Description:
Reference #: 1705
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for A low-cost indoor positioning system for robotics research and education.
Background:
Mobile robots are widely used in robotics research, education, and competition. Many applications require accurate, real-time knowledge of a robot’s position to support positioning, navigation, and control. While commercial indoor positioning systems are available and can deliver very high accuracy, they often come with prohibitive costs. In many entry-level university research settings, as well as K–12 education and robotics competitions, such premium accuracy is not required, and cost-effective alternatives are needed.
Invention Description:
This technology provides a low-cost, accurate indoor positioning system designed for robotics research and education. The system integrates multiple cameras with image acquisition, image processing, and computer vision modules, supported by data-driven models. It enables real-time localization of mobile robots in experiments and competitions with centimeter-level positional accuracy.
Potential Applications:
The market potential for a low-cost indoor positioning solution is significant, particularly within education-focused segments. Target users include universities, K–12 schools, and other educational institutions, especially those operating in resource-limited environments and underdeveloped regions. The total potential user base is expected to be substantial and could reasonably exceed 100,000 users.
Advantages and Benefits:
This invention provides researchers and students with an affordable indoor positioning system for robotics research, education, and competitions. The invented indoor positioning system offers high positioning accuracy (~cm) at much lower cost (50-100X cheaper) than existing commercial positioning systems, such as OptiTrack and Vicon systems.
Additionally, this invention provides users with valuable hands-on experience in understanding indoor positioning principles and functions, computer vision, and data-driven models.