Aircraft navigation using the global positioning system and an attitude and heading reference system

• US 8,082,099 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2009
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Avionics Systems Corporation (Elbit Systems Limited)
• Original Assignee: Universal Avionics Systems Corporation (Elbit Systems Limited)
• Inventors: Latif, Shehzad
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US12/351,243
• Publication Number:
  US 20100179758A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/207, 701/208, 701/214, 701/216, 701/213, 701/215, 348/142
• US Class Current: 701/216
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/165 combined with non-inertial navigation instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/018 Involving non-radio wave signals or measurements

Abstract

A vehicle navigation technique uses a receiver for signals of a global positioning system to produce a first position indication and a first velocity indication. An attitude and heading reference system employs accelerometers and gyroscopes oriented along three axes. The raw signals from the accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to derive a second position indication and a second velocity value. A Kalman filter function is applied to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications to thereby produce a present position indication and a present velocity indication. The Kalman filter function exploits GPS data to corrects periodic drift in the position and velocity indications derived form the accelerometers and gyroscopes by calculating accelerometer and gyroscope biases, thereby enabling relatively inexpensive devices to be utilized.

Claims

1. A navigation system for a vehicle comprising:

a plurality of accelerometers onboard the vehicle;

a plurality of gyroscopes onboard the vehicle;

a receiver, onboard the vehicle, for first signals of a global positioning system and in response thereto producing, repeatedly at a first frequency, a first position indication for the vehicle; and

a processor that receives data from the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes and therefrom produces a second position indication for the vehicle, and also receives the first position indication, wherein the processor applies a recursive data processing algorithm to the first and second position indications to produce a present position indication for the vehicle.

2. The navigation system as recited in claim 1 wherein the processor applies a Kalman filter function to the first and second position indications.

3. The navigation method as recited in claim 2 wherein the Kalman filter function produces bias data indicating errors in the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes;

and further comprising employing the bias data to compensate the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers to derive the present position indication.

4. The navigation system as recited in claim 1 wherein the receiver also receives second signals of a Wide Area Augmentation System and wherein the first position indication also is produced in response to the second signals.

5. The navigation system as recited in claim 1 wherein:

the receiver also produces a first velocity indication; and

the processor also produces a second velocity indication using the data from the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes, and employs the first and second velocity indications to produce a present velocity indication for the vehicle.

6. The navigation system as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor applies the recursive data processing algorithm to the first and second velocity indications to produce the present velocity indication.

7. The navigation system as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor applies a Kalman filter to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications to produce the present position indication and the present velocity indication.

8. A navigation method for a vehicle comprising:

receiving, via a receiver onboard the vehicle, signals of a global positioning system and in response thereto producing, repeatedly at a first frequency, a first position indication for the vehicle;

receiving data from a plurality of accelerometers attached to the vehicle;

receiving data from a plurality of gyroscopes attached to the vehicle;

deriving a second position indication for the vehicle from the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes, wherein the second position indication is derived repeatedly at a second frequency that is greater than the first frequency; and

employing the first and second position indications to produce a present position indication for the vehicle.

9. The navigation method as recited in claim 8 wherein deriving a second position indication employs an inertial strapdown navigation algorithm.

10. The navigation method as recited in claim 8 wherein the present position indication for the vehicle is produced by applying a recursive data processing algorithm to the first and second position indications.

11. The navigation method as recited in claim 8 wherein the present position indication for the vehicle is produced by applying a Kalman filter function to the first and second position indications.

12. The navigation method as recited in claim 11 wherein the Kalman filter function produces bias data indicating errors in the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes;

and further comprising employing the bias data to compensate the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes, and then using such compensated data in deriving the present position indication.

13. The navigation method as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

deriving a first velocity indication from the signals of the global positioning system;

deriving a second velocity indication from data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes; and

employing the first and second velocity indications to produce a present velocity indication for the vehicle.

14. The navigation method as recited in claim 13 wherein the present position indication and the present velocity indication are produced by applying a recursive data processing algorithm to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications.

15. The navigation method as recited in claim 13 wherein the present position indication and the present velocity indication are produced by applying a Kalman filter function to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications.

16. A navigation method for a vehicle comprising:

receiving, onboard the vehicle, signals of a global positioning system and in response thereto producing, repeatedly at a first frequency, a first position indication for the vehicle and a first velocity indication for the vehicle;

receiving data from a plurality of accelerometers attached to the vehicle and from a plurality of gyroscopes attached to the vehicle;

deriving a second position indication for the vehicle from the data received from the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes;

deriving a second velocity indication for the vehicle from the data received from the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes, wherein the second position indication and the second velocity indication are produced repeatedly at a first frequency; and

applying a Kalman filter function to the first and second position indications and to the first and second velocity indications to thereby produce a present position indication and a present velocity indication at a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is greater than the second frequency.

17. The navigation method as recited in claim 16 wherein deriving a second position indication and deriving a second velocity indication employs a inertial strapdown navigation algorithm.

18. The navigation method as recited in claim 16 wherein the Kalman filter function produces bias data indicating errors in the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers and the plurality of gyroscopes;

and further comprising employing the bias data to compensate the data provided by the plurality of accelerometers to derive the present position indication and the present velocity indication.