Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Based Precise Positioning System for Robotic

The advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) provided reliable and accurate position information worldwide for outdoor environment. However, many applications are emerging where position information is required and the environment or complexity considerations prohibit the use of GPS. As a result, areas as diverse as robotics, sensor networks, and ubiquitous computing have seen an increase in research in indoor position determination systems. While the majority of current work relies on laser, ultrasound, or narrowband RF for positioning, such techniques are severely limited in harsh environments with significant multipath and/or interference. In this paper we discuss the features of Ultra Wideband-Band (UWB) precise position system because of its usefulness in harsh environment, its ability to fuse accurate position-location with low-data rate communication, and its covertness for tactical applications. This paper presents the system design options for UWB based positioning systems, and shows how they match the indoor location demands of emergency services. This paper also presents the analysis of UWB RF Channel performance as a function of the major parameters, including bandwidth, frequency component spectral spacing, transmitted signal power, and range. These results facilitate the design of UWB positioning systems for specific environment.