AsteRx High-End GNSS Receiver Coupled with MEMS-based IMU for Industrial Applications

Leen Vander Kuylen, Jianchen Gao, and Frank Boon

Abstract:	High-end GNSS receivers are deployed in rapidly increasing numbers in industrial applications such as agriculture and vehicle automation applications. Formerly regarded as high-end equipment, the receivers are now considered as off-the-shelf components in automated vehicle guidance systems where high reliability and accuracy are required. Despite the known characteristics of high-end GNSS receivers such as high-sensitivity, robustness and dual-frequency operation, these receivers have limitations for many industrial applications. In an ideal world, a reliable position and velocity solution would be continuously available at a high update rate. Reality however exposes the vulnerabilities of GNSS receivers in industrial applications: horizon obstructions and high vehicle vibrations continuously influence the signal quality and availability. Hence the reliability, accuracy and availability of the position-solution are directly proportional to the vehicle motion along and under the obstructions. In these circumstances, GNSS receivers can satisfy accuracy and reliability requirements only by sacrificing availability. This problem is traditionally solved by integration of the GNSS receivers with high-end IMU systems. This solution, however, remains too expensive for many industrial applications. The maturation of MEMS-based IMU sensors gives the possibility to provide a cost-efficient solution that still fulfils the accuracy, reliability and availability requirements needed for most industrial applications. In this paper, Septentrio presents the design and performance of a loosely-integrated GNSS/IMU receiver, based on its high-end AsteRx GNSS receiver and the MMQ50 MEMS-based IMU of Systron Donner. The main goal of this integrated system is to increase the availability of a reliable position solution in industrial applications without sacrificing accuracy. To demonstrate the performance of the system in an industrial environment, results of testing in an agriculture environment are presented.
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:	2113 - 2120
Cite this article:	Kuylen, Leen Vander, Gao, Jianchen, Boon, Frank, "AsteRx High-End GNSS Receiver Coupled with MEMS-based IMU for Industrial Applications," 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. 2113-2120.
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