Design and Implementation of BDS/GPS/SINS Integrated Navigation System Based on Embedded System

Celestial navigation system (CNS) is a completely autonomous navigation technology with strong anti-interference ability and high navigation accuracy, which has a great application prospect. Aim at defect of traditional integrated navigation system using attitude angle measurement celestial navigation system and strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS), which can only correct of strapdown inertial navigation system’s gyro drift. This paper proposes an improved integrated navigation system that add double-star positioning celestial navigation to traditional SINS/CNS integrated navigation system, meanwhile, introduces the fault detection technology based on statistical distance to solve the problem that inaccuracy of measurement information leads to the integrated navigation system’s performance degradation. By analyzing the simulation results, the improved navigation system can inhibit divergence of system and obtain high accurate and stable navigation information.

An Integrated Navigation System (INS) is expected to serve as a tool helping in reduction of maritime casualties and ensuring the safety of navigation. Such an INS should provide a maneuvering support system and integrate the information delivered to human operators aiming at the improvement of the navigation safety. The authors have developed a supporting system in INS for collision avoidance aiming at reduction of the operators’ work load and supporting the decision-making for navigators. 1)2) The prototypes of INS were set in the shiphandling simulators and simulation studies were carried out in order to improve and evaluate the system. Many kinds of supporting methods have been tested. Finally, several methods have been proposed for assisting the decision-making during the collision avoidance. These supporting methods use data provided by ship position detection and guidance systems, which are basic technologies of INS. The authors discuss the effectiveness of their method. The authors have also developed the collision avoidance expert system that solves the collision avoidance problem and advise a desirable collision avoidance action to the operator. Some experiments on the intelligent support of decision-making in INS were conducted at the ship handling simulator equipped with INS and collision avoidance expert system.

In the integrated inertial navigation system (INS) and celestial navigation system (CNS), the attitudes and positions of probes are estimated based on the auxiliary measurement of an infrared Earth sensor. The poor accuracy of the infrared Earth sensor compared to that of the star sensor significantly limits the navigation accuracy of the integrated navigation system. This paper proposes a novel INS/CNS integrated navigation system that uses the specific force with noncumulative error to correct infrared Earth measurements. The probe azimuth angle and elevation angle relative to the Earth's inertial frame are first estimated according to the specific force provided by the INS to filter the infrared Earth sensor's measurement error. Then, the corrected infrared Earth measurement assists the CNS to obtain accurate celestial measurements. The integrated INS/CNS navigation system in the tightly coupled mode finally estimates the accurate probe attitude and position. Compared to the integrated navigation system, which directly uses the uncorrected infrared Earth measurement, the yaw, pitch, and roll angle are improved under the proposed method by 76.73%, 77.64%, and 75.39% on average, respectively; the latitude and longitude estimation errors improve under the proposed method by 70.44% and 61.92% on average, respectively. In short, the proposed method is a feasible and highly accurate approach to the INS/CNS integrated navigation system.

Aiming at the difficulties of high-precision position and orientation system in aerophotogrammetry system, drift error in traditional Strap-down Inertial Navigation system, noise characteristic mutarions in integrated navigation system, an algorithm based on IMM-SINS/GNSS Kalman filter is proposed. The algorithm takes the advantages of SINS's autonomy and anti-interference characteristics, GNSS's high absolute precision and error-compensating, IMM's multi-model existence and noise adaption characteristic. The error is estimated by using the improved Kalman filter supported by SINS/GNSS integrated navigation system. Simulation results show that the location and attitude error is effectively limited, verify the feasibility of this scheme and the efficiency of the algorithm, showing that this algorithm is valuable in navigation and aerophotogrammetry field.

The conventional Kalman filter assumes that the system model and the observation model is linearity. Also the noise in system and observation model is white noise. However the practical environment is very complex. When we use Kalman filter to estimate, we can not got the transcendent information. The paper considers the characteristic of aircraft, research the structure and scheme of INS/CNS/GPS integrated navigation system. The error model of integrated navigation system has been set up. The status of navigation system has been estimated with Kalman filter, and the simulation calculation has been progressed. The paper presents a method, which use neural network ensembles to deal with the Kalman filter. This method improves the generalization and stabilization ability. The simulation shows that the arithmetic has high precision.

In this article, a prediction method based on a radial basis function neural network and an improved unscented Kalman filter, is proposed to improve the accuracy of position and velocity of the Global Positioning System/Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (GPS/SINS) integrated navigation system, especially in the presence of GPS signal outages. The improved unscented Kalman filter based on the adaptive theory is adopted to enhance the positioning accuracy of the GPS/SINS integrated navigation system when a GPS signal is available. A radial basis function neural network and a non-stationary time series analysis are used to predict and compensate for the positioning error of the GPS/SINS integration in the presence of GPS signal outages to improve the reliability of the navigation system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the simulation experiment and vehicle test. The simulation and test results show that the proposed method can improve the position accuracy and velocity accuracy in different GPS outage time periods.

