A Hybrid System for Navigation in GPS-challenged Environments: Case Study

Chris Rizos, Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska, Charles K. Toth, Andrew G. Dempster, Yong Li, Nonie Politi, Joel Barnes, Hongxing Sun

Abstract:	Reliable and continuous navigation in GPS-challenged environments is only possible with integrated systems that include self-contained sensors, which facilitate independent navigation during GPS outages. Traditionally, an inertial navigation system (INS) has been integrated with GPS to allow bridging during GPS gaps. The recently developed RF-based navigation and positioning system “Locata” offers an attractive augmentation alternative in situations where GPS satellite geometry is poor or the signal availability is limited. In cooperation with Locata Corporation, a Canberra-based company, School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems (at the University of New South Wales - UNSW), and the Satellite Positioning and Inertial Navigation (SPIN) Laboratory (of The Ohio State University - OSU), have assembled a working prototype of a hybrid system based on GPS, inertial navigation and Locata receiver technology to provide seamless and reliable navigation to support vehicle guidance and control for mining, construction, mobile and GIS mapping, and industrial applications. For experimental purposes, a dual IMU system, based on the navigation grade H764G and a tactical grade CMIGITS2, were used. In addition, a Locata receiver and a dual-frequency GNSS receiver, the Leica System 1200, were used on a test vehicle at the Locata’s Numerella Test Facility, near Canberra, Australia. This test site features areas of both open sky as well as moderate to dense foliage. The test was repeated by mounting the devices on an autonomous electric car, operated on the UNSW campus. The GPS and Locata data were processed separately (for testing the internal consistency) as well in a hybrid solution, resulting in few centimetre-level accuracy for each coordinate component, depending primarily on GPS availability and the geometry between the test vehicle and the LocataLites, as well as the level of multipath.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008) September 16 - 19, 2008 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	1418 - 1428
Cite this article:	Rizos, Chris, Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota A., Toth, Charles K., Dempster, Andrew G., Li, Yong, Politi, Nonie, Barnes, Joel, Sun, Hongxing, "A Hybrid System for Navigation in GPS-challenged Environments: Case Study," Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008), Savannah, GA, September 2008, pp. 1418-1428.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In