Mapping (a.k.a. fingerprinting) is the process of enabling indoor positioning through gathering signal data from a target venue with our mapping application, MapCreator 2.  


High-quality mapping is the key to quality indoor positioning, so please avoid rushing through this part.



Bad Fingerprinting aka Mapping Coverage


Fingerprinting that cover only small parts of the walkable area results in large positioning error (rubbish in, rubbish out). Assuming people can walk anywhere on the white area on the floor plan, all the white area must be covered with mapping paths dense enough. 


Tips:

  • You can use the real-time analytics in MapCreator to check when the paths cover areas fully (no white space left)
  • You can use the "Map coverage" analytics in app.indooratlas.com after map generation to confirm everything looks good.



Note!
Rule of thumb: cover corridors up to 4m wide with one path in the middle. In corridors wider than 4m, you should record parallel paths with roughly 2.5m distance between the paths. 



Here's an example of bad coverage -- open area covered by only one curvy path:



Good Fingerprinting aka Mapping Coverage


Note that (almost) all of the white space (i.e. walkable area) on the floor plan has now been covered with paths.  This is required for good positioning performance. 


The red rectangle marks a gap in mapping coverage -- in this case this is a stage i.e. an obstacle through which people do no walk i.e. non-walkable area. All walkable area must be covered and shown in blue

Note that if you leave white space (gaps) by mistake, it will lead to bad positioning performance when someone walks through that area -- IndoorAtlas positioning algorithm assumes there's a wall or other obstacle.