January 2022
In December 2021 we closed the project UrbanMobility Digital. In “UrMo Digital” we led the work package Smart Urban Navigation were our group from the Communications and Navigation Institute, together with colleagues of the DLR institutes Transport Systems and Transport Research, proposed a localization system for passengers commuting in transport nodes.
With our solution based on the smartphone, besides the localization we additionally attempt at identifying the activities the passengers perform at the station, such as shopping or sitting on benches. This information will be exploited in a follow-on project to enable other DLR technologies conceived to foster the use of public- and individual sustainable transport, like serious gaming.
The picture shows a trajectory recorded with a smartphone held in the hand in the station Münchner Feiheit, where the different colors represent the seamlessly identified activities, such as shopping (lila), walking (blue) and climbing stairs (green). For the localization only the privacy conform inertial sensors and barometer have been used.
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December 2021
Our group leader Estefanía was session chair in the international conference IPIN, that took place from the 29th of November to the 2nd of December in Lloret de Mar, Catalonia.
The session organized by our team arose the interest of many participants and was quite visited. We were discussion about magnetic-based localization, its fields of application, opportunities and challenges.
Magnetometers are inexpensive, embedded in today’s smartphones and the Earth magnetic field is always present, independent of the scenario, i.e. indoor underground and outdoor. Thus, magnetometers are well suited sensors to be used for localization.
November 2021
The 18th and 19th of November we attended the winter school of women in mobility. It was really interesting and inspiring to know more about blockchain applied to mobility, sustainable mobility, data usage for on-demand mobility… without forgetting the empowerment day.
Many thanks to Women in Mobility for organizing such an interesting winter school!
@WomeninMobility
Could we use the localization estimated with the sensors and satellite receiver embedded in the smartphone for safety critical applications?
In urban scenarios, the satellite reception might be occluded and the multipath and scattering can introduce meters of error. In the project KoFiF we are investigating this, since bicycles and pedestrians are the most vulnerable user of urban and suburban environments.
In our measurements we use commercial smartphones placed on the handlebars of the bicycle as reference an RTK system, which is the antenna on the helmet of our colleague. This way we can precisely know how accurate is our bicycle localization system.
October 2021
Our group leader Estefanía has been elected as external collaborator in the Deusto smart mobility research group.
We have developed this App in the context of the project UrMo Digital.
Our App is specifically designed to support the development of artificial intelligence mobility algorithms: it is possible to label different transport means a well as the use of traffic hubs’ infrastructure, such as stairs or lifts, and even the activities the commuting passengers perform in traffic hubs.
In September we have started our collaboration with the IP Paris. Francisco, one of our team members spent the month of September in Paris. IP Paris and DLR will be working together in a smart e-Ticketing system for smart cities. Our smart e-Ticketing system is robust to GNSS spoofing attacks. In order to achieve so, we combine two techniques based on the core expertise of both groups: we detect the attack with inertial and magnetic sensors of the smartphone and in parallel with the satellite clock.
The photos show Francisco and Jose, from DLR and IP Paris respectively, recording measurements with different means of transport in Paris.
September 2021
We are amazed to hear so many inspiring talks highlighting the imperative need of fostering the public transport and the sustainable means of transport for the last mile, such as electric micro-cars, e-motorcycles, e-scooters and (e-)bikes…without forgetting walking!
Cities will evolve into clean and save environments that reward the use of sustainable means of transport, by facilitating bike lanes, reducing parking slots and transforming the public space to attract pedestrians.
July 2021
In scenarios dominated by cars, e-scooters, bikes or just walking are efficient and clean alternatives for the last mile. Many spaces in the city are shared by pedestrians, bicycles and e-scooters. To plan and optimize these spaces, models of the flows of pedestrians, bicycles and e-scooter are necessary. Additionally, the forward speed is a key element, since it is directly related to hazardous situations.
Mostly, the forward speed is estimated using satellite-based techniques. However, satellite reception is very limited in many urban scenarios. We are investigating the possibilities of magnetic-based forward speed estimation.
June 2021
The transport sector is facing major social challenges: traffic growth, demographic change, ensuring affordable mobility and the reduction of gas emissions.
The mobility transformation will be enabled by digitalization and new ways of accessing user-generated data. In order to develop the e-Ticketing system, for instance, a big amount, heterogeneous and quality user-generated data is necessary. Are the publicly available databases suited for this purpose? Ware working to answer this question.
@ GAIA-X (https://data-infrastructure.eu – Smart Mobility Innovation)
May 2021
These maps could be used for magnetic fingerprinting to support the infrastructure-free localization of passengers commuting in train stations, that are usually underground.
We generated 3D maps moving four magnetometers positioned at different heights through train platforms. S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations under study are Gauting, Rosenheimer Platz, Marienplatz Münchner Freiheit and Holzapfelkreuth.