Hybrid derivative-free extended Kalman filter for unknown lever arm estimation in tightly coupled DGPS/INS integration

Differential carrier phase observations from GPS (Global Positioning System) integrated with high-rate sensor measurements, such as those from an inertial navigation system (INS) or an inertial measurement unit (IMU), in a tightly coupled approach can guarantee continuous and precise geo-location information by bridging short outages in GPS and providing a solution even when less than four satellites are visible. However, to be efficient, the integration requires precise knowledge of the lever arm, i.e. the position vector of the GPS antenna relative to the IMU. A previously determined lever arm by direct measurement is not always available in real applications; therefore, an efficient automatic estimation method can be very useful. We propose a new hybrid derivative-free extended Kalman filter for the estimation of the unknown lever arm in tightly coupled GPS/INS integration. The new approach takes advantage of both the linear time propagation of the Kalman filter and the nonlinear measurement propagation of the derivative-free extended Kalman filter. Compared to the unscented Kalman filter, which in recent years is typically used as a superior alternative to the extended Kalman filter for nonlinear estimation, the virtue of the new Kalman filter is equal estimation accuracy at a significantly reduced computational burden. The performance of the new lever arm estimation method is assessed with simulated and real data. Simulations show that the proposed technique can estimate the unknown lever arm correctly provided that maneuvers with attitude changes are performed during initialization. Field test results confirm the effectiveness of the new method.     

基于双差伪距/伪距率的GPS/SINS紧组合导航

GPS/SINS组合导航系统的观测模型直接关系着导航系统的精度。提出了一种基于双差伪距/伪距率的GPS/SINS紧组合观测模型。分析了采用双差伪距和采用双差伪距/伪距率两种观测模型对组合导航输出参数精度的影响。实测数据结果表明,采用双差伪距和采用双差伪距/伪距率作为观测值均能实现组合导航系统的收敛。引入双差伪距率观测值明显改善了系统的可观测性,不仅提高了组合导航中速度和姿态角的估计精度,也加快了速度误差和姿态角误差估计的收敛速度。     

Enhanced MEMS-IMU/odometer/GPS integration using mixture particle filter

Dead reckoning techniques such as inertial navigation and odometry are integrated with GPS to avoid interruption of navigation solutions due to lack of visible satellites. A common method to achieve a low-cost navigation solution for land vehicles is to use a MEMS-based inertial measurement unit (IMU) for integration with GPS. This integration is traditionally accomplished by means of a Kalman filter (KF). Due to the significant inherent errors of MEMS inertial sensors and their time-varying changes, which are difficult to model, severe position error growth happens during GPS outages. The positional accuracy provided by the KF is limited by its linearized models. A Particle filter (PF), being a nonlinear technique, can accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics and motion dynamics. An enhanced version of the PF, called Mixture PF, is employed in this paper. It samples from both the prior importance density and the observation likelihood, leading to an improved performance. Furthermore, in order to enhance the performance of MEMS-based IMU/GPS integration during GPS outages, the use of pitch and roll calculated from the longitudinal and transversal accelerometers together with the odometer data as a measurement update is proposed in this paper. These updates aid the IMU and limit the positional error growth caused by two horizontal gyroscopes, which are a major source of error during GPS outages. The performance of the proposed method is examined on road trajectories, and results are compared to the three different KF-based solutions. The proposed Mixture PF with velocity, pitch, and roll updates outperformed all the other solutions and exhibited an average improvement of approximately 64% over KF with the same updates, about 85% over KF with velocity updates only, and around 95% over KF without any updates during GPS outages.     

