Thesis Proposal - State Estimation Using WiFi and Multiple Agents

Background
State estimation is an important feature for many robotic applications such as self-driving cars and aerial drones. Internal sensors such as IMUs are commonly used, but they are prone to drift due to cumulative errors caused by sensor noise. To combat this, external sensors such as GPS and cameras are used to improve the accuracy of the state estimation over time.

Another interesting option is to use WiFi access points for localization since WiFi devices are cheap and commonly available in many places. They are also more appropriate for indoor environments where GPS may not work. Limiting factors for this approach are the number of available access points and the accuracy of the measurements. If multiple robots are used, they could use their relative positions to improve the accuracy of the state estimation. 

Some of the research questions that could be addressed by this thesis work are:

• What are the limiting factors for using WiFi for state estimation?
• How is the accuracy of the state estimation affected by the number of WiFi access points and the environment (obstacles, walls, etc.)?
• How can multiple robots/drones be used to improve the accuracy of the state estimation?

Work description

• Review the literature of state estimation using various sensors and multiple agents.
• Develop a system for state estimation using WiFi access points and multiple robots/drones.
• Test the system in different environments with varying number of WiFi access points.
• Analyse the results of the experiments and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the approach.
• Discuss the potential applications of this approach and its benefits compared to other state estimation methods.

For a successful thesis work, we believe that the applicants should have a:

• Understanding of relevant software and hardware components.
• Interest of working with both hardware and software.

It would be meritorious to have knowledge of ROS and embedded programming.

Application:

We look forward to receiving your resume, and preferably, a personal letter in which you explain why you want to write your thesis with Syntronic.

We screen and evaluate applications on an ongoing basis.