesh network, and wherein the adaptation of the at least one device of the first pair to communicate with the data processing means comprises the at least one device of the first pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means via the mesh network.
Optionally, each device of the first type, each device of the second type, and the data processing means are configured to cooperate so as to form a mesh network, and wherein
the adaptation of the at least one device of the first pair to communicate with the data processing means comprises the at least one device of the first pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means via the mesh network, and/or
the adaptation of the at least one device of the second pair to communicate with the data processing means comprises the at least one device of the second pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means via the mesh network.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of determining the positions of devices distributed within a space, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a system as described above comprising at least two devices of the first type; - installing each device of the first type at a respective position within the space;
- installing each device of the second type at a respective known position within the space;
- estimating, by the at least one device of the first pair, the first distance by communicating directly with the other device of the first pair;
- transmitting, by the at least one device of the first pair, the estimated first distance to the data processing means;
- receiving, by the data processing means, the estimated first distance;
- based on the received estimated first distance, updating, by the data processing means, the stored variable position of the device of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type of the first pair;
- estimating, by the at least one device of the second pair, the second distance by communicating directly with the other device of the second pair;
- transmitting, by the at least one device of the second pair, the estimated second distance to the data processing means,
- receiving, by the data processing means, the estimated second distance; and
- based on the received estimated second distance, updating, by the data processing means, the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
Optionally, the step of updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type of the first pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance.
Optionally, the step of updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a data processing means of a system as described above comprising at least two devices of the first type, cause the data processing means to configure its memory with:
- for each of the devices of the first type, a variable position; and
- for each of the devices of the second type, a known position, and
to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated first distance from the at least one device of the first pair; and - based on the received estimated first distance, updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type of the first pair,
- receiving the estimated second distance from the at least one device of the second pair; and
- based on the received estimated second distance, updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
Optionally, the step of updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type of the first pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance.
Optionally, the step of updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance.
Further benefits and advantages will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:
Figure 1A is a schematic view of part of a system including one device of the first type and three devices of the second type;
Figure 1B is a schematic view of part of a system embodiment including two devices of the first type and three devices of the second type;
Figure 2 is a schematic view of part of a further system embodiment being used in an agricultural field.
The drawings are shown in a schematic and simplified manner, and features may be left out if they are not necessary for an explanation. Identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar features in the drawings. The various features shown in the drawings may not necessarily be drawn to scale.
Turning now to Figure 1A, it shows part of a system 100. For illustrative purposes, only some components of the system 100 are shown. The system 100 includes one device 110 of a first type (marked with the letter X) and three devices 120,121,122 of a second type (marked with the letter A, B and C, respectively). Fig.1A shows the system 100 at a moment when it has already been installed, in which the devices 110,120,121,122 are scattered over a space, such as an agricultural field or a cold storage warehouse, the devices 110,120,121,122 being separated from each other. Three first distances 130a,130b,103c are illustrated between the device 110 of the first type and the devices 120,121,122 of the second type. It will be appreciated that, in general, the positions of the devices 110,120,121,122 may be irregularly, substantially irregularly, regularly, or substantially regularly arranged over a space, and the space may be one-, two-, or threedimensional.
The system 100 also includes a data processing means 101 (see left-hand side of Fig.1A), implemented as a central computer server, suitable for receiving data from the devices 110,120,121,122 and processing the received data such that a determination of the position of the device 110 of the first type may be carried out. The data processing means 101 can be positioned locally or at a remote location relative to the space in which the devices 110,120,121,122 are installed, such as a remote region, country, or continent. It will be appreciated that the data processing means 101 can be implemented in many know ways. For example, the data processing means 101 can be implemented as a computational device or as a plurality of computational devices in cooperation with each other (e.g. a server farm or cluster), each computational device being, for example, any of a mobile device, such as smartphone, a tablet, and a laptop, or a stationary device, such as a microcontroller, a single-board computer, a desktop computer, and a server. Each computational device may be provided with at least one processing unit and at least one memory component, such as a Random Access Memory, a Hard Drive, a Solid-State Drive, and a Flash Memory. Many other options are known for implementing the data processing means 101.
