Description
Within our plan of continuous improvement of Situm IPS we have introduced in our SDKs and in our Apps, an improvement in the floor changes that allows reducing the time in the floor transition.
These improvements are based on the use of paths to detect those areas where floor transitions can be made and the incorporation of the altimeter/barometer sensor to detect the height at which the user is.
What is the floor transition (nodes) with paths?
By activating the use of path information in the model, the rtls positioning library filters the paths to use only the nodes involved in plant changes and uses this information to facilitate the user's transition from one plant to another as long as the user is no more than 20 meters away from one of these transition nodes.
What is the altimeter in rtls?
The altimeter is a separate module of rtls that allows to know the altitude at which the user is. This result is obtained from the pressure measurements detected by the mobile device through the "barometer" sensor that provides pressure measurements at each moment. From these barometer measurements the altimeter module calculates the height of the user as well as the direction (Up/Down) of the movement and the probability of this being performed.
Improving detection on the floor transition
Based on these two elements paths and barometer or altimeter we have implemented different modes that improve to a greater or lesser extent the detection of plant changes made by the user:
Currently the available methods are:
- Altimeter-Paths hybrid mode.
- Unique Paths mode.
- Unique Altimeter mode (Barometer)
Among them, the mode that obtains better plant results is the hybrid Altimeter-Paths mode while the one that offers a smaller caliber improvement is the use of the Unique Altimeter mode.
The improvement they introduce speeds up the time of transitions and also improves the plant detection in some cases of WiFi scanning limitation as in Android 9 devices.
SDK and App compatible versions
It is possible to make use of this new feature using the latest SDK and app versions after:
UNIQUE PATHS MODE
Fist of all, the floor plan transitions and the height of each floor must be indicated in Situm dashboard. These are the two settings that must be configured in your building in order to make use of this feature:
Step 1: Set each floor altitude
You must set up in Situm Dashboard the height of each floor on its custom field.
Please, start from the lowest floor with 0 meters, then add up the respective meters to the higher ones.
Example:
- Go to your building in Situm Dashboard
- Click on edit, by each floor’s side:
- Then, set the respective altitude (in meters) on each floor:
Step 2: Create transition paths
All the floor changes must be indicated by a path node. It must be created in a calibrated area and only the transition nodes will be enough to work the feature.
To create them, go to your building in the Dashboard > Cartography > Paths.
Please, bear in mind that after apply all these settings in the dashboard. A new positioning model must be generated. For this, you have to select all the calibrations and click on save:
Go to Dashboard > Configuration
Which are the compatible devices?
Any device that can use the Situm Mapping Tool can use the information from the paths to position itself.
UNIQUE ALTIMETER MODE (BAROMETER)
The unique altimeter mode facilitates changes on the floor. In this case, no path information or building floor height information is used.
How to activate it?
Step 1: App Settings
At the application level it is necessary to activate the option to use the barometer. Please, follow the next steps:
Situm Mapping Tool
Go to Settings > Positioning > Advanced Settings > Use Barometer |
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Situm Mapping Tool – Ios
Go to the Device App Settings > Situm Mapping Tool and activate the option “Use Barometer”. |
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SDK Parameters
Android | https://developers.situm.com/sdk_documentation/android/javadoc/latest/es/situm/sdk/location/LocationRequest.Builder.html#useBarometer-boolean- Example: .useBLE (false) .useGps (false) .useDeadReckoning (true) .useBarometer (true) OutdoorLocationOptions.Builder outdoorLocationOptionsBuilder = new OutdoorLocationOptions.Builder() outdoorLocationOptionsBuilder.buildingDetector(OutdoorLocationOptions.BuildingDetector.WiFi). builder.outdoorLocationOptions(outdoorLocationOptionsBuilder.build());
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iOS |
Compatible Devices
All the devices featured by barometer are compatible with this feature.
For checking in Android devices, you can find more info in the following link:
https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?chkBarometer=selected
All the iOS devices have barometer, so all of them after implementing the properly settings will be compatible with this feature.
ALTIMETER-PATH HYBRID MODE
Step 1: Set each floor altitude
The same as described before, it is necesary to enter the height of each floor of the building with respect to the height of the first floor. For example: Floor 0 : 0 meters, Floor 1 : 5 meters, Floor 2: 10 meters
Step 2: Create transition paths
Paths in the floor transitions: It is necessary to indicate in the dashboard the floor transitions by paths node (only the transitions are needed).
Step 3: Activate Barometer
Apply the settings to activate the barometer as mentioned in the Altimeter Mode (Barometer).