There are the scale factor error of LDV (laser Doppler velocimeter) and the misalignment between the SINS (Strapdown inertial navigation system) and the vehicle in a SINS/LDV integrated navigation system. In this paper, the effects of these errors on the attitude, velocity and position of dead reckoning are derived, and a new online calibration method aiming to calibrate the scale factor of LDV and the misalignment between the SINS and the vehicle for the integrated system is put forward. This method, which is utilize the velocity and position of the Global Position System (GPS) as references, use the velocity error and position error of dead reckoning to estimate these errors. Through simulation and experiment, the validity and feasibility of the method are verified. The results show that the scale factor and the misalignment can be calibrated with satisfying accuracy, and the related research can provide technical support for high precision navigation of SINS/LDV integrated navigation systems.

Integrated navigation systems have evolved in response to the increasing requirements for more accurate navigation of marine survey vessels. Some systems have been better than others in terms of choice of devices for combination, or in mathematical handling of data from the respective sensors, but all have been inflexible in terms of interchange of sensor types or adaptation of new devices. This paper studies the basic philosophy of navigation system design with primary consideration given to system objectives and control structure. The result is a sensor-independent approach to integrated navigation system design. INTRODUCTION At this point in time, there is no universal aid to navigation which can provide continuous position fixes and velocities on a worldwide, 24-hour per day basis, and still deliver the accuracies required by all users. There are several systems which offer accuracy and continuity, but operate over a limited range; e.g., doppler satellites yield worldwide coverage but give only periodic fix updates; while VLF radio systems yield nearly continuous, worldwide coverage but lack the accuracy required for precision navigation. The Global Positioning System (GPS), promises to give simultaneous solutions to many of these problems, but commercial availability is not likely to be realized before the late 1980's. The approach taken to meet user requirements in precise navigation has been the "integrated navigation system" a combination of two or more different navigation subsystems. This paper deals with the philosophy of integrated system design, reviews the deficiencies in some past approaches to system integration, and describes a design structure which permits flexibility in the choice of sensor subsystems and provides for longer product lifetime. CATEGORIES OF NAVIGATION AIDS Since the earliest days of navigation, mariners have used tools to assist in determining their position (position fix) and in setting and keeping a course over a period of time to reach a desired new position (dead reckoning). Ocean voyages depended upon natural phenomena, with celestial observations for position reference and magnetic compass directions to maintain headings. Local navigation (piloting) has always used line-of-sight reference to coastline features or reference markers to maintain a desired course from successive triangulation bearings. Twentieth century techniques have considerably improved life for the navigator, extending operation on a 24-hour per day, all-weather basis while increasing the accuracy of measurement. Three techniques of measurement form the basis for most of the navigation aids currently in use: radio wave systems, which use broadcast wavelength as a "yardstick" for distance or velocity measurements between the navigator and known reference points; acoustic systems, which perform range or rangerate measurements based on propogation time of sound through water; and gyroscopic systems, which measure orientation and angular velocities within the Earth's gravitational field. The following paragraphs describe systems from all of these categories, giving some specific strengths and weaknesses of each system type.

The constraints of weight, volume and power for Small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) restrict the application of sensors with heavy and good performance and powerful processors. This paper presents a real-time solution of autonomous flight navigation and its results for small UAV by applying small, cheap, low precision and low-power integrated navigation system, which includes Strap-down Inertial Navigation System (SINS) based on Micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) inertial sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and magnetometer. The Square-Root Unscented Kalman filter (SR-UKF) for data fusion using in this MEMS-SINS/GPS/ magnetometer integrated navigation system provides continuous and reliable navigation results for the loops of guidance and control for the small UAV with autonomous flight. The whole integrated navigation system algorithm is implemented within low-power embedded microprocessors. The real-time flight test results show that the MEMS-SINS/GPS/magnetometer integrated navigation system is effective and accurate.