Each of the device 110 of the first type and the three devices 120,121,122 of the second type includes a wireless communication interface for communicating directly with another device 110,120,121,122. In one example, the wireless communication interface of each device 110,120,121,122 is implemented as a Bluetooth Low Energy communication interface. Many other known implementation options may be chosen, such as a Zigbee communication interface, a Z-Wave communication interface, a Wi-Fi HaLow communication interface, a 6LoWPAN communication interface, among others. Thus, it is possible for the devices 110,120,121,122 to communicate directly with each other.
The memory of the data processing means 101 is configured with a variable position for the device 110 of the first type, and a known position for each device 120,121,122 of the second type. Each variable position for the device 110 of the first type can be initially configured with a random value. Alternatively, the variable position(s) for the device(s) 110 of the first type may be configured in a random regular arrangement of positions, e.g. a grid, a line, an asterisk, a triangle, a circle, etc. The configuration of the memory can be achieved in many known ways, such as by storing data in the memory, the data being suitable for representing the known and variable positions in the form of any of a data structure, a database, or a formatted text or binary file.
The devices 120,121,122 of the second type can be considered as “reference” devices, due to their positions being known. The known positions of the devices 120,121,122 of the second type can be obtained in many ways. For example, the devices 120,121,122 of the second type can be installed in geographical positions that are known beforehand, e.g. due to a geographical survey conducted before the installation of the device, and the data processing means 101 can be configured with those known positions. Alternatively, the devices 120,121,122 of the second type can be installed by having a user operate a separate device (such as a mobile device like smartphone or a tablet) with a GPS receiver and then register the determined position when installing the device 120,121,122. In a further alternative, the devices 120,121,122 of the second type may include a receiver for a satellite-based positioning system, such as a GPS receiver, the receiver being used for determining a position which can then be transmitted to the data processing means 101.
In the system 100, an instance of a first pair of devices can be defined between the device 110 of the first type and one of the devices 120,121,122 of the second type. In Fig.1A, it is possible to observe three first pair instances: one first pair with the device 120 of the second type marked with letter A; another with the device 121 of the second type marked with letter B; and a further pair with the device 122 of the second type marked with letter C. In each first pair, the two devices of the pair are separable by a respective first distance 130a,130b,130c.
Moreover, in each first pair, at least one of the paired devices 110,120,121,122 is adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101. This can be achieved in many know ways. In one example, a paired device 110,120,121,122 that is adapted to communicate includes a mobile data communication interface for communicating via a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G cellular network. In a further example, a paired device 110,120,121,122 that is adapted to communicate is connected by wire to a network which is connected to the data processing means 101. In another example, the devices 110, 120,121,122 and the data processing means 101 are configured to cooperate so as to form a mesh network, which enables a paired device 110,120,121,122 that is adapted to communicate to transmit data via the mesh network and thereby communicate with the data processing means 101.
For illustrative purposes, a first pair instance in Fig.1A will now be described, in which the first pair instance is defined by the device 110 of the first type and the device 121 of the second type marked with letter B (see right-hand side of Fig.1A). The device 110 of the first type is adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101. It will be appreciated that the device 121 of the second type could be, alternatively or in addition, adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101. The device 110 of the first type is configured to configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the first distance 130a between the device 110 of the first type and the device 121 of the second type, the first distance 130a being estimated by communicating directly with the other device of the first pair (i.e. the device 121 of the second type marked with letter B); and
- transmitting the estimated first distance 130a to the data processing means 101.
