IPNL — Intelligent Positioning and Navigation Laboratory
Projects: Programs and Systems
Looking for open datasets, software, or companion code? See the Resources page — UrbanNav, UrbanLoco, GraphGNSSLib, GPS_VT_SDR, and IPIN book examples are all catalogued there with direct download / repository links.
IPNL projects are not isolated demos. They are research programs that connect field data, mathematical models, open-source tools, receiver platforms, and real-world systems. We build datasets, algorithms, software libraries, and embodied systems to test navigation under the conditions where positioning is most likely to fail.
The page is organized into two groups:
- A. Core Research Programs — long-running funded research agendas behind the lab’s flagship publications and patents.
- B. Embodied and Translational Systems — applied robotics, spinouts, and community initiatives that translate research into deployable systems.
A compact Funded Programs Ledger at the bottom captures the long-tail of smaller PI/PC grants — international consultancies, Mainland-China funding schemes, and PolyU internal competitive grants — that don’t warrant dedicated project cards.
A. Core Research Programs
Multi-Agent Collaborative GNSS for Intelligent Transportation Systems
completedVehicles share GNSS measurements through inter-vehicle ranging to improve urban positioning accuracy and integrity for ITS — the anchor RGC RIF program of the lab.
Robust GNSS Navigation for Urban Air Traffic Management
activeAviation-grade GNSS + multi-sensor fusion navigation for low-altitude UAVs operating in dense urban environments — the urban air mobility (UAM / UTM) frontier.
Universal Vehicle Self-Diagnosis: Predictive Component Monitoring
activeData-driven, real-time predictive vehicle self-diagnosis using automotive-component data streams — extending the integrity arc from positioning into vehicle health monitoring.
3D Map-Aided GNSS (3DMA) for Smartphone and IoT
activeUsing 3D city models, skymask matching, and lightweight ray tracing to improve GNSS positioning on smartphones, wearables, and low-cost IoT receivers — the lab's signature long-running research thread, anchored by the multi-year Huawei collaborative partnership.
Environment-Aware GNSS for UAS and Autonomous Driving
activeUsing LiDAR, multi-camera perception, fish-eye sky imaging, and other rich onboard sensors to inform GNSS reliability and positioning on autonomous vehicles, UAVs, and robotic platforms — where the sensor budget and integrity bar are both higher than smartphone-grade positioning.
B. Embodied and Translational Systems
Stairio: Autonomous Staircase Safety Monitoring Robot
activeHandrail-affixed locomotion system with onboard AI vision for autonomous staircase inspection and predictive maintenance.
LunaNav: Lunar Robotic Exploration
activeExtending the lab's multi-sensor positioning expertise from Earth's urban canyons into lunar surface navigation.
UWB-GNSS Precision Start-Gate Monitoring for Olympic-Class Windsurfing
activeMarine buoy-deployed UWB+GNSS sensors for precision start-gate monitoring during Olympic-class windsurf training — extending the lab's multi-sensor positioning expertise into sports-tech.
C. Funded Programs Ledger
Smaller PI/PC funded programs — expand for the full record
A compact record for completeness: the long-tail of NSFC and Mainland-China provincial schemes, international consultancies, and PolyU internal competitive grants that don't have dedicated project cards above. Flagship programs are in Sections A–B.
External · Completed
| Year | Funder | Project | Amount | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | NYU Langone Medical Center · Consultancy | 3DMA GNSS for Vision-Impaired Pedestrians (real-time) | US$10,000 | 2021– |
| 2020 | DAAD / RGC Germany–HK Joint Research Scheme | Collaborative Navigation for Smart Cities | HK$57,200 | 2021–2022 |
| 2019 | SAIC Motor Corporation · Consultancy | Integrity for Autonomous Driving | (industry consultancy) | 2019– |
| 2018 | Shenzhen 市基金 (JCYJ20170818103653507) | Low-cost GNSS module for UAV urban positioning strategy | RMB 300,000 | 2018–2020 |
Internal (PolyU) · Active
| Year | Funder | Project | Amount | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | PolyU · Financial Support for Book Writing Scheme (97HR) | Principles of Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation | HK$1,200,000 | 2025–2028 |
| 2024 | PolyU · Research Centre for Metaverse | Robotics, AI, navigation, metaverse interaction | HK$300,000 | 2024– |
Internal (PolyU) · Completed
| Year | Funder | Project | Amount | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | PolyU · FENG Intra-Faculty Interdisciplinary Project | Perception-based GNSS PPP-RTK / LVINS for UAS in Urban Canyons | HK$400,000 | 2022–2024 |
| 2020 | PolyU · RISUD EFA (Project Coordinator) | Resilient Urban PNT for UAV Remote Sensing in Urban Regions | HK$1,000,000 | 2020–2023 |
| 2019 | PolyU · FENG Intra-Faculty Interdisciplinary Project | Security Enhancement of Positioning Sensors on Connected AVs | HK$400,000 | 2019–2020 |
| 2017 | PolyU · Startup Fund (AAE) | Positioning and Navigation for AV by Sensor Integration | HK$550,000 | 2017–2020 |
| 2017 | PolyU · Internal Grant for GRF/ECS-rated-3.5 (CRG) | GPS Error Modelling using 3D Point Cloud | HK$105,000 | 2017–2019 |
| 2016 | PolyU · Large Equipment Fund (Teaching) | Equipment for Teaching Flight Mechanics, GNC | HK$1,132,815 | 2016–2017 |