Power Line Positioning: Supposing Ubiquitous, Indoor Localization

Introduction

Motivation
Many computing applications require sensing the location of objects inside buildings. However, current solutions require instrumenting homes with many sensors, are expensive, and hard to deploy.

Description
PowerLine Positioning (PLP) provides indoor localization using standard household power lines and requires very little instrumentation.

Technology

PowerLine Positioning users two plug-in modules placed at the far ends of a home. Each module sends a different mid frequency signal over the power lines. A tag detects these signals radiating from the nearest electrical wiring at a given location and determines position within a 1 meter resolution at 90% accuracy.

Studying Use

Studying Wheelchair Users:
We are testing PLP’s ability to track objects and people through a study with social scientists exploring the mobility issues of wheelchair users. Results of study will be used to identify mobility problems in the home.

Methodology:
• Use PLP to produce objective location data about the position of people and mobility aids throughout the day
• Conduct prompted interviews location data

Applications and Impact

Future Applications:
1. Take advantage of PLP’s low-cost and ease of use to support long-term studies of large numbers of people.
2. Support location aware applications within a home.
• Domestic robots (e.g., a Roomba)
• Find lost objects (e.g., keys, wallet)

Commercialization of PLP:
We are currently developing a commercial product version of PowerLine Positioning to support these studies. Mass producing the modules and tags will lower the cost even further, making it available to more people.

Publication

• Patel, S.N., K.N. Truong, and G.D. Abowd. PowerLine Positioning: A Practical Sub-Room-Level Indoor Location System for Domestic Use. Proceedings of Ubicomp 2006.