Sensor Localization Calibration of Ground Sensor Networks with Acoustic Range Measurements

Abstract: Advances in the development of simple and cheap sensors give new possibilities with large sensor network deployments in monitoring and surveillance applications. Commonly, the sensor positions are not known, specifically, when sensors are randomly spread in a big area. Low cost sensors are constructed with as few components as possible to keep price and energy consumption down. This implies that self-positioning and communication capabilities are low. So the question: “How do you localize such sensors with good precision with a feasible approach?” is central. When no information is available a stable and robust localization algorithm is needed. In this thesis an acoustic sensor network is considered. With a movable acoustic source a well-defined and audible signal is transmitted at different spots. The sensors measure the time of arrival which corresponds to distance. A two-step sensor localization approach is applied that utilizes the estimated distances. A novel approach in the first step is presented to incorporate more measurements and gain more position information. Localization and ranging performance is evaluated with simulations and data collected at field trials. The results show that the novel approach attains higher accuracy and robustness.