Tight Integration of Dual ALS and IMU for Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Navigation

Ananth K. Vadlamani, and Maarten Uijt de Haag

Abstract:	In this paper, we present the use of two airborne laser scanners (ALS) to aid an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for autonomous navigation of an aerial vehicle. Deadreckoning is one of the oldest and most indispensable forms of navigation and inertial navigation systems rely on the principle of dead-reckoning to form their navigation solution. The gyroscope and accelerometer measurements of an IMU are integrated to form vehicle attitude, velocity and position solutions. However, these states have errors that drift over time and the IMU has to be integrated with other sensor measurements for more accuracy. Here, we describe the use of dual ALS to aid the horizontal channels of a tactical-grade IMU in non- GPS and unknown terrain environments, leading to fully autonomous operation. Results from flight test data collected onboard Ohio University’s DC-3 aircraft in the vicinity of Braxton county airport (K48i), WV and synthesized laser range data are used to evaluate the proposed method.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007) September 25 - 28, 2007 Fort Worth Convention Center Fort Worth, TX
Pages:	80 - 87
Cite this article:	Vadlamani, Ananth K., de Haag, Maarten Uijt, "Tight Integration of Dual ALS and IMU for Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Navigation," Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007), Fort Worth, TX, September 2007, pp. 80-87.
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