Three-dimensional localization of a rotating magnetic dipole from the Fourier integrals of its magnetic flux density with acceleration data

Indoor localization of objects when these bodies are affected by occlusion remains challenging. This paper presents a novel method to estimate the position of a magnetic marker that can be attached to objects such as a robot or a moving vehicle for indoor localization. We derive a formula to compute the azimuth and zenith angles of and the distance to a rotating magnet from the Fourier components of the magnetic flux density at the marker’s rotational frequency. The proposed method does not require temporal changes in the direction of the magnetic moment. As a result, the method does not require communication between the sensor and the marker. Also, using a Fourier component enhances the robustness of the method to environmental noise. The method is verified experimentally and shows an average error of 49.9 mm for estimation of the three-dimensional position of the marker in a 4000 mm by 2000 mm domain where z = 350 mm. In addition, we verified that the marker position can be estimated even if the sensor is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane using the sensor’s acceleration data.