Performance of a Deeply Coupled Commercial Grade GPS/INS System from KVH and NovAtel Inc.

Sandy Kennedy and Jim Rossi

Abstract:	NovAtel Inc. and KVH Industries have jointly developed a commercial grade, single enclosure GPS/INS system. The integrated KVH CG-5100 IMU features fiber-optic gyros and MEMs accelerometers, and provides inertial data at 100 Hz. NovAtel's OEMV3 receiver is the GPS engine. Weighing 5.2 lbs, the combined system will feature the tightly coupled architecture that is a key characteristic of NovAtel's SPAN (Synchronized Position Attitude Navigation) technology. The GPS receiver provides aiding information for the INS, and is reciprocally aided by feedback from the INS to improve signal tracking. The feedback from the INS to the GPS engine is the deeply coupled aspect of the system. It is also tightly coupled. GPS measurements are used to update the INS filter, providing high quality aiding information whenever there are least two satellites available. The combined system has an optional wheel sensor, which is used to further aid the INS during times of reduced GPS availability in land vehicle applications. The GPS/INS navigation solution is computed on-board the OEMV3 and is available in real-time. Raw data can be simultaneously logged for post-processing. For applications that need higher accuracy, post-processing can be performed with the Inertial Explorer software package, which features a fixed interval smoother. This paper provides a preliminary performance assessment of the NovAtel-KVH GNSS/INS system. Results from real world data are presented. The analysis focuses on signal tracking performance and the accuracy of the GPS/INS solution, under favorable GPS conditions and under challenging GPS conditions.
Published in:	Proceedings of IEEE/ION PLANS 2008 May 6 - 8, 2008 Hyatt Regency Hotel Monterey, CA
Pages:	17 - 24
Cite this article:	Kennedy, Sandy, Rossi, Jim, "Performance of a Deeply Coupled Commercial Grade GPS/INS System from KVH and NovAtel Inc.," Proceedings of IEEE/ION PLANS 2008, Monterey, CA, May 2008, pp. 17-24. https://doi.org/10.1109/PLANS.2008.4569965
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