An Intelligent Navigation Aid for Land Mobile Applications Using Augmented Reality Technologies

S. Scott-Young

Abstract:	Over the last few decades, improvements to vehicle safety have focused on reducing the severity of trauma rather than accident prevention. However, current technological developments in positioning and visualisation are now offering the opportunity to improve driver decision-making and accident avoidance abilities. Augmented reality (AR) technologies enable digitally stored information to be overlaid graphically on views of the real world. For land mobile applications, AR can be used to improve driver awareness of the surrounding environment, particularly during times of limited visibility. Such a system can complement other developing technologies capable of alerting drivers when their vehicle is drifting off the road or into a lane of on-coming traffic. This research aims to develop an Intelligent Navigation Aid that enables drivers to 'see' the road and surrounding vehicles in poor visibility conditions. An AR system that combines real-time road imagery with augmented information of highlighted road boundaries and surrounding vehicles is described in this paper. Essential to the operation of the system is accurate positioning and attitude (heading, pitch and roll) determination for the vehicle that enables alignment of virtual objects with the real world. Real-time position and attitude is computed using a multi-antenna array of dual frequency GPS receivers. A fibre optic gyro and vehicle odometer are integrated within a Kalman filter to maintain system operation during GPS outages. Additionally, a video camera mounted on the dashboard captures the driver's perspective view. Using the positioning and attitude information, a three-dimensional model containing the augmented information is overlaid onto this view. The prototype development and successful field tests conducted in Melbourne, Australia, are discussed in this paper. Practical results and recommendations for future developments are also presented.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003) September 9 - 12, 2003 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR
Pages:	2371 - 2380
Cite this article:	Scott-Young, S., "An Intelligent Navigation Aid for Land Mobile Applications Using Augmented Reality Technologies," Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003), Portland, OR, September 2003, pp. 2371-2380.
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