The step of estimating the first distance 130a can be implemented in many known ways. For example, the two devices of the first pair 110,121 can be configured to carry out a protocol for measuring a round-trip time, such as by having a message be sent from one device and then measuring the time it takes to receive a response from the other device. A measurement of the round-trip time is usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a. Also, if necessary (e.g. for the purposes of simplifying a mathematical algorithm), the measurement of the round-trip time (described in a time unit) can be converted to a length (described in a length unit) while taking into account parameters such as the speed of transmitting an electromagnetic signal through air, the frequency channel used when carrying out the communication between the two devices 110,121 of the first pair, among others. The converted length is also usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a. It will be appreciated that the system 100 can be implemented in many ways with respect to converting a round-trip time measurement to a length. For example, the device 110 of the first pair can be configured to carry out the conversion to length and then transmit the converted length to the data processing means 101. Alternatively, the device 110 of the first pair can be configured to transmit the round-trip measurement to the data processing means 101, which then carries out the conversion to a length.
In another example, each of the devices of the first pair 110,121 can include an internal clock, the internal clocks of the two devices of the first pair 110,121 can be synchronized, and the two devices of the first pair 110,121 can be configured to carry out a protocol for measuring a trip time. For example, the device 121 of the second type can transmit, periodically or at the request of the device 110 of the first type, a time read from its internal clock to the device 110 of the first type, and the device 110 of the first type can then compare a time read from its internal clock with the time received from the device 121 of the second type, thereby calculating the time it took for a message to travel between the two devices 110,121 of the pair. A measurement of the trip time is usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a. Also, if necessary (e.g. for the purposes of simplifying a mathematical algorithm), the measurement of the trip time (described in a time unit) can be converted to a length (described in a length unit) while taking into account parameters such as the speed of transmitting an electromagnetic signal through air, the frequency channel used when carrying out the communication between the two devices 110,121 of the first pair, among others. The converted length is also usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a.
Alternatively, the step of estimating the first distance 130a can be implemented by configuring the device 110 of the first type to measure the strength of a signal transmitted, periodically or at the request of the device 110 of the first type, by the device 121 of the second device. A measurement of the signal strength is usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a. Also, if necessary (e.g. for the purposes of simplifying a mathematical algorithm), the measurement of the signal strength can be converted to a length (described in a length unit) while taking into account parameters such as the speed of transmitting an electromagnetic signal through air, the frequency channel used when carrying out the communication between the two devices 110,121 of the first pair, among others. The converted length is also usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a.
In a further alternative, the step of estimating the first distance 130a can be implemented with a multi-carrier phase-based ranging technique. This can be achieved by configuring the device 110 of the first type to measure a phase difference between signals transmitted, periodically or at the request of the device 110 of the first type, by the device 121 of the second type, the signals being transmitted via multiple carrier frequencies. The measured phase difference is directly related to the distance between the two devices 110,121. A measurement of the phase difference is usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a. Also, if necessary (e.g. for the purposes of simplifying a mathematical algorithm), the measurement of the phase difference can be converted to a length (described in a length unit) while taking into account parameters such as the speed of transmitting an electromagnetic signals through air, the frequency channel used when carrying out the communication between the two devices 110,121 of the first pair, among others. The converted length is also usable as an estimate of the first distance 130a.
The data processing means 101 (see left-hand side of Fig.1A) is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated first distance 130a (from the device 110 of the first type); and - based on the received estimated first distance 130a, updating the stored variable position of the device 110 of the first type of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device 121 of the second type of the first pair.
The step of updating the stored variable position of the device 110 of the first type can be implemented in many known ways. For example, the value of the variable position of the device 110 of the first type can be updated in a direction along a straight line towards the known position of the device 121 of the second type, so that the updated position matches the received estimated distance 130a to the device 121 of the second type. In another example, the value of the variable position of the device 110 of the first type can be updated while taking into account the received estimated distance 130a and other previously received estimated distances (e.g.130b and 130c shown in Fig.1A) such that the updated position minimizes an error between the received distances that have been taken in account and corresponding distances established from the updated position.
