Indoor Navigation System for a Shopping Mall using BLE

Problem Statement It's is always difficult to explore new places such as shopping malls, institutions, hospitals, etc. as it includes searching throughout the building which is energy and time-consuming. GPS signals do not work inside the building and not differentiate between t

Project Title

Indoor Navigation System for a Shopping Mall using BLE

Project Area of Specialization

Internet of Things

Project Summary

Problem Statement
It's is always difficult to explore new places such as shopping malls, institutions, hospitals, etc. as it includes searching throughout the building which is energy and time-consuming. GPS signals do not work inside the building and not differentiate between the floors of the buildings.

Proposed Solution
A proposed solution for indoor navigation using Android will be introduced in this project which will use Bluetooth Beacons. The motive of this project is to present the development of a Bluetooth Beacon-based Indoor Navigation System using Android. Bluetooth Beacons emit radio frequency signals that can be used for distance calculation. Based on the calculated distance between the beacons and the user’s mobile, his/her location will be estimated. A Navigation System inside the building that will help the user to locate his/her position and provide him/her with an optimum path to the destination. A software-hardware integrated solution that will guide the user to his/her desired location in the building respectively.

System Overview
An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a network based on many devices used to position people wirelessly inside a building and guide them with a suitable path towards their destination. Like GPS for the indoors, it can be problematic to use GPS indoors. Therefore, IPS has become a popular way to design navigation indoors. Instead of using satellites, IPS uses radio waves or magnetic ?elds to determinate positions. The applications that take advantage of IPS are still very few compared to the ones using GPS. There are no standardizations available yet many local deployments of IPS are using their own implementation. A range of different technologies has been tested and implemented, such as using infrared, ultrasounds or more commonly Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. 
Finding destinations in large buildings like shopping malls, hospitals, etc. is cumbersome since GPS signals do not work there. Indoor navigation is to direct visitors accurately through a structure using an indoor navigation app and in this way, determines their status. Contrary to GPS, It also enables us to determine the actual height level. An Android application will be developed that will be installed on the user’s mobile phone. The app will communicate with the specified hardware installed in the building to assist the user to view the path and his position, with respect to the desired destination. The user’s application will be updated continuously and consequently, the user will reach the destination.
 

Project Objectives

Primary Objectives

• To develop a suitable technique that will work for the indoor navigation system. 
• Allow the navigation system to localize the person in the provided environment.
• To develop a user-friendly interface.
• Locate the current position of a person.
• To develop a low-cost system.

Secondary Objectives

• Navigation through current location to the destination (Mapping).
• To provide the user, an optimum path to reach the destination through the navigation.
• Merging of technologies to improve accuracy.
• Facilitate the user according to his/her need.
   

Project Implementation Method

The implementation of the project is mainly divided into two categories:

Hardware Part
Software Part

The hardware part is completely based on the Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons, firstly we tried to make BLE beacons by using Hm-10 module along with Arduino. We also have used the off shelf available beacons in the market. After finalizing the beacons, we studied about the techniques for localization using BLE. In the result of analysis and different experiments, we have chosen the fingerprinting scene analysis technique. The parameter of the received signal strength indicator is used in this technique.

In the software part, there is a need for an application for navigation. The application will help the user to find out his/her location in the building and navigation through the location to the destination, with the help of his/her smartphone. For application development, we have used the android studio platform for development.
The frontend of the application is designed in order to maintain the user-friendly interface and to use the terms that can be understandable by a layman. 

Primarily, frontend is based on the requirements of the user. When it comes to the backend, it depends on the developer’s requirements. The collaboration of backend and frontend relies on the developer’s conditions. The team has decided to use the SQLite database for data storage and for mapping of different parameters with the application.

The backend of this application consists of all the features, needed for the development of frontend, database and inner activities for hardware collaboration. When the application starts, the procedure of the application follow these steps:

• Mobile will act as a receiver and the BLE beacon will act as a transmitter.
• After powering up the modules, the BLE beacons will start transmitting the signals.
• Mobile will capture the signals and signals will pass to the application.
• The application will take RSSI from BLE beacons and will continue to take until the navigation ends.
• Then match the RSSI parameters with the stored parameters in the database.
• On the basis of that matching, the application will map the pointer with the matching location.
• Database location will be matched with the location present on the map. 
• After matching the locations, a navigation path will be drawn to the destinations.
   

Benefits of the Project

• The projects will help a stranger to explore a building without any external help. He may reach to a specified destination without any delay. The use of the application will save the user's time. It will eventually reduce the crowd in the building as well. 
• Although the project is developed for a small shopping center it is scalable and can be modified for large shopping malls with some extensions. Moreover, it can be used for any type of indoor building like hospitals, universities, airports, etc.
• The system is very user-friendly and has great marketing potential in Pakistan. 
• Contrary to the existing solutions, the proposed solution is very cheap. Furthermore, existing solutions cannot be modified according to the user's requirements. 
• As the projects are based on BLE, it saves energy.
• The project can support multiple users at a time. Moreover, the mobile can be used for other applications at the same time.
   

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final deliverable of the project is a complete indoor navigation system, consisting of an Android application and the specified hardware. The hardware consists of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, configurable according to the required parameters. The system is totally based on a parameter, transmitted by BLE beacon, named as Received Signal Strength Indicator.  It is a varying parameter so for making it stable, various techniques were used, like filtering, averaging, etc.  After enhancing the RSSI parameter, specific calculations were done at the backend of the application. Then further, the application will scan the signals and take out the RSSI parameter from the header of BLE beacon. After getting the RSSI, the application will match the values of RSSI with the help of algorithms used in it. It will match the values with the stored values in the database, based on fingerprinting scene analysis technique. When it finds the matching values, it will map the positions stored across that value, in the database. If the locations are matched with the RSSI parameters, it will point the current position of the user with the help of the pointer on the screen of the phone. Also, it will show the navigation path to the desired destination.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Type of Industry

IT , Telecommunication

Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT)

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com