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Range/optical flow-aided integrated navigation system in a strapdown sensor configuration

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Abstract

This paper presents a measurement fusion mechanism of a strapdown range/vision sensor and IMU for an integrated navigation system in order to provide accurate relative navigation performance on a general ground surface in a GNSS-denied environment. The ground surface model during maneuvering is proposed as a piecewise continuous one, with flat and sloped surface profiles. In its implementation, the presented system consists of an IMU and the aided sensor modules, consisting of a vision sensor and a LiDAR. For obtaining improved performance of integrated navigation system, it is suggested a new measurement model and sensor fusion scheme incorporating two-dimensional flow vectors and range from aided sensors with inertial measurements. In filter realization, an indirect INS error model is employed, with measurement vectors containing two-dimensional velocity errors, and one differenced altitude in the navigation frame. In computing the altitude difference, the ground slope angle is estimated through two bisectional LiDAR signals, with a practical assumption representing a typical ground profile. In this process, the range variation due the attitude change of the system is compensated in a novel way, through geometric characteristics between range measurements and ground shape. Finally, the overall integrated system is implemented, based on the extended Kalman filter framework, and the performance is demonstrated through a simulation study with an aircraft flight trajectory scenario and experiments with an integrated hardware platform.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Information Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin, Seoul, Korea

    Sukchang Yun, Young Jae Lee & Sangkyung Sung

Authors
  1. Sukchang Yun
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  2. Young Jae Lee
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  3. Sangkyung Sung
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sangkyung Sung.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Won-jong Kim under the direction of Editor Fuchun Sun. This work was supported by the national research fund under grant NRF-2013R1A1A1006401.

Sukchang Yun is a Ph.D. candidate of the Department of Aerospace Information Engineering at Konkuk University, Korea. He received the M.S degree in Aerospace Engineering from Konkuk University in 2009. His research interests include MEMS mechatronics and control, INS/GPS integration, LiDAR/Vision based navigation algorithm.

Young Jae Lee is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace Information Engineering at Konkuk University, Korea. He received his Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990. His research interests include integrity monitoring of GNSS signal, GBAS, RTK, attitude determination, orbit determination, and integrated navigation-related engineering problems.

Sangkyung Sung received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1996 and 2003, respectively. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of the Department of Aerospace Information Engineering, Konkuk University. His research interests include inertial sensors, integrated navigation, and application to mechatronics and unmanned systems.

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Yun, S., Lee, Y.J. & Sung, S. Range/optical flow-aided integrated navigation system in a strapdown sensor configuration. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 14, 229–241 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-014-0336-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-014-0336-5

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