The Development of a Modular DGPS System

Timothy McCall

Abstract:	This paper describes the development and implementation of a DGPS system which provides real time set-out to less than one metre (2D) and provides a post processing result to less than 5cm (3D). The core of the system is a NovAtel OEM board, interfaced to a radio/modem combination, all of which is addressed by a palm-top computer. The emphasis has been reliability, modular design and light-weight, to produce a portable system, to operate in very harsh environments. A complete suite of programs have been written that take the user from initial waypoint calculation, to the final quality checks of the phase processed kinematic data and subsequent dump to any map grid. Phase processing software allows all avenues of post processing including “On the Fly” ambiguity resolution. The discussion describes the criteria for selection of the OEM board and the other hardware components, software design, initial field trials, modifications and final field implementation. The emphasis is mainly on the practical field aspects, and the continued development of the system which operates on Dynamic Satellite Surveys crews in Australia and the Middle East, involved in seismic, mineral exploration, and land boundary definition.
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:	1299 - 1307
Cite this article:	McCall, Timothy, "The Development of a Modular DGPS System," 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. 1299-1307.
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