A Novel Single-beacon Positioning with Inertial Measurement Optimization

This paper studies the positioning problem for a moving vehicle with single-beacon ranging and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Unlike previous studies widely relying on multiple beacons, using a single beacon was less considered and very challenging. Toward tackling this challenge, we propose a novel positioning method that enables one to improve the accuracy of the IMU data via single-beacon ranging measurements. More specifically, based on the error model of sensors, a Bayesian optimization problem is put forward to derive the optimal estimation of IMU data, including the angular velocity and the specific force; then, the solution method is provided, whose optimality is rigorously proved. Simulations and field experiments corroborate the effectiveness of our proposed method that the positioning accuracy can be significantly improved.