Method and device for determining correction parameters

• US 5,946,813 A
• Filed: 10/13/1998
• Issued: 09/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Leica Geosystems AG (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: Leica Geosystems AG (Hexagon AB)
• Inventors: Dittrich, Frank, Nachbaur, Peter, Gnepf, Silvio
• Primary Examiner(s): BENNETT, GEORGE B
• Application Number:
  US09/170,206
• Time in Patent Office: 329 Days
• Field of Search: 33/355 R, 33/356, 33/357, 33/358, 33/359, 33/361, 73/178 R, 701/207, 701/213, 701/214
• US Class Current: 33/357
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 17/38 Testing, calibrating, or compensating of compasses
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining correction parameters for the measured values of a magnetic compass, which is built into a land craft for navigation purposes, and gives the azimuth a of the direction of motion of the vehicle; of a gradiometer giving the elevation e of the direction of motion of the vehicle in relation to the horizon; and of an odometer, giving the distance s travelled. In this method, two visually navigated test drives are carried out in different directions between known point of departure and arrival. The measured values (a, e, s) are replaced by corrected values (a'"'"', e'"'"', s'"'"') in accordance with the following: a'"'"'=a+A+B·sin a+C·cos a; e'"'"'=e-A₂ ; S'"'"'=ρ. The correction parameters are determined by performing a vertorial comparison of the known direction and distance values (a'"'"', e'"'"', s'"'"') with the measured values. The correction parameters are as follows: A for declination and compass mounting errors in azimuth; B, C for hard and soft magnetic vehicle magnetism; A₂ for mounting errors of the gradiometer in elevation; and ρ for a scale error of the odometer.

Claims

1. Method for determining correction parameters for the measured values of a magnetic compass, which is built into a land vehicle for navigation purposes, and gives the azimuth a of the direction of motion of the vehicle, of a gradiometer giving the elevation e of the direction of motion of the vehicle in relation to the horizon, and of an odometer giving the distance s traveled, the instantaneous direction vector of the vehicle being given by ##EQU3## where L_j =direction of motion of the vehicle in the horizontal plane and s_j =distance interval between two measurement instances j and j-1, characterized in that a first test drive is carried out with visual navigation from a departure point known by its geographical coordinates to a destination point also known by its geographical coordinates,

in that a subsequent test drive with a change in direction is carried out under visual navigation to a second destination point known by its geographical coordinates, in that, during the test drives, the measured values a_j, e_j, s_j are recorded at instances t_j :

j=1 . . . N, and the corresponding values a'"'"'_j, e'"'"'_j, s'"'"'_j are calculated from the known coordinates of the departure point and destination point, and in that the calculated direction vectors are related to the direction vectors determined by measurement according to;

a'"'"'=a+A+B·

sin a+C·

cos a

e'"'"'=e-A₂

s'"'"'=ρ

·

s

and the correction parameters

A for declination and compass mounting error in azimuth,

B, C for hard and soft magnetic magnetism in the vehicle,

A₂ for mounting errors of the gradiometer in elevation, and

ρ

for a scale error of the odometer are determined therefrom.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the second test drive takes place from the first destination point back to the departure point.

3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the geographical data of the departure point and destination point are determined using a GPS measuring system built into the vehicle.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that, during the test drive, GPS coordinate determinations are carried out continuously and the accuracy of the GPS coordinate values is determined as a ratio to the distance traveled s, and the destination point is established on the basis of the ratio obtained.