An advantageous effect is observed in that the accuracy of the stored variable position of the device 110 of the first type will improve as the updating step is performed more times and taking into account more estimated first distances 130a,130b,130c. In practice, it has been observed that it is typically possible to obtain a position accuracy with a maximum error of between 5 and 10 meters.
Figure 1B shows part of a system 100’ embodiment, which has features in common with the features described above for the part of the system 100 illustrated in Fig.1A. The system 100’ is shown at a moment when it has already been installed. In addition to the device 110 of the first type shown in Fig.1A, the system 100’ in Fig.1B includes an additional device 111 of the first type (marked with the letter Y). The two devices 110,111 of the first type are separated from each other by a second distance 140a,140b.
The memory of the data processing means 101 is further configured with a variable position for the additional device 111 of the first type.
In the system 100’, an instance of a second pair of devices can be defined between two devices 110,111 of the first type. Also, at least one device of the second pair is adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101.
For illustrative purposes, a second pair instance will now be described with reference to Fig.1B, the second pair instance being defined by the two devices 110,111 of the first type. Similarly to Fig.1A, the device 110 of the first type marked with the letter X is adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101, although it will be appreciated that the additional device 111 of the first type (marked with the letter Y) could be, alternatively or in addition, adapted to communicate with the data processing means 101. The device 110 of the first type marked with the letter X is configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the second distance 140a between the two devices 110,111 of the first type, the second distance 140a being estimated by communicating directly with the additional device 111 of the second pair; and
- transmitting the estimated second distance 140a to the data processing means 101.
The data processing means 101 is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated second distance 140a; and
- based on the received estimated second distance 140a, updating the stored variable positions of the devices 110,111 of the second pair.
The step of updating the stored variable positions of the devices 110,111 of the second pair can be implemented in many known ways. In one example, a straight line may be defined intersecting the stored variable positions of the devices 110,111 of the second pair, and then at least one of those variable positions may be moved along the defined straight line to match the received second distance 140a. In another example, the values of the variable positions of the devices 110,111 of the first type can be updated while taking into account the received estimated second distance 140a and other previously received estimated distances (e.g. 130a,130b,130c,140b shown in Fig.1B) such that the updated positions minimize errors between the received distances that have been taken in account and corresponding distances established from the updated positions.
In Figs.1A and 1B, it can be observed that the systems 100,100’ include three “reference” devices 120,121,122 with known positions, which allows determining positions. In practice, three or more devices of the second type can be included in the system 100,100’. Also, it will be appreciated that the parts of the systems 100,100’ that are not shown in Figs.1A and 1B may include more devices of the second type and/or more devices of the first type.
Moreover, it will be appreciated that it is possible for the additional device 111 of the first type (marked with letter Y) shown in Fig.1B to communicate directly with the “reference” devices 120,121,122 and/or with other devices of the first type not shown in the Fig.1B. Also, it will be possible for the data processing means 101 to determine a position for the additional device 111 of the first type after receiving at least three distance measurements related to the additional device 111 and three other devices of the system 100’. The three other devices may include one of the devices 110,120,121,122 shown in Fig.1B or other devices included in the system 100’ but not shown in Fig.1B. The three other devices can be all devices of the second type, a combination of devices of the second type and of the first type, or all devices of the first type.
Usage examples
A system embodiment can be useful when obtaining data from a plurality of spatially distributed sensors, the sensors being distributed outdoors and/or indoors. In particular, the system makes it possible to solve the challenge of determining the positions of the spatially distributed sensors.
For example, it can be useful to configure and optimize an irrigation process of an agricultural field 200 based on soil moisture measurements obtained by sensors spatially distributed on the field 200. Figure 2 shows an example of part of a further system embodiment being used in part of an agricultural field 200. The installed system includes a data processing means 101, two devices 110,111 of the first type and three devices 120,121,122 of the second type. Each device 110,111,120,121,122 installed on the field 200 includes a plurality of sensors for measuring the Volumetric Water Content of the soil of the field 200. Thus, sensor data gathered from the system enables a visualization of the soil moisture as a gradient visualization.
