Aerial Advantage: Robust Sensor Fusion for GPS Inertial Measurement Units in Diverse Flight Environments
Darren Liccardo, J. A. Morales de los Ríos · GPS world · 2006
This article discusses the use of a solid-state Global Positioning System (GPS) for small and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that can mimic the robustness and accuracy of larger, more expensive units by utilizing special data-acquisition elements, Kalman-filter based algorithms, and high-performance sensors. The solid-state element uses a GPS inertial measurement unit (IMU) as well as microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS), gyros, accelerometers, and fluxgate magnetometers. The article also provides test information for this system, including side-by-side comparisons with similar systems. A land vehicle test was also conducted, demonstrating the high level of accuracy and compactness that this system enjoys. The system is suitable for flights without humans aboard only, as its accuracy has not yet been proven to be stable for such purposes.