AN INTEGRATED GPS/GYRO/SMART STRUCTURES ARCHITECTURE FOR ATTITUDE DETERMINATION AND BASELINE METROLOGY

N. Glenn Creamer, George C. Kirby, Ronald E. Weber, Albert B. Bosse, and Shalom Fisher

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	A novel integration of GPS carrier phase signals, rate gyro signals, and baseline strain signals for simultaneous attitude determination and baseline metrology is described in this paper. The carrier phase and rate gyro signals are combined into a simplified, uncoupled attitude Kalman filter possessing two states about each of three body axes. The strain signals are incorporated into a strain-displacement mapping algorithm to estimate static and dynamic motion of a flexible baseline and, hence, provide necessary baseline correction vectors for computation of the attitude. A technique for optimally placing the strain sensors to minimize the mean squared error of the estimated baseline tip displacement is also described. Experimental results for a rigid platform with a 5 m cantilevered flexible baseline demonstrate real-time arcminute-level attitude capability of the integrated filter in the presence of centimeter-level baseline flexure.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 45, Number 4
Pages:	307 - 317
Cite this article:	Export Citation https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-4296.1998.tb02390.x
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