Design, Model and Implementation of Indoor Tracking Devices

In this thesis we present a solution for the Localization and Tracking of non cooperative moving targets in an indoor environment using a WSN. The design, model, and fabrication of devices based on directional antennas and electronically steerable antennas are presented. The emphasis of the study is based on the idea to develop a low cost system that can localize and track people in an indoor environment like old homes, hospitals, etc. due to the multipath no other sensors can be used as effectively as RF sensors. The narrow band sensors utilizing Received Signal Strength (RSS) based measurements were designed, modeled and fabricated. The designed electronically steerable antenna is also capable of exploiting the Time of Arrival (ToA) and Angle of Arrival (AoA) based measurements to improve the overall performance of the system. As in indoor environments the deployment of the sensor nodes is critical, the proposed electronically steerable antenna in ISM 2.4 GHz band is capable of giving better performance even with reduced number of sensors deployed. The model is simulated in CST MWS and the hardware is fabricated.