Accuracy and reliability of tightly coupled GPS/ultra-wideband positioning for surveying in urban environments

A tightly coupled filter integrating GPS and ultra-wideband (UWB) observations for high-precision position applications is implemented and tested to survey several external corner points of an eight story building. The filter uses GPS pseudoranges, GPS carrier-phase measurements, and UWB ranges and includes in-run estimation of UWB bias and scale factor states. The filter employs inequality constraints and innovation testing to mitigate the effects of unmodeled errors. The tightly coupled solution is compared to GPS-only, UWB-only, and loosely coupled solutions. The ability of each solution to detect measurement blunders is compared. Sub-meter level position solutions are maintained using tight-coupling in conditions where the solutions from the other three approaches are either unavailable or unreliable.