Configure the indoor positioning system

Available with the ArcGIS Indoors Maps extension.

You can configure an indoor positioning system (IPS) for use in Indoors mobile apps that provides accurate geolocation for a variety of indoor location use cases. An IPS allows you to locate yourself indoors by displaying a blue dot on an indoor map and navigate to people, places, and assets inside a facility in real time. You can configure indoor positioning using ArcGIS IPS or Apple IPS for use with Indoors mobile apps.

Configure using ArcGIS IPS

Caution:

The ArcGIS Pro 3.3 release includes a new set of ArcGIS IPS tools that are currently not supported in Indoors. Use the Classic toolset instead.

To enable indoor positioning using ArcGIS IPS, you must create tables using tools in ArcGIS Pro and survey the facilities to collect data about the indoor spaces using ArcGIS IPS Setup. ArcGIS IPS Setup is a mobile app for Android and iOS that allows you to plan and perform survey recordings inside facilities and sites to collect location data. Recordings can be uploaded from the IPS Setup app to an ArcGIS organization and used to create a positioning file that you can include in a mobile map package to enable indoor positioning in ArcGIS Indoors for iOS.

Configure indoor positioning

To configure indoor positioning using ArcGIS IPS, complete the following steps:

1. Prepare and share a map for use with ArcGIS IPS.
2. Create the required IPS Recordings and IPS Positioning tables using the Enable Indoor Positioning tool.
3. Download the ArcGIS IPS Setup app on a mobile device and sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
4. Perform surveys of indoor spaces in IPS Setup on a mobile device.
5. Generate a positioning file using the Generate Indoor Positioning File tool.

   Note:

   Alternatively, if you have precise beacon positions and detailed wall information of a facility, you can generate a positioning file without performing surveys using the Generate Indoor Positioning File Without Survey tool.

6. Validate the surveys to ensure that the IPS data is accurate.

Configure the Indoors mobile map

To configure indoor positioning using ArcGIS IPS, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Indoors project in ArcGIS Pro.
2. Include the IPS Positioning table populated during the positioning file creation in the Indoors mobile map in ArcGIS Pro.

   Caution:

   The IPS Positioning table should only contain one row that represents a single positioning file.

3. Package and share the mobile map package.

Configure using Apple IPS

You can use floor plan data from ArcGIS Indoors for Apple Indoor Maps and Positioning by exporting the Indoors model and converting it to an Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF). IMDF is a data model developed by Apple to describe an indoor space. The output of the format is a .zip folder of GeoJSON files. Converting the indoors model to IMDF requires using the Data Interoperability Extension to run the ArcGIS Indoors Model to IMDF workbench, available for download on FME Hub.

To enable indoor positioning using Apple IPS, you must join the Apple Indoor Maps Program. Signing up gives you access to the Apple Business Register where you can use the IMDF Sandbox to validate an IMDF file. After validating the IMDF file, submit the IMDF file as a venue to the Apple Business Register and survey buildings using the Apple Indoor Survey app. An approved survey will enable Apple ArcGIS IPS for the buildings surveyed.

Learn more from the article about best practices when preparing floor plan data, creating IMDF files, and conducting Apple IPS surveys

Prepare the data for export

Complete the following steps to prepare the Indoors data for export to IMDF:

1. Open the Indoors project in ArcGIS Pro.
2. Run the Generate Unit Openings tool to create unit openings as line features to comply with IMDF requirements.
3. Optionally, if the data contains two or more facilities that are far apart, create site features before running the workbench.
4. Optionally, add and populate the following text fields in the Sites and Facilities feature classes.

   If they exist and are populated in the Indoors model, they will automatically be carried over when you run the FME workbench. You can also add this information to the spreadsheet created by the Make Indoors To IMDF Mapping Table workbench if you do not want to add the following fields to your geodatabase.

   1. Add and populate the following text fields to the Sites feature class:

      Field name	Required for IMDF	Details
      ADDRESS	Required	The address of the site.
      LOCALITY	Required	The city where the site is located.
      STATE	Required	A two-letter code in all caps (for example, California = CA).
      COUNTRY	Required	A two-letter code in all caps (for example, United States = US).
      POSTAL_CODE	Required	The five-digit postal code.
      OPENING_HOURS	Optional	The hours of operation. Hours must conform to OSM Opening Hours guidelines.
      PHONE_NUMBER	Optional	An E.164-compliant phone number.
      WEBSITE	Optional	A website for the site.

   2. Optionally, add and populate the following text fields to the Facilities feature class:

      Field name	Required for IMDF	Details
      ADDRESS	Optional	The address of the building.
      LOCALITY	Optional	The city where the building is located.
      STATE	Optional	A two-letter code in all caps (for example, California = CA).
      COUNTRY	Optional	A two-letter code in all caps (for example, United States = US).
      POSTAL_CODE	Optional	The five-digit postal code.

Run the workbench

Complete the following steps to run the workbench using the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension:

1. Download and install the Data Interoperability extension from My Esri or your ArcGIS organization.
2. Authorize the extension with a valid license.
3. After the Data Interoperability extension is installed and authorized, your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise administrator must assign a license to you.
4. Download the ArcGIS Indoors Model to IMDF workbench.

   Note:

   The download contains two workbenches, a template, and a read-me file that describes the workflow to prepare the Indoors data, update the templates, and use the IMDF Sandbox to validate the exported IMDF file.

5. Start ArcGIS Pro.
6. On the Analysis tab, in the Workflows group, click Data Interop and click Workbench.

   The FME Workbench launches.

7. In the FME Workbench, click Open and browse to the Make Indoors To IMDF Mapping Table workbench.
8. Click OK.
9. Click Run to run the workbench.

   A spreadsheet that contains information about the Indoors model is created.

10. Update the spreadsheet based on your data.

    At a minimum, update the following:

    • On the Sites sheet, update the location information (Address, Locality, State, County, Postal Code) from the default values to the values for your venue.
    • On the Units_Use sheet, update the IMDF_Category use types. Define the use types that correspond to walkways, stairs, and elevators to avoid errors when submitting the IMDF to Apple. More categorization can aid in visualization when reviewing the IMDF in the IMDF Sandbox and conducting a survey of your buildings.

11. In the FME Workbench, click Open and browse to the Indoors To IMDF workbench.
12. Click OK.
13. Click Run to run the workbench.

    This workbench uses the template generated by the Make Indoors To IMDF Mapping Table workbench as input and generates an IMDF file as output.

You can now upload the output IMDF file to the IMDF Sandbox and use it to configure indoor positioning using the Apple Business Register.