* * * CALL FOR COMPETITION 2025 * * *
Twelfth IPIN Competition
onsite and offsite Indoor Localization
<https://competition.ipin-conference.org>
offsite: 8-10 Sep, EvaalAPI web service
onsite: 13-14 Sep (tentative), Tampere (FI)
awards: 18 Sep, IPIN conference
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The International conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Localization
(IPIN) is pleased to announce the twelfth IPIN Indoor Localization Competition.
The competition is aimed at bringing together the academic and industrial
research communities for evaluating different approaches and envisioning new
methods for indoor and seamless localisation, an area where no generally
accepted standards exist yet.
The competition builds on the experience of previous competitions and is based
on the EvAAL framework, ensuring experience, solidity and a well-founded
scientific method. The IPIN 2025 Indoor Localization Competition consists of
several Tracks:
• Track 1: Smartphone (onsite)
• Track 3: Smartphone (offsite-online)
• Track 4: Foot-mounted IMU (offsite-online)
• Track 5: Smartphone (offsite-online)
• Track 7: 5G CIR + IMU (offsite-offline)
Results will be presented during dedicated sessions of the IPIN conference,
during which prizes will be awarded to the winners.
ONSITE TRACK
The onsite competition will take place in Tampere, before the IPIN
conference. An actor carries the competing system by walking in the competition
area. Competing systems process data locally, without using any external aid,
and provide position estimates in real time. Survey of the area and system
calibration is restricted to a single day, before the competition proper.
Track 1 – Smartphone: The actor walks carrying a smartphone which runs the
competing system, using the sensors available on the smartphones to identify the
user's position.
OFFSITE TRACKS
Competitors in offsite competitions are provided with sensors data and use them
to estimate the user position. Competitors calibrate their algorithms in
advance using ground truth reference data (testing trials) and compete using new
unreferenced data (scoring trials). Scoring trials are run on a Track-specific
day.
Once testing trials are published, competitors can run them at their premises.
When the EvaalAPI server is made available, they must run the testing trials on
it. Scoring trials are provided to competitors only once they complete a run of
the testing trials.
OFFSITE-ONLINE TRACKS
Competitors run their trials through the EvaalAPI in online mode to emulate the
causal, real-time behaviour of onsite Tracks. See the paper "Offsite evaluation
of localization systems: criteria, systems and results from IPIN 2021-22
competitions" for a conceptual overview.
Track 3 – Smartphone: A pedestrian walking under realistic conditions in
buildings with possibly small outdoor parts, using data provided by a
conventional smartphone.
Track 4 – Foot-mounted IMU: A pedestrian carries ULISS (Ubiquituous Localization
with Inertial Sensors and Satellites) on his foot while walking a path with
possible small outdoor parts. ULISS provides IMU, magnetic and pressure
readings plus GNSS data. No maps are provided.
Track 5 – Smartphone with Navigation Robot: A pedestrian in a museum records PDR
and VIO data provided by a conventional smartphone. A navigation robot moves
with/around the pedestrian and provides its location and UWB ranging/AoA between
the smartphone.
OFFSITE-OFFLINE TRACK
Competitors run their Trials through the EvaalAPI in offline mode, where
competitors download sensors data all at once and have a limited time to upload
all estimates at once.
Track 7 – 5G CIR + IMU: A pedestrian with a smartphone moves through a
warehouse-like environment in LOS and NLOS conditions and observes Channel
Impulse Response and IMU data.
TECHNICAL COMPETITION DETAILS
The evaluation criteria for the competition, restrictions on the accepted
technologies, technical rules and a description of the benchmarks are detailed
in the technical annexes to this call. Possible refinements of the annexes,
even based on applicants' comments, will be distributed on the competition
discussion mailing list contest(a)evaal.aaloa.org and will appear on the
competitions site <https://competition.ipin-conference.org>.
Competitors in offsite Tracks obtain sensor readings and submit position
estimates through the EvaalAPI web service <https://evaal.aaloa.org/evaalapi>.
The aim is to emulate a causal process similar to the data flow of an onsite
Track: input data can be read only once and only in sequence, and the timestamp
of each submitted position estimate is the same as the latest sensor reading.
All the data gathered by the competition committee during the competition,
including data produced by competing systems in offsite Tracks, will be
published after the competition for the purpose of research and comparison.
Winners of the competition are announced on the IPIN web site and on the contest
mailing list.
COMPETITOR ADMISSION PROCESS
A competitor can be any individual or group of individuals working as a single
team, associated to a single or a number of organizations, who wants to
participate in one or several tracks. Only one team from the same organisation
(laboratory) is allowed to compete.
Competitors apply for admission to the competition tracks at the IPIN conference
site by providing a short (2 pages in PDF) technical description of their
localization system, including a description of the algorithms and protocols
used. Track chairs will accept or refuse the application in a short time, based
on technical feasibility and logistic constraints.
After acceptance of the competitor's technical description, one member of the
competing team is required to register on the IPIN conference site, specifying
the Track to which the registration is linked. Full registration to the
conference covers participation in the competition process for one Track
(allotted time, support and space) and the submission of one paper describing
the system. Participation in additional Tracks can be added for an additional
fee. A reduced registration fee not including access to the conference is
available for offsite Tracks.
Competitors who wish to test their onsite system which does not fit any of the
onsite tracks may ask chairs of Track 1 to be admitted off-track, which will be
granted subject to organisational contraints.
Be sure to subscribe to the contest mailing list to get updates on the
competition: http://evaal.aaloa.org/mailman/listinfo/contest
IMPORTANT DATES
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Technical annexes published: 5 May
Application opens: 5 Jun
Testing trials published (offsite): 16 Jun
Application closes: 31 Aug
EvaalAPI server available: (offsite): 1 Sep
Testing trial completed (offsite): 5 Sep
Offsite competition: 8 - 10 Sep
Onsite competition: 13 - 14 Sep
Proclamation of winners: 18 Sep
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COMMITTEES
IPIN Competition committee:
Francesco Potortì – ISTI-CNR (IT)
Antonino Crivello – ISTI-CNR (IT)
Miguel Ortiz – GEOLOC Team, University Gustave Eiffel (FR)
Joaquín Torres-Sospedra – Universitat de València (ES)
Track chairs:
Track 1 Filippo Palumbo – ISTI-CNR (IT)
Davide La Rosa – ISTI-CNR (IT)
Track 3 Joaquín Torres-Sospedra – Universitat de València (ES)
Track 4 Miguel Ortiz – GEOLOC Team, University Gustave Eiffel (FR)
Ni Zhu – GEOLOC Team, University Gustave Eiffel (FR)
Track 5 Satoki Ogiso – AIST (JP)
Ryosuke Ichikari – AIST (JP)
Track 7 Maximilian Stahlke – Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (DE)
Andreas Porada – Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (DE)
