Pilot-Assisted INS Aiding Using Bearing-Only Measurements Taken Over Time

Anthony T. Mirabile and Meir Pachter

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	The objective of this work is to develop an alternative Inertial Navigation System (INS) aiding source other than the Global Positioning System (GPS) while preserving the autonomy of the integrated navigation system. It is proposed to develop a modernized method of aerial navigation using driftmeter measurements. Use of an Electro-Optical (E/O) system (LANTIRN or Sniper) for ground feature tracking by the pilot, and an independent altitude sensor (baro altimeter or radar altimeter) in conjunction with the INS, is envisioned. The idea is to use measurements taken by the pilot using the E/O system to aid an existing INS, thus automating the navigator’s function. The pilot will track a ground feature with the E/O system, while the aircraft is on autopilot holding constant airspeed, altitude, and heading during an INS aiding session. The ground feature measurements from the E/O system and the INS output will be used to form measurements provided to a linear Kalman Filter (KF) running on the navigation computer to accomplish the INS aiding action. Aiding the INS will be periodically repeated as operationally permissible under pilot discretion. The structured environment: constant speed, constant altitude, and wings level flight while on autopilot justifies the linearization of the KF kinematic and measurement equations used during an INS aiding session. Due to justified linearization conditions, little to no modeling error will be present when implementing a linear Kalman filter. Therefore, the strength of the INS aiding action will be exclusively determined by the prevailing degree of observability. It is shown that after one short aiding period a 60% reduction in position covariance is realized.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 28th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2015) September 14 - 18, 2015 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	2020 - 2030
Cite this article:	Mirabile, Anthony T., Pachter, Meir, "Pilot-Assisted INS Aiding Using Bearing-Only Measurements Taken Over Time," Proceedings of the 28th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2015), Tampa, Florida, September 2015, pp. 2020-2030.
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