Assessment of a Non-Dedicated GPS Receiver System for Precise Airborne Attitude Determination

M. Elizabeth Cannon, Huangqi Sun, Todd Owen and Mark Meindl

Abstract:	The use of a non-dedicated GPS receiver system for attitude determination was assessed in airborne mode through a test conducted at Sandia National Laboratories. Four independent NovAtel GPSCardTM receivers were installed in Sandia’s Twin Engine Otter with two antennas mounted on the fuselage and two on the wing tips at separations of 6 to 18 m. A strapdown INS was also on board the aircraft in order to provide an independent attitude reference at rates between 4 and 10 Hz. During the multi-day test, GPS measurements were recorded between 1 and 10 Hz. Carrier phase measurements were post- processed using a double difference approach developed at The University of Calgary in which integer ambiguities were resolved in seconds using the known antenna separations as constraints. The tracking capability of the system is demonstrated under dynamics consisting of roll and pitch angles up to 45 and 12 degrees, respectively. Comparisons between the GPS and INS attitude angles are presented for two of the test days and show agreement at the several arcminute level. Conclusions are made with respect to system accuracy and performance in an operational airborne environment.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 7th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1994) September 20 - 23, 1994 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	645 - 654
Cite this article:	Cannon, M. Elizabeth, Sun, Huangqi, Owen, Todd, Meindl, Mark, "Assessment of a Non-Dedicated GPS Receiver System for Precise Airborne Attitude Determination," Proceedings of the 7th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1994), Salt Lake City, UT, September 1994, pp. 645-654.
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