A GPS Positioning System for an Automatic Submersible Research Vessel

Anthony Haddrell, David Meldrum

Abstract:	TheDunstaffnageMarineLaboratoty,alongwithothers, is responsible for design and implementation of an Automatic Submersible vessel for sub-sea research activities. The vessel is required to periodically surface and transmit data to its base. At the same time its position is established to enable onboard guidance systems to be updated and realigned. Due to the possibility of deployment anywhere in the world, the use of GPS for the positioning task is an obvious choice. However, a number of practical problems require solution before a GPS system can obtain adequate fixes aboard the vessel. Navstar undertook a project to study requirements for the most suitable antenna for use on the vessel, given its profile and roll characteristics. Further study and simulations were carried out to analyse the effects of wavewash over the antenna which, due to the GPS data parity algorithm structure, was expected to severely disrupt the acquisition of emphemeris information. The study continued to provide a new data acquisition algorithm designed to combat the wavewash effect. The paper describes the stages of the project, the simulation results and the outcome of practical trials.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 6th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1993) September 22 - 24, 1993 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	701 - 709
Cite this article:	Haddrell, Anthony, Meldrum, David, "A GPS Positioning System for an Automatic Submersible Research Vessel," Proceedings of the 6th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1993), Salt Lake City, UT, September 1993, pp. 701-709.
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