Real-Time Realization of 2D RISS/GPS Integrated Navigation on Xilinx's MicroBlaze Soft-core Processor for Land Applications

W.F. Abdelfatah, J. Georgy, U. Iqbal, A. Noureldin

Abstract:	The Global positioning system (GPS) is a satellite-based, absolute-positioning navigation system that is widely used in land applications. Although, the navigation solution that is provided by GPS is sufficiently accurate, in the order of centimeters level when augmented using other satellite-based or ground-based augmentation systems, still it is unable to fulfill the requirements of continuity and reliability in some areas such as urban canyons or tunnels due to GPS signal disruption. Recent advances in mobile multi-sensor navigation systems which fuse measurements from low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS)- based sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and barometers along with GPS measurements are widely recognized due to the more reliable, continuous and accurate navigation solution that these systems can provide with respect to the currently available standalone GPS receivers. The fusion of the measurements from the GPS receiver and the low-cost sensors is in general done using Kalman filtering (KF), particle filtering or artificial intelligence techniques. The navigation algorithm based on KF for 2D reduced inertial sensor system (RISS)/GPS integration, is one of many integrated navigation algorithms that fuses measurements from a gyroscope, an odometer/wheel encoders and a GPS receiver to overcome the limitations of the standalone GPS system. Developing a real-time embedded system is one of the crucial and important stages to move from the theoretical to practical aspects of the algorithm. The role of the developed embedded system is to synchronize the measurements from the available sensors and the GPS relative to the pulse per second (PPS) signal generated from the GPS receiver, after which the navigation algorithm is applied to the synchronized measurements to compute the navigation solution in real-time. Xilinx’s MicroBlaze soft-core processor on a Virtex-4 FPGA is utilized and customized for developing the real-time embedded navigation system. The soft-core processor offers the flexibility to choose a set of peripherals and features that are tailored to the designed navigation application. The developed navigation system is tested on a mobile robot which gives the developer the flexibility to acquire as many trajectories in order to reveal system bugs and integration problems.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2011 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 24 - 26, 2011 Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	414 - 421
Cite this article:	Abdelfatah, W.F., Georgy, J., Iqbal, U., Noureldin, A., "Real-Time Realization of 2D RISS/GPS Integrated Navigation on Xilinx's MicroBlaze Soft-core Processor for Land Applications," Proceedings of the 2011 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2011, pp. 414-421.
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