A Novel Loosely Coupling Fusion Approach of Ultra-Wideband and Wheel Odometry for Indoor Localisation

Ultra-wideband (UWB) systems promise centimetre-level accuracy for indoor positioning, yet they remain susceptible to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors due to complex indoor environments. A fusion mechanism that integrates the UWB with an odometer sensor is introduced to address this challenge and achieve a high positioning accuracy. A sliding window method is applied to identify NLOS anchors effectively. The modified UWB-only positioning has an average error under 13 cm with an RMSE of 16 cm. Then, a loosely coupled approach named Dynamic Dimension Fusion (DDF) is designed to mitigate the odometer’s cumulative errors that achieve a remarkable average error and RMSE below 5 cm, notably superior to established unscented Kalman filter (UKF) fusion techniques. DDF utilises UWB data to correct the one-dimensional heading error of the odometer when the robot moves in a straight line and to correct both heading and mileage in two dimensions when the robot is turning. Comprehensive real-world experimental evaluations underscore the efficacy and robustness of this novel approach.