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Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Aerospace Vehicle Navigation And Control System Comprising Terrestrial Illumination Matching Module For Determining Aerospace Vehicle Position And Attitude, Liberty M. Shockley, Robert A. Bettinger
Aerospace Vehicle Navigation And Control System Comprising Terrestrial Illumination Matching Module For Determining Aerospace Vehicle Position And Attitude, Liberty M. Shockley, Robert A. Bettinger
AFIT Patents
The present invention relates to an aerospace vehicle navigation and control system comprising a terrestrial illumination matching module for determining spacecraft position and attitude. The method permits aerospace vehicle position and attitude determinations using terrestrial lights using an Earth-pointing camera without the need of a dedicated sensor to track stars, the sun, or the horizon. Thus, a module for making such determinations can easily and inexpensively be made onboard an aerospace vehicle if an Earth-pointing sensor, such as a camera, is present.
Collaborative All-Source Navigation With Integrity, Jonathon S. Gipson
Collaborative All-Source Navigation With Integrity, Jonathon S. Gipson
Theses and Dissertations
The novel ARMAS-SOM framework fuses collaborative all-source sensor information in a resilient manner with fault detection, exclusion, and integrity solutions recognizable to a GNSS user. This framework uses a multi-filter residual monitoring approach for fault detection and exclusion and is augmented with an additional "observability" EKF sub-layer for resilience. We monitor the a posteriori state covariances in this sub-layer to provide intrinsic awareness when navigation state observability assumptions required for integrity are in danger. This is used to selectively augment the framework with offboard information to preserve resilience. By maintaining split parallel collaborative and proprioceptive estimation instances and employing a …
Improved Ground-Based Monocular Visual Odometry Estimation Using Inertially-Aided Convolutional Neural Networks, Josiah D. Watson
Improved Ground-Based Monocular Visual Odometry Estimation Using Inertially-Aided Convolutional Neural Networks, Josiah D. Watson
Theses and Dissertations
While Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) can estimate frame-to-frame (F2F) motion even with monocular images, additional inputs can improve Visual Odometry (VO) predictions. In this thesis, a FlowNetS-based [1] CNN architecture estimates VO using sequential images from the KITTI Odometry dataset [2]. For each of three output types (full six degrees of freedom (6-DoF), Cartesian translation, and transitional scale), a baseline network with only image pair input is compared with a nearly identical architecture that is also given an additional rotation estimate such as from an Inertial Navigation System (INS). The inertially-aided networks show an order of magnitude improvement over the …
Magnetic Field Aided Indoor Navigation, William F. Storms
Magnetic Field Aided Indoor Navigation, William F. Storms
Theses and Dissertations
This research effort examines inertial navigation system aiding using magnetic field intensity data and a Kalman filter in an indoor environment. Many current aiding methods do not work well in an indoor environment, like aiding using the Global Positioning System. The method presented in this research uses magnetic field intensity data from a three-axis magnetometer in order to estimate position using a maximum – likelihood approach. The position measurements are then combined with a motion model using a Kalman filter. The magnetic field navigation algorithm is tested using a combination of simulated and real measurements. These tests are conducted using …
Improvements For Vision-Based Navigation Of Small, Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Robert C. Leishman, Jeremy Gray, John F. Raquet, Adam Rutkowski
Improvements For Vision-Based Navigation Of Small, Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Robert C. Leishman, Jeremy Gray, John F. Raquet, Adam Rutkowski
Faculty Publications
Investigating alternative navigation approaches for use when GPS signals are unavailable is an active area of research across the globe. In this paper we focus on the navigation of small, fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that employ vision-based approaches combined with other measurements as a replacement for GPS. We demonstrate with flight test data that vehicle attitude information, derived from cheap, MEMS-based IMUs is sufficient to improve two different types of vision processing algorithms. Secondly, we show analytically and with flight test data that range measurements to one other vehicle with global pose is sufficient to constrain the global drift …
