Low Cost Testing of a High Accuracy INS Using GPS

Alison Brown, Tony Matthews, Tom Varty

Abstract:	In recent years, advances in technology have led towards the development of cheap High Accuracy Inertial Navigation Systems (HAINS). However, testing such systems requires the use of dedicated, expensive test ranges which are usually* within military control, for example, Holloman Economical testing of INS is usually and velocity against ground survey points, or by comparing position in flight against ground VOR references. Both techniques have the limitation of providing accuracy tests only at discrete locations. Also, VOR accuracies are normally stated to 0.1 nm which is not sufficient to determine the characteristics of HAINS. The Global Positioning System is a satellite based radio-navigation system which provides position to within 100 m2 drms, for civilian users, and velocity to better than 0.1 knots. Although GPS will not be fully operational until 1989, the present GPS test constellation allows four hours of satellite coverage daily, which HAINS systems today is sufficient to provide a low cost test capability for The advantages of GPS testing are twofold. First, GPS provides position and velocity every second, which allows continuous testing of HAINS accuracy throughout maneuvers. Secondly, the precision provided by GPS testing is comparable to that available on military test ranges, but at a fraction of the cost. This low cost GPS test facility allows INS manufacturers to thoroughly test their products, before committing them to expensive military evaluation, i.e., CIGTF.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1986 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 21 - 23, 1986 Long Beach, CA
Pages:	47 - 48
Cite this article:	Brown, Alison, Matthews, Tony, Varty, Tom, "Low Cost Testing of a High Accuracy INS Using GPS," Proceedings of the 1986 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Long Beach, CA, January 1986, pp. 47-48.
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