The two devices 110,111 of the first type and three devices 120,121,122 of the second type are arranged in a star pattern having a square outline with 10-meter sides. The three devices 120,121,122 of the second type and one device 111 of the first type are positioned on the corners of the square outline, and the other device 110 of the first type is positioned at the center of the square outline. The three devices 120,121,122 of the second type act as “reference” nodes and each includes a GPS receiver, which allows knowing the positions of each device 120,121,122 of the second type.
One device 120 of the second type (see lower-left corner of the square outline) acts as a communication gateway between the devices 110,111,120,121,122 on the field and the data processing system 101. Also, the data processing means 101, the two devices 110,111 of the first type and the three devices 120,121,122 of the second type are configured to cooperate such that a mesh network is formed, the mesh network having one device 120 of the second type in the role of gateway between the data processing means 101 and the devices 110,111,120,121,122 on the field 200.
In another example (not shown in the figures), it can be valuable to configure a set of cooling and air inlet actuators in a cold storage warehouse so that these function based on measurements obtained by sensors spatially distributed throughout the warehouse. In this example, a system 100,100’ embodiment is provided, the system 100,100’ including a data processing means 101, one hundred devices 110,111 of the first type, and four devices 120,121,122 of the second type. Each device 110,111 of the first type installed includes a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The devices 110,111 of the first type are irregularly positioned in a 3D arrangement to monitor relevant storage locations within the warehouse. Each of the devices 120,121,122 of the second type is positioned at a corner of the warehouse, which has a position known from a survey that was conducted when the warehouse was built. Thus, the system 100,100’ enables determining the positions of the one hundred devices 110,111 of the first type in complement to the devices 110,111 gathering temperature and humidity data.
Generally, the terms used in this description and claims are interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise.
Notwithstanding, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. These terms are not interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or integers. Furthermore, the indefinite article “a” or “an” is interpreted openly as introducing at least one instance of an entity, unless explicitly stated otherwise. An entity introduced by an indefinite article is not excluded from being interpreted as a plurality of the entity.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or in the following claims, or in the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for obtaining the disclosed results, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilized for realizing the invention in diverse forms thereof.
Any above discussion of background art should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge.
While the invention has been described in conjunction with the embodiments described above, many equivalent modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art when given this disclosure. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention set forth above are considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (13)

C l a i m s
1. A system (100, 100’) comprising at least two devices of a first type (110, 111), at least three devices of a second type (120, 121, 122), and a data processing means (101),
wherein each device (110, 111, 120, 121, 122) comprises a wireless communication interface for communicating directly with another device (110, 111, 120, 121, 122),
wherein the data processing means (101) comprises a memory configurable with:
- for each of the devices of the first type (110, 111), a variable position; and - for each of the devices of the second type (120, 121, 122), a known position, wherein a first pair of devices includes a device of the first type (110, 111) and a device of the second type (120, 121, 122), the devices of the first pair being spatially separable by a first distance (130a, 130b, 130c),
wherein at least one device of the first pair is adapted to communicate with the data processing means (101),
the at least one device of the first pair being configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) by communicating directly with the other device of the first pair; and
- transmitting the estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) to the data processing means (101),
wherein the data processing means (101) is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated first distance; and
- based on the received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c), updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type (110, 111) of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type (120, 121, 122) of the first pair;
c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t a second pair of devices includes two devices of the first type (110, 111), the devices of the second pair being spatially separable by a second distance (140a, 140b),
wherein at least one device of the second pair is adapted to communicate with the data processing means (101),
the at least one device of the second pair being configured to carry out the steps of:
- estimating the second distance (140a, 140b) by communicating directly with the other device of the second pair; and
- transmitting the estimated second distance (140a, 140b) to the data processing means (101),
wherein the data processing means (101) is configured to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated second distance (140a, 140b); and
- based on the received estimated second distance (140a, 140b), updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
2. System (100, 100’) according to claim 1, wherein the step of estimating the first distance (130a, 130b, 130c), by the at least one device of the first pair, comprises measuring a round-trip time between the devices of the first pair.