机载POS系统对地定位方法初探

高精度定位定向系统(Position&;OrientationSystem,简称POS系统)能够获取机载传感器的空间位置和三轴姿态信息,从而定量化反演遥感信息获取过程,实现机载遥感直接对地定位(DirectGeoreferencing)。本文首先介绍POS与航空摄影系统的集成方法与工作原理;然后初步分析了POS系统的主要误差来源,在此基础上,研究了POS系统数据处理及误差控制方法;最后,结合河南安阳飞行试验数据的分析处理结果,进行了精度和可行性分析。     

Use of a reduced IMU to aid a GPS receiver with adaptive tracking loops for land vehicle navigation

A reduced inertial measurement unit (IMU) consisting of only one vertical gyro and two horizontal accelerometers or three orthogonal accelerometers can be used in land vehicle navigation systems to reduce volume and cost. In this paper, a reduced IMU is integrated with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver whose phase lock loops (PLLs) are aided with the Doppler shift from the integrated system. This approach is called tight integration with loop aiding (TLA). With Doppler aiding, the noise bandwidth of the PLL loop filters can be narrowed more than in the GPS-only case, which results in improved noise suppression within the receiver. In this paper, first the formulae to calculate the PLL noise bandwidth in a TLA GPS/reduced IMU are derived and used to design an adaptive PLL loop filter. Using a series of vehicle tests, results show that the noise bandwidth calculation formulae are valid and the adaptive loop filter can improve the performance of the TLA GPS/reduced IMU in both navigation performance and PLL tracking ability.     

机载POS系统中惯性测量单元精度检校方法

本文简要介绍了GPS/INS组合技术的优势和特点,分析了惯性测量单元(IMU)的工作原理及精度影响因素,系统阐述了机载POS系统中IMU的检校方法和精度评定方法,包括初始对准重复性检测、跟踪姿态角精度的标定和静态漂移检测等,并利用双轴数控转台,对3台不同类型的国产POS系统进行了数据采集、处理和对比分析,实验初步表明,...     

低精度INS／GPS组合导航大方位失准角初始对准方案

在低精度MEMS-IMU和GPS组合导航中,由于IMU的精度问题,无法通过传统的解析方法实现方位失准角的粗对准,造成了大方位失准角问题,从而导致系统的强非线性。通过变换状态量,用方位失准角的两个三角函数代替方位失准角作为状态量,建立了新的线性系统方程。用改进奇异值分解法对新对准系统进行可观测度分析,完成了车载导航试验,结果表明：本初始对准方案在低精度的组合导航中具有很好的对准精度和对准速度。     

一种低动态高抖动环境下的GPS/INS紧组合方法

针对低动态高抖动环境下,影响GPS/INS紧组合精度的重要因素——惯性测量单元(IMU)数据中的噪声,该文提出利用小波降噪方法分离IMU数据中的噪声和有用信号以提高GPS/INS紧组合的精度。首先对IMU数据进行小波分解后得到的高频系数进行阈值量化处理,然后将GPS观测数据与降噪后的IMU数据进行GPS/INS紧组合解算,最终得到载体的导航信息。实例结果表明,该方法可以大幅提升GPS/INS紧组合的精度和稳定可靠性。     

移动车载测图系统的POSLV定位精度评估

本文介绍了移动车载测图系统的组成,阐述了POSLV松组合、紧组合的组合策略以及框架体系。为评估POSLV系统的后处理定位精度,对引进的LandMark系统在国内BJBQL和ZZSM两个试验测区进行测试,在受GPS卫星信号失锁的影响下,POSLV数据后处理能否达到稳健的分米级、厘米级定位精度。试验结果表明,无GPS信号失锁时,POSLV数据后处理定位精度平面最大中误差达到5cm,高程最大中误差8cm;GPS失锁时间最长持续15min时,定位精度下降,平面中误差最大达到75cm,高程中误差最大达85cm。     

SDINS/GPS in-flight alignment using GPS carrier phase rate

The alignments of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) utilizing GPS carrier phase rate measurements is introduced. In this paper, a measurement model of GPS carrier phase rate under two antenna configurations is derived in order to be used for the SDINS alignment process. For in-flight alignment, the performance of the proposed SDINS/GPS integration method is analyzed using the covariance analysis and the overall performance is briefly confirmed by the navigation result of a van test. Furthermore, we find that during in-flight alignment the proposed SDINS/GPS integrated system using GPS carrier phase rate measurements can be implemented in real time because the integer ambiguity problem resulting from carrier phase measurements is avoided.     

