Evaluation of a Blended Dead Reckoning and Carrier Phase Differential GPS Systemfor Control of an Off-Road Vehicle

David M. Bevly, Andrew Rekow and Bradford Parkinson

Abstract:	This paper evaluates the ability of an inexpensive dead reckoning system, initialized using carrier phase differential GPS, to provide adequate position and attitude estimation for the control of a farm tractor during short GPS outages. The dead reckoning system allows for continuous control of the vehicle through these GPS outages. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) combines the dead reckoning system and cm-level Carrier- Phase Differential GPS (DGPS) measurements for continuous position and attitude estimation of an off-road vehicle. The cm-level accuracy of the DGPS allows for precise calibrations of the plant and sensor models in order to improve the accuracy of the dead reckoning system. Furthermore, it may be possible to reacquire carrier-phase integers more rapidly after short GPS outages, through the continuous position estimation of the dead reckoning system. Analysis based on the short-term integration of sensor noise is used to determine bounds on the position accuracy over time. Results are given which verify the ability of the dead reckoning system’s position and attitude estimation for control of a farm tractor through a short GPS outage.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999) September 14 - 17, 1999 Nashville, TN
Pages:	2061 - 2070
Cite this article:	Bevly, David M., Rekow, Andrew, Parkinson, Bradford, "Evaluation of a Blended Dead Reckoning and Carrier Phase Differential GPS Systemfor Control of an Off-Road Vehicle," Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999), Nashville, TN, September 1999, pp. 2061-2070.
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