# Gyroscope-constrained magnetometer PDR/Wi-Fi indoor positioning algorithm

**Authors:** Ruiyi Tang, Chengkai Tian

PMC · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0335277 · 2025-10-24

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new indoor positioning algorithm that improves smartphone accuracy by combining gyroscope, magnetometer, and Wi-Fi data.

## Contribution

The novel approach integrates gyroscope-constrained heading angles and Kriging interpolation with Wi-Fi data for better indoor positioning.

## Key findings

- The improved PDR algorithm reduces average positioning error from 2.02 to 1.07 meters.
- Combining improved PDR with Wi-Fi lowers average error to 0.71 meters.
- 90% of errors fall below 1.42 meters with the integrated method.

## Abstract

To address the issue of low precision in sensor data measured by smartphones, we propose a gyroscope-constrained magnetometer Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR)/Wi-Fi indoor positioning algorithm, focusing on improving the PDR heading angle. We utilize the heading angle constrained by the gyroscope and magnetometer and enhance fingerprint data using Kriging interpolation, effectively doubling the signal fingerprint density. We combine the optimized PDR algorithm and Wi-Fi fingerprint positioning results through an Extended Kalman Filter. Experimental results show that the traditional PDR algorithm has an average positioning error of 2.02 meters, with 90% of errors below 3.71 meters. The improved PDR algorithm reduces the average positioning error to 1.07 meters, with 90% of errors below 2.12 meters. Integrating Wi-Fi and the improved PDR algorithm further reduces the average positioning error to 0.71 meters, with 90% of errors below 1.42 meters.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** PDR (MESH:D001926)
- **Chemicals:** AP (MESH:D000667), Phyphox (-)

## Figures

50 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12551869/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12551869