3. System (100, 100’) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the wireless communication interface comprises any of:
- a Bluetooth Low Energy communication interface;
- a Zigbee communication interface;
- a Z-Wave communication interface;
- a Wi-Fi HaLow communication interface; or
- a 6LoWPAN communication interface.
4. System (100, 100’) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each device of the first type (110, 111) comprises at least one sensor for measuring a Volumetric Water Content of a soil, and/or
wherein each device of the second type (120, 121, 122) comprises at least one sensor for measuring a Volumetric Water Content of a soil.
5. System (100, 100’) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the step of estimating the second distance (140a, 140b), by the at least one device of the second pair, comprises measuring a round-trip time between the devices of the second pair.
6. System (100, 100’) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each device of the first type (110, 111), each device of the second type (120, 121, 122), and the data processing means (101) are configured to cooperate so as to form a mesh network, and
wherein the adaptation of the at least one device of the first pair to communicate with the data processing means comprises the at least one device of the first pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means (101) via the mesh network.
7. System (100, 100’) according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein each device of the first type (110, 111), each device of the second type (120, 121, 122), and the data processing means (101) are configured to cooperate so as to form a mesh network, and wherein
the adaptation of the at least one device of the first pair to communicate with the data processing means (101) comprises the at least one device of the first pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means (101) via the mesh network, and/or
the adaptation of the at least one device of the second pair to communicate with the data processing means (101) comprises the at least one device of the second pair being configured to communicate with the data processing means (101) via the mesh network.
8. Method of determining the positions of devices distributed within a space (200), the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a system (100, 100’) as described in any of the preceding claims;
- installing each device of the first type (110, 111) at a respective position within the space (200);
- installing each device of the second type (120, 121, 122) at a respective known position within the space (200);
- estimating, by the at least one device of the first pair, the first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) by communicating directly with the other device of the first pair; - transmitting, by the at least one device of the first pair, the estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) to the data processing means (101);
- receiving, by the data processing means (101), the estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c);
- based on the received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c), updating, by the data processing means (101), the stored variable position of the device of the first type (110, 111) of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type (120, 121, 122) of the first pair;
- estimating, by the at least one device of the second pair, the second distance (140a, 140b) by communicating directly with the other device of the second pair; - transmitting, by the at least one device of the second pair, the estimated second distance (140a, 140b) to the data processing means (101),
- receiving, by the data processing means (101), the estimated second distance (140a, 140b); and
- based on the received estimated second distance (140a, 140b), updating, by the data processing means (101), the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the step of updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type (110, 111) of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type (120, 121, 122) of the first pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance (140a, 140b).
10. Method according to any of the claims 8 or 9, wherein the step of updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance (140a, 140b).
11. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a data processing means (101) of a system (100, 100’) as described in any of the claims 1-7, cause the data processing means (101) to configure its memory with:
- for each of the devices of the first type (110, 111), a variable position; and - for each of the devices of the second type (120, 121, 122), a known position, and
to carry out the steps of:
- receiving the estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) from the at least one device of the first pair; and
- based on the received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c), updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type (110, 111) of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type (120, 121, 122) of the first pair,
- receiving the estimated second distance (140a, 140b) from the at least one device of the second pair; and
- based on the received estimated second distance (140a, 140b), updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair.
12. Computer program according to claim 11, wherein the step of updating the stored variable position of the device of the first type (110, 111) of the first pair relative to the stored known position of the device of the second type (120, 121, 122) of the first pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance (140a, 140b).
13. Computer program according to any of the claims 11 or 12, wherein the step of updating the stored variable positions of the devices of the second pair comprises taking into account at least one previously received estimated first distance (130a, 130b, 130c) and/or at least one previously received estimated second distance (140a, 140b).
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