机载三线阵影像空中三角测量的关键问题

对机载三线阵影像空中三角测量中涉及的平差数学模型、GPS/IMU的系统误差补偿、对地面控制点的需求以及构架航线的影响四个关键技术问题进行了理论分析与实验验证。ADS40数据的实验结果表明,GPS/IMU的定位误差是系统性的,并主要表现在坐标基准的不同。通过设计适当的数学模型改正GPS/IMU的系统误差,利用低阶多项式或定向片平差,在极少量地面控制点支持下即可达到1个像素左右的定位精度。构架航线对平差结果的改善作用有限,实际作业中不建议采用。     

IMU/DGPS辅助航空摄影新技术的应用

 利用IMU/DGPS组合导航技术，可以在航空摄影的同时直接获取像片的外方位元素。试验表明，只要对IMU/DGPS与航摄仪的集成系统误差和漂移误差进行检校和改正，直接获取的像片外方位元素可以用于正射影像的制作和中小比例尺测图。本文首先讨论了IMU/DGPS组合导航技术和IMU/DGPS辅助航空摄影系统的工作原理； 然后，结合甘肃酒泉试验数据，重点分析讨论了IMU/DGPS和航摄仪集成系统的误差及其检校问题。     

GPS/IMU组合定位定向系统设计

介绍了一种组合低成本的GPS和IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit)来获得高精度姿态、位置和速度信息的方法。文中介绍了GPS／IMU组合系统的设计方案及系统的硬件和软件设计，并给出了实验结果。该组合系统将来安装于炮兵测地车后，不仅可以提高测地的精度，而且在采样率、可靠性等方面比单独采用GPS定位的方法更有优势。     

GPS/Pseudolite/INS integration: concept and first tests

This paper discusses the introduction of pseudolites (ground-based GPS-like signal transmitters) into existing integrated GPS/INS systems in order to provide higher availability, integrity, and accuracy in a local area. Even though integrated GPS/INS systems can overcome inherent drawbacks of each component system (line-of-sight requirement for GPS, and INS errors that grow with time), performance is nevertheless degraded under adverse operational circumstances. Some typical examples are when the duration of satellite signal blockage exceeds an INS bridging level, resulting in large accumulated INS errors that cannot be calibrated by GPS. Such a scenario, unfortunately, is a common occurrence for certain kinematic applications. To address such shortcomings, both pseudolite/INS and GPS/pseudolite/INS integration schemes are proposed here. Typically, the former is applicable for indoor positioning where the GPS signal is unavailable for use. The latter would be appropriate for system augmentation when the number and geometry of visible satellites is not sufficient for accurate positioning or attitude determination. In this paper, some technical issues concerned with implementing these two integration schemes are described, including the measurement model, and the appropriate integration filter for INS error estimation and correction through GPS and pseudolite (PL) carrier phase measurements. In addition, the results from the processing of simulated measurements, as well as field experiments, are presented in order to characterize the system performance. As a result, it has been established that the GPS/PL/INS and PL/INS integration schemes would make it possible to ensure centimeter-level positioning accuracy even if the number of GPS signals is insufficient, or completely unavailable. Electronic Publication     

High-rate precise point positioning (PPP) to measure seismic wave motions: an experimental comparison of GPS PPP with inertial measurement units

High-rate GPS has been widely used to construct displacement waveforms and to invert for source parameters of earthquakes. Almost all works on internal and external evaluation of high-rate GPS accuracy are based on GPS relative positioning. We build an experimental platform to externally evaluate the accuracy of 50-Hz PPP displacement waveforms. Since the shake table allows motion in any of six degrees of freedom, we install an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to measure the attitude of the platform and transform the IMU displacements into the GPS coordinate system. The experimental results have shown that high-rate PPP can produce absolute horizontal displacement waveforms at the accuracy of 2–4 mm and absolute vertical displacement waveforms at the sub-centimeter level of accuracy within a short period of time. The significance of the experiments indicates that high-rate PPP is capable of detecting absolute seismic displacement waveforms at the same high accuracy as GPS relative positioning techniques, but requires no fixed datum station. We have also found a small scaling error of IMU and a small time offset of misalignment between high-rate PPP and IMU displacement waveforms by comparing the amplitudes of and cross-correlating both the displacement waveforms.     

