It takes more than one team of researchers when new solutions need to be improved or rolled-out. That is the focus of the scientists and engineers that joint forces in the IPIN International Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation community. At IPIN 2023 this year in Nuremberg they exchanged the results, benchmarked their technologies and systems to provide cutting-edge positioning and navigation technologies. Almost everybody uses navigation systems outdoor in cars or on mobile phones and is used to be guided in most of the cases to the right location.

»Indoor – where no global navigation satellite system (GNSS) like GPS or Galileo is available – this can very quickly become a difficult task. To achieve high accuracy in buildings, malls, museums or even in huge hospitals is a challenge. The great number of structures and materials that reflect or interfere a precise localization as well as the complete lack of radio coverage e.g. in the basement or cellar of a building is what makes it extremely difficult«, explains Dr. Christopher Mutschler, Head of Precise Positioning and Analytics department at Fraunhofer IIS and Conference Chair of IPIN 2023.

Indoor navigation competition at the Nuremberg Museum Industriekultur

The IPIN 2023 started with two competition days. Several international scientist teams proved the performance of their indoor solutions under real-time conditions in the Nuremberg Museum Industriekultur. »We thank Marion Dreykorn, director of the Museum Industriekultur that she has hosted this competition during the weekend,« says René Dünkler from the IPIN organization team. »Especially for indoor positioning and navigation this was an ideal as well as a most demanding environment.«

Fraunhofer IIS in Nuremberg Nordostpark – Competence Center for Positioning and Networks

Keynotes from international renowned companies opened every day of the conference in the Fraunhofer IIS´ L.I.N.K. test and application center of the Nuremberg location. The Fraunhofer L.I.N.K. test and application center in the Nordostpark 84 provides more than ten positioning and communication technologies, a 5G Open RAN infastructure for companies to develop, evaluate and test wireless positioning together with the Fraunhofer experts in real-life scenarios under ideal measurement conditions.

With more than 90 presentations, 38 scientific posters and the results of the competition, the steering committee of IPIN will award on Thursday, 28 September best poster and best presentations.

More information about positioning technologies: https://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/position
More information about IPIN: https://ipin-conference.org/2023/