IP Library Granted Patent US 10,820,172
Granted Patent B2
US 10,820,172 · App. 16/455,630 · Granted Oct 27, 2020

Multi-sync ensemble model for device localization

Inventors: Si ying Diana Hu (Mountain View, CA); Anubhav Ashok (Sunnyvale, CA); Peter Turner (Redwood, CA)
Assignee: Niantic, Inc.
H04W4/38G06K9/00664G06T7/73H04W4/029G06T2207/10028
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,820,172
App. No.
16/455,630
Granted
Oct 27, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system and method determine the location of a device. The device collects sensor data using one or more sensors. Based on the sensor data, one or more localization models are selected from a plurality of localization models. The selected models are applied to generate one or more potential locations. The current location of the device is determined based on the one or more potential locations.

Claims (41)

1. A method for determining a location of a device, the method comprising:

collecting image data captured by a camera on the device and global coordinates detected by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver on the device;

determining whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors based on an illumination level of the image data;

selecting one or more localization models from a plurality of localization models based on the determination of whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors;

applying the selected one or more localization models to the image data and the global coordinates to generate one or more potential locations of the device; and

determining the location of the device based on the one or more potential locations.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of localization models includes at least one of: a point cloud based model, a plane matching model, a line matching model, a geographic information system (GIS) model, a building recognition model, an object recognition model, a semantic matching model, a cube matching model, a cylinder matching model, a horizon matching model, a light source matching model, and a landscape recognition model.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the selected one or more localization models comprises applying a plurality of localization models to generate a plurality of potential locations, wherein each applied localization model generates one of the plurality of potential locations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the location of the device comprises calculating an average location of the plurality of potential locations.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the average is a weighted average.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the one or more localization models comprises:

assigning a score to each localization model of the one or more localization models, the score assigned to each localization model indicating a corresponding likelihood of that localization model generating an accurate location; and

selecting the one or more localization models based on the scores for the one or more localization models.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the score assigned to each localization model is based on historic performance of the models in similar environments.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the score assigned to each localization model is based on the image data and the global coordinates.

9. A device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including:

collecting image data captured by a camera on the device and global coordinates detected by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver on the device;

determining whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors based on an illumination level of the image data;

selecting one or more localization models from a plurality of localization models based on the determination of whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors;

applying the selected one or more localization models to the image data and the global coordinates to generate one or more potential locations of the device; and

determining a location of the device based on the one or more potential locations.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of localization models includes at least one of: a point cloud based model, a plane matching model, a line matching model, a geographic information system (GIS) model, a building recognition model, an object recognition model, a semantic matching model, a cube matching model, a cylinder matching model, a horizon matching model, a light source matching model, and a landscape recognition model.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein applying the selected one or more localization models comprises applying a plurality of localization models to generate a plurality of potential locations, wherein each applied localization model generates one of the plurality of potential locations.

12. The device of claim 9 , wherein determining the location of the device comprises calculating an average location of the plurality of potential locations.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the average is a weighted average.

14. The device of claim 9 , wherein selecting the one or more localization models comprises:

assigning a score to each localization model of the one or more localization models, the score assigned to each localization model indicating a corresponding likelihood of that localization model generating an accurate location; and

selecting the one or more localization models based on the scores for the one or more localization models.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the score assigned to each localization model is based on historic performance of the models in similar environments.

16. The device of claim 14 , wherein the score assigned to each localization model is based on the image data and the global coordinates.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for determining a location of a device, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

collecting image data captured by a camera on the device and global coordinates detected by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver on the device;

determining whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors based on an illumination level of the image data;

selecting one or more localization models from a plurality of localization models based on the determination of whether the device is currently indoors or outdoors;

applying the selected one or more localization models to the image data and the global coordinates to generate one or more potential locations of the device; and

determining a location of the device based on the one or more potential locations.

18. The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of localization models includes at least one of: a point cloud based model, a plane matching model, a line matching model, a geographic information system (GIS) model, a building recognition model, an object recognition model, a semantic matching model, a cube matching model, a cylinder matching model, a horizon matching model, a light source matching model, and a landscape recognition model.

19. The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein determining the location of the device comprises calculating an average location of the plurality of potential locations.

20. The storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the average is a weighted average.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2025
From: NIANTIC, INC.
To: NIANTIC SPATIAL, INC.
Reel/Frame 071555/0833 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2020
From: HU, SI YING DIANA; TURNER, PETER JAMES
To: NIANTIC, INC.
Reel/Frame 051967/0949 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 13, 2020
From: ASHOK, ANUBHAV
To: NIANTIC, INC.
Reel/Frame 051500/0088 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62690566 · Jun 27, 2018
Related Publication 20200008024A1 · Jan 2, 2020
Cited By (1)
US 12,347,137