Direct Sensor Orientation for Large Scale Mapping—Potential, Problems, Solutions

Georeferencing is one of the most important tasks in photogrammetry. Traditionally it has been achieved indirectly using the well-known method of aerial triangulation. With the availability of integrated GPS and inertial measurement units (IMU), this situation changed. Direct determination of exterior orientation is now possible. Today, direct and integrated sensor orientation is used for a wide range of sensors including lidar and SAR, as well as for digital line scanner systems and aerial cameras. This paper investigates the performance of direct and integrated sensor orientation for large scale mapping using the data-set of the 'Integrated Sensor Orientation' test of the European Organisation for Experimental Photogrammetric Research (OEEPE—now known as EuroSDR). The concept, potential, problems and solutions of direct and integrated sensor orientation are discussed.     

Application of Adaptive Kalman Filtering Algorithm in IMU/GPS Integrated Navigation System

The IMU(inertial measurement unit) error equations in the earth fixed coordinates are introduced firstly. A fading Kalman filtering is simply introduced and its shortcomings are analyzed, then an adaptive filtering is applied in IMU/GPS integrated navigation system, in which the adaptive factor is replaced by the fading factor. A practical example is given. The results prove that the adaptive filter combined with the fading factor is valid and reliable when applied in IMU/GPS integrated navigation system.     

Image-aided platform orientation determination with a GNSS/low-cost IMU system using robust-adaptive Kalman filter

The availability of miniaturized sensors with enhanced capabilities, new methods for image processing, and easy access to small and low-weight airborne platforms for data acquisition, including unmanned vehicles, opens new possibilities for geodetic navigation applications and developing new developments in sensor fusion. In this context, the development of efficient methods, based on low-cost sensors, to extract precise georeferenced information from digital cameras is of utmost interest. We present a method to improve the performance of the integration of GNSS/low-cost IMU by exploiting the orientation changes retrieved from digital images. In this work, a robust-adaptive Kalman filter is also introduced to further improve the performance of the method deployed. The adaptive factor and the robust factor accomplished are determined by innovation information and the threshold value of orientation changes between consecutive images. Results from airborne tests used to assess the performance of the method are presented. The results show that using a non-metric camera, the Euler angle estimation accuracy of the GNSS/low-cost IMU integration can be improved to be close to 0.5 degree and an additional improvement, which can reach 59%, can be achieved after using the robust-adaptive Kalman filter.     

IMU/DGPS辅助空中三角测量精度分析

GPS和IMU技术近年来取得了长足的进步和广泛的应用,两者的组合应用为航空摄影测量无需地面控制而直接定向恢复立体模型提供了可能。本文介绍了GPS像主点辅助空三和IMU/DGPS辅助空三,讨论了IMU/DGPS集成系统在航空摄影测量中的几种应用方式,重点分析了有无地面控制条件下IMU/DGPS辅助空三的精度情况。     

Design of a low-cost attitude determination GPS/INS integrated navigation system

Due to their complementary features of GPS and INS, the GPS/INS integrated navigation system is increasingly being used for a variety of commercial and military applications. An attitude determination GPS (ADGPS) receiver, with multiple antennas, can be more effectively integrated with a low-cost IMU since the receiver gives not only position and velocity data but also attitude data. This paper proposes a low-cost attitude determination GPS/INS integrated navigation system. The proposed navigation system comprises an ADGPS receiver, a navigation computer unit (NCU), and a low-cost commercial MEMS IMU. The navigation software includes a fault detection and isolation (FDI) algorithm for integrity. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed navigation system, two flight tests have been performed using a small aircraft. The first flight test confirmed the fundamental operation of the proposed navigation system and the effectiveness of the FDI algorithm. The second flight test evaluated the performance of the proposed navigation system and demonstrated the benefit of GPS attitude information in a high dynamic environment. The flight test results show that the proposed ADGPS/INS integrated navigation unit gives reliable navigation performance even when anomalous GPS data is provided and gives better navigation performance than a conventional GPS/INS unit.