A new integrated navigation system designed for small size Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is presented. The proposed system is based on a number of low-cost avionics sensors, including Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Vision Based Sensors (VBS). The use of an Aircraft Dynamics Models (ADMs) to provide additional information to compensate for the shortcomings of Vision Based Navigation (VBN) and MEMS-IMU sensors in high-dynamics attitude determination tasks is also considered. Additionally, the research concentrates on the potential of carrier-phase GNSS for Attitude Determination (GAD) using interferometric techniques. The main objective is to design a compact, light and relatively inexpensive system capable of providing the required navigation performance (position and attitude data) in all phases of flight of small UAVs, with a special focus on precision approach and landing, where VBN techniques can be fully exploited in a multi-sensor data fusion architecture. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed to integrate the information provided by the different sensors and to provide estimates of position, velocity and attitude of the UAV platform in real-time. Three different integrated navigation system architectures are implemented. The first architecture uses VBN at 20 Hz and GNSS at 1 Hz to augment the MEMS-IMU running at 100 Hz. The second mode also includes the ADM (computations performed at 100 Hz) to provide augmentation of the attitude channel. The third fusion architecture uses GNSS based attitude values. The simulations are carried out on the AEROSONDE UAV performing high-dynamics manoeuvres repre-sentative of the UAV operational flight envelope. Simulation of the VBN-IMU-GNSS (VIG) integrated navigation system shows that the system can attain position, velocity and attitude accuracies complying with Category Two (CAT II) precision approach requirements. Simulation of the VBN-IMU-GNSS-ADM (VIGA) system also shows promising results, since the achieved attitude accuracy is higher using the ADM-VBN-IMU than using VBN-IMU only. However, due to rapid divergence of the ADM virtual sensor, there is a need for frequent re-initialisation of the ADM data module, which is strongly dependent on the UAV flight dynamics and the specific manoeuvring transitions performed. In the simulation of the third integrated navigation system, the VIG system is augmented by employing the GAD, forming the VIG-GAD (VIGGA) system architecture. The performances achieved with the VIG, VIGA and VIGGA integrated Navigation and Guidance System (NGS) are presented and are in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) precision approach requirements.

Many researches on use of local ground navigation systems can be found to overcome vulnerability of GNSS. Effective use of an altimeter is proposed in GNSS/DME integrated navigation systems. A weighted DOP based on statistics of measurement error is derived for a given vehicle motion trajectory. From the derived DOP, the vertical error is estimated. By comparing the estimated vertical error with error specification of the altimeter, use of the altimeter is determined in the GPS/DME integrated navigation systems. In order to show effectiveness of the proposed method, 50 times Monte-Carlo simulations were performed for a GPS/DME integrated navigation system. The results show that the proposed method gives more accurate navigation outputs when the number of GPS satellites in view varies.

Star sensor could work independently ignoring the outside interference, but the disadvantages of star sensor are low output frequency and the limitation in cloudy or rainy day. SINS/CNS integrated navigation system exactly makes up for the deficiencies. However, the practical environment of the surface ship with SINS/CNS integrated navigation system is complicated. It will make the star spots in the star image which is captured by star sensor blurred when the ship is in high dynamic motion condition, especially in the rotation motion. This special environment will results in the inaccurate identification of star image and decrease the gesture determination accuracy of star sensor. At the same time, the reliability of SINS/CNS integrated navigation system is much lower than that in static state. To solve this kind of problem, this paper sums up the previous methods and technologies of image processing, considers the complex and special environment where the SINS/CNS integrated navigation system works actually, and proposes a new improved algorithm which is based on one-dimensional Wiener Filter (1DWF). Through the analysis based on the designed experiment, the attitude and position output accuracy of the star sensor is as high as wiener filter. The result of the experiment demonstrates that the new developed algorithm based on 1DWF could be applied to the SINS/CNS integrated navigation system successfully.

A multi-sensor integrated solution that combine complementary features of the Global Positioning System (GPS), inertial navigation system (INS), and magnetometer is presented due to GPS-aided inertial navigation system (INS) provides poor observability of heading angle. In addition, Based on the principle of federated Kalman filtering and Adaptive Extended Kalman Filter, the algorithm is presented also for accuracy of positioning and attitude, rapidity, and error tolerance of the navigation system. The algorithm is implemented in the integrated navigation system. Experimental results show that the observability issue is solved and improvement in accuracy.

SINS (Strap-down Inertial Navigation System) and GPS (Global positioning system) integrated navigation system has been extensively applied in many areas. In-flight alignment (IFA) is one of the key technologies. In this paper, an iterative unscented Kalman filter (IUKF) for SINS/GPS integrated navigation system is proposed to achieve IFA approach. Firstly, the nonlinear error equation of SINS is established, and the difference between the position and velocity of the two navigation systems is taken as the observation variables. Then, an IUKF is proposed to minimize the truncation error caused by Taylor expansion and reduce the influence of initial state value on the system state. Finally, simulation results can prove that the IUKF improves the navigation precision and robustness of system compared with the counterpart of UKF.KeywordsIntegrated navigation systemIterative filterIn-flight alignment

An integrated GPS/INS system provides more accurate estimates of position and attitude compared to individual systems. Availability of inertial sensors and GPS cores has opened up new opportunities for low cost INS/GPS systems which find wide spread application. Different integration techniques of GPS/INS integration have been implemented to obtain accurate position in navigation systems. A loosely coupled GPS/INS integration has been adopted in this paper. Real-time system discussed here is more suitable for navigation systems. In this paper, the modeling on GPS/INS integrated navigation system is design and simulated.