Do we still need magnetometers for inertial motion tracking?

Abstract

A growing number of applications rely on inertial sensors for unobtrusive motion tracking, while readily adopting openly available magnetometer-dependent methods for the estimation of inertial sensor orientations. Although magnetic fields are usually heavily disturbed, and accurate magnetometer-free alternatives are emerging, only few of the many highly suitable applications seem to interchange magnetometer-aided methods for constraint-based magnetometer-free options. To accelerate understanding and a wide adoption of magnetometer-free motion tracking, we summarize and combine the most recent advances in a general workflow, together with a clear outlook on future research directions.