Development of a Building Topological Model for Indoor Navigation

Abstract

Human high mobility is essential to the proper functioning of a modern world. For a fast and effcient ground transportation, a suitable and accessible positioning, route finding and navigation solutions are crucial. For outdoor traveling, mobile applications utilizing GNSS systems and navigation services based on road and pavement networks already provide a satisfying solutions. On contrary, an indoor environment is much more intricate. Localization with GNSS is impossible and there is no explicit traversable network inside the building as in outdoor routes. Multi-storey buildings, often with complicated room layouts and floor transitions, confined spaces and numerous areas restricted for visitors or impassable pathways for disabled people add another layers of complexity to this problem. This study covers the issue of creating a topological building model for indoor navigation. Necessities of such a model are discussed and the fitting i mplementation, developed by ESRI, is detailed. The entire process, from data pre-processing to the model creation and visualization in ArcGIS Pro software, is delineated. A case study of development of such a model for a Geo-3EM building of Wrocaw University of Science and Technology (WUST) is conducted and the sample visualizations of a model and route finding are shown. Finally, the results are discussed and the future directions of research are presented.