Milo “Embedded system for Indoor Location”

The objective of this project was the experimental development, production and validation of a wireless indoor positioning system that enhances the WiFi infrastructure to provide advanced location services for both transport interchanges (increasing the efficiency of resource management) and transport users (favoring friendly usability).

This is a functional innovation, which did not exist in the market. Current WiFi systems have an accuracy in the order of 2 meters, which is inoperative for the guidance of people, mainly due to the multipath effect that occurs indoors. MILO complements this technology with cooperative algorithms between adjacent nodes, thus bypassing the deficiencies due to changes in the environment and achieving accuracies of less than one meter, which is sufficient for human guidance.

This new communication through the sense of touch allows drivers to receive information without increasing their visual load to that already required to evaluate other stimuli.

The main BENEFITS of the project can be summarized in the first place as an improvement, indoors, of the known performance of the gps systems. Secondly, significant cost savings, by using the cheapest existing technology (WiFi), increasingly widespread (incorporated in smartphones) and improved with the new methodology that shares the location of neighboring devices. Thirdly, radiofrequency guidance of blind people indoors, specifically in lobbies and on platforms, can also represent a significant cost saving in civil works or, at least, an alternative that improves the service provided to citizens and safety.

Finally, the use of haptic technology reduces the risk of accidents due to distraction (by reducing the driver’s visual load).