Navigation Using Vector And Tensor Measurements Of The Earth's Magnetic Anomaly Field, Lauren A. Mount
Navigation Using Vector And Tensor Measurements Of The Earth's Magnetic Anomaly Field, Lauren A. Mount
Theses and Dissertations
This research explores the viability of using a navigation system that relies on measurements of the magnetic anomaly field as an alternative to GPS navigation. Previous research has been conducted on developing a navigation system using the intensity of the Earth's magnetic anomaly field as an alternative signal. This research focuses on using vector and tensor measurements, as opposed to scalar measurements of the anomaly field, as a means of obtaining accurate position and orientation solutions. This paper presents two navigation systems. The first uses an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) with vector measurements of the magnetic anomaly field to aid …
Visual-Ins Using A Human Operator And Converted Measurements, Turner J. Montgomery
Visual-Ins Using A Human Operator And Converted Measurements, Turner J. Montgomery
Theses and Dissertations
A method human operated INS aiding is explored in which the pilot identifies and tracks a ground feature of unknown position over a short measurement epoch using an E/O sensor. One then refers to Visual-INS. In contrast to current research trends, a human operator is entrusted with visually tracking the ground feature. In addition, a less conventional measurement linearization technique is applied to generate “converted” measurements. A linear regression algorithm is then applied to the converted measurements providing an estimate of the INS horizontal velocity error and accelerometer biases. At the completion of the measurement epoch, the INS is corrected …
Towards Automated Aerial Refueling: Real Time Position Estimation With Stereo Vision, Bradley D. Denby
Towards Automated Aerial Refueling: Real Time Position Estimation With Stereo Vision, Bradley D. Denby
Theses and Dissertations
Aerial refueling is essential to the United States Air Force (USAF) core mission of rapid global mobility. However, in-flight refueling is not available to remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS). As reliance on drones for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and other USAF core missions grows, the ability to automate aerial refueling for such systems becomes increasingly critical. New refueling platforms include sensors that could be used to estimate the relative position of an approaching aircraft. Relative position estimation is a key component to solving the automated aerial refueling (AAR) problem. Analysis of data from a one-seventh …
An Analysis Of Conus Based Deployment Of Pseudolites For Positioning, Navigation And Timing (Pnt) Systems, Justin H. Deifel, Albert J. Pena
An Analysis Of Conus Based Deployment Of Pseudolites For Positioning, Navigation And Timing (Pnt) Systems, Justin H. Deifel, Albert J. Pena
Theses and Dissertations
The Global Positioning System (GPS) developed and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) provides a way for users to determine position, navigation and timing (PNT). GPS provides an extraordinary capability that has become instrumental in all aspects of our day to day lives. As new technologies such as automated vehicles and unmanned aircraft continue to be developed, a reliable back up to GPS is required to ensure the PNT data generated in these systems is accurate. This research studies a potential architecture for deploying a nationwide network of ground based pseudolites that would act to supplement and backup …
Initial Implementation And Testing Of A Tightly-Coupled Imu/Pseudolite System, James E. C. Kawecki
Initial Implementation And Testing Of A Tightly-Coupled Imu/Pseudolite System, James E. C. Kawecki
Theses and Dissertations
Currently, the 746th Test Squadrons (746th TS) Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF) operates one of the most accurate truth reference systems, called the CIGTF Reference System (CRS). CIGTF will be replacing the CRS with a new references system called UHARS (Ultra High Accuracy Reference System). UHARS will differ from CRS by adding the ability to use a non-GPS pseudolite system, as a new measurement source. This research effort describes the design of the extended Kalman filter which is developed in AFIT's SPIDER filter framework which implements a tightly-coupled pseudolite/INS filter.
