A General Approach to Online Sensor Calibration for Navigation using Factor Graphs

Nhon H. Trinh, Xun S. Zhou, Han-Pang Chiu, Supun Samarasekera, Rakesh Kumar

Abstract:	We present a general method for online sensor calibration using factor graphs, which can be applied to a wide range of sensors and parameter types. Our approach refines a particular sensor’s calibration parameters using all sensors’ measurements recorded in a small period of time at the beginning of a navigation mission, and then uses the refined parameters in the rest of the mission. The parameter estimation module is implemented in our twotier navigation system which comprises a low-latency Hierarchical Multi-Rate Filter (HMF) and a high-quality Trajectory Smoother/Mapper (TSM). HMF and TSM run in parallel to provide a low-latency and accurate navigation solution. TSM includes the parameter estimation sub-module, which refines the sensor calibration parameters. We present methods for calibrating four types of parameters that are often encountered in a navigation system: wind velocity, compass bias, time offset between system’s clock and camera’s clock, and step size of pedestrians. In addition, we validated our proposed calibration method using both real aerial and ground data.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2013 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 29 - 27, 2013 Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, California
Pages:	901 - 908
Cite this article:	Trinh, Nhon H., Zhou, Xun S., Chiu, Han-Pang, Samarasekera, Supun, Kumar, Rakesh, "A General Approach to Online Sensor Calibration for Navigation using Factor Graphs," Proceedings of the 2013 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, California, January 2013, pp. 901-908.
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