Comprehensive Navigation Analysis for UAVs Using COTS

Timothy A. Craychee

Abstract:	As Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) play an everincreasing role in intelligence gathering, effective and accurate tools are essential for increasing the probability of overall success and maximizing the benefits of these UAVs. Using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software tools, the user now has the ability to analyze collections plans; navigation quality; threats and jammers; and communications links in pre-mission planning, real-time operations, and post-mission analysis. This COTS technology allows the user to use readily available and proven technology as the basis for breakthrough mission analysis techniques. Details of a mission—aircraft position, orientation, and GPS receiver field-of-view—can be analyzed while considering ground visibility limitations such as terrain obscurations, environmental affects, and duration. Detailed navigation analysis can be calculated modeling all GPS spacecraft parameters as well as end-user hardware including antenna and receiver types. Jammer avoidance and interference can be done in the same software in a 3-D environment depicting threat rings and detection domes. During live operations, the software offers real-time visualization into the aforementioned analysis areas to provide instant insight into the situation as it unfolds. This insight can be used by the warfighter to adapt to new situations and opportunities and to make fast, well-informed decisions. Post-mission, the same type of analysis can be done to compare actual results to the plan. To illustrate these points, a recorded trial will be examined to show this breakthrough navigation analysis.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2007) April 23 - 25, 2007 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	688 - 694
Cite this article:	Craychee, Timothy A., "Comprehensive Navigation Analysis for UAVs Using COTS," Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2007), Cambridge, MA, April 2007, pp. 688-694.
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