Urban Environment Navigation With Real-Time Data Utilizing Computer Vision, Inertial, And Gps Sensors, Johnathan L. Rohde
Urban Environment Navigation With Real-Time Data Utilizing Computer Vision, Inertial, And Gps Sensors, Johnathan L. Rohde
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to obtain a navigation solution that used real data, in a degraded or denied global positioning system (GPS) environment, from low cost commercial o the shelf sensors. The sensors that were integrated together were a commercial inertial measurement unit (IMU), monocular camera computer vision algorithm, and GPS. Furthermore, the monocular camera computer vision algorithm had to be robust enough to handle any camera orientation that was presented to it. This research develops a visual odometry 2-D zero velocity measurement that is derived by both the features points that are extracted from a monocular camera …
Error Characterization Of Flight Trajectories Reconstructed Using Structure From Motion, Daniel C. Alix
Error Characterization Of Flight Trajectories Reconstructed Using Structure From Motion, Daniel C. Alix
Theses and Dissertations
This research effort assessed the accuracy of Structure from Motion (SFM) algorithms in replicating aircraft fight trajectories. Structure from Motion techniques can be used to estimate aircraft trajectory by determining the position and pose of an aircraft mounted camera from a sequential series of images taken during flight. An algorithm is proposed and implemented that successfully reconstructed aircraft trajectory using only a known starting position and a sequential series of images. The error in and reliability of the algorithm was found to be a function of image resolution as well as the amount of overlap and angular separation between sequential …
Navigation Constellation Design Using A Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, Heather C. Diniz
Navigation Constellation Design Using A Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, Heather C. Diniz
Theses and Dissertations
In satellite constellation design, performance and cost of the system drive the design process. The Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation is currently used to provide positioning and timing worldwide. As satellite technology has improved over the years, the cost to develop and maintain the satellites has increased. Using a constellation design tool, it is possible to analyze the tradeoffs of new navigation constellation designs (Pareto fronts) that illustrate the tradeoffs between position dilution of precision (PDOP) and system cost. This thesis utilized Satellite Tool Kit (STK) to calculate PDOP values of navigation constellations, and the Unmanned Spacecraft Cost Model (USCM) …
Ground Vehicle Navigation Using Magnetic Field Variation, Jeremiah A. Shockley
Ground Vehicle Navigation Using Magnetic Field Variation, Jeremiah A. Shockley
Theses and Dissertations
The Earth's magnetic field has been the bedrock of navigation for centuries. The latest research highlights the uniqueness of magnetic field measurements based on position due to large scale variations as well as localized perturbations. These observable changes in the Earth's magnetic field as a function of position provide distinct information which can be used for navigation. This dissertation describes ground vehicle navigation exploiting variation in Earth's magnetic field using a self-contained navigation system consisting of only a magnetometer and magnetic field maps. In order to achieve navigation, effective calibration enables repeatable magnetic field measurements from different vehicles and facilitates …
Intelligent Behavioral Action Aiding For Improved Autonomous Image Navigation, Kwee Guan Eng
Intelligent Behavioral Action Aiding For Improved Autonomous Image Navigation, Kwee Guan Eng
Theses and Dissertations
In egomotion image navigation, errors are common especially when traversing areas with few landmarks. Since image navigation is often used as a passive navigation technique in Global Positioning System (GPS) denied environments; egomotion accuracy is important for precise navigation in these challenging environments. One of the causes of egomotion errors is inaccurate landmark distance measurements, e.g., sensor noise. This research determines a landmark location egomotion error model that quantifies the effects of landmark locations on egomotion value uncertainty and errors. The error model accounts for increases in landmark uncertainty due to landmark distance and image centrality. A robot then uses …
An Integrity Framework For Image-Based Navigation Systems, Craig D. Larson
An Integrity Framework For Image-Based Navigation Systems, Craig D. Larson
Theses and Dissertations
This work first examines fundamental differences between measurement models established for GPS and those of proposed image-based navigation systems. In contrast to single value per satellite GPS pseudorange measurements, image measurements are inherently angle-based and represent pixel coordinate pairs for each mapped target. Thus, in the image-based case, special consideration must be given to the units of the transformations between the states and measurements, and also to the fact that multiple rows of the observation matrix relate to particular error states. An algorithm is developed to instantiate a framework for image-based integrity analogous to that of GPS RAIM. The algorithm …
Improved Mathematical Modeling For Gps Based Navigation, Salvatore Nardi
Improved Mathematical Modeling For Gps Based Navigation, Salvatore Nardi
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis is concerned with the development of new closed form GPS position determination algorithms that work in the presence of pseudorange measurement noise. The mathematical derivation of two closed form algorithms, based on stochastic modeling and estimation techniques, is presented. The algorithms provide an estimate of the GPS solution parameters (viz., the user position and the user clock bias) as well as the estimation error covariance. The experimental results are analyzed by comparison to the baseline results from the conventional Iterative Least Squares (ILS) algorithm. In typical GPS scenarios, the closed form algorithms are extremely sensitive to noise, making …
Pseudorandom Code Generation For Communication And Navigation System Applications, John F. Brendle Jr.
Pseudorandom Code Generation For Communication And Navigation System Applications, John F. Brendle Jr.
Theses and Dissertations
This research project investigated the design, construction and evaluation of a pseudorandom code generator for communication and navigation system applications. These types of codes include spreading codes, Gold codes, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) ranging codes, syncopated codes, and nonlinear codes. Such waveforms are typically used in communication and navigation system applications. The code generator uses the Stanford Telecom STEL-1032 Pseudorandom Number (PRN) coder. A coder interface was designed and constructed for manual data entry to the registers of the PRN coder. The code generator is capable of independently clocking and generating all possible codes with lengths up to 4,294,967,295 bits. …