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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Navigation Potential Of Ground Feature Tracking, Guner Mutlu Sep 2009

The Navigation Potential Of Ground Feature Tracking, Guner Mutlu

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort examines the reduction of error in inertial navigation aided by vision. This is part of an effort focused on navigation in a GPS denied environment. The navigation concept examined here consists of two main steps. First, extract the position of a tracked ground object using vision and geo-locate it in 3 dimensional navigation frame. In this first step multiple positions of the UAV are assumed known; think of a synthetic aperture. The only information about the tracked ground objects/features is the unit vector that points to the objects from the center of the camera. Two such vectors …


Performance Enhancements Of Ranging Radio Aided Navigation, Patric J. Ernsberger Mar 2009

Performance Enhancements Of Ranging Radio Aided Navigation, Patric J. Ernsberger

Theses and Dissertations

Determining the position of team members is always useful information, whether it is a team of firefighters fighting a blaze or combatants clearing a building in the field. This information becomes even more decisive for the people responsible for their safety. To accomplish this in areas denied Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as around buildings or in steep valleys, alternative methods must be used. Radio ranging systems have been a part of the navigation solution for years. They unfortunately have poor performance in certain areas, such as inside buildings, due to multipath and other errors. To improve the position …


Fusion Of Inertial Sensors And Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (Ofdm) Signals Of Opportunity For Unassisted Navigation, Jason G. Crosby Mar 2009

Fusion Of Inertial Sensors And Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (Ofdm) Signals Of Opportunity For Unassisted Navigation, Jason G. Crosby

Theses and Dissertations

The advent of the global positioning system (GPS) has provided worldwide high-accuracy position measurements. However, GPS may be rendered unavailable by jamming, disruption of satellites, or simply by signal shadowing in urban environments. Thus, this thesis considers fusion of Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) signals of opportunity (SOOP) for navigation. Typical signal of opportunity navigation involves the use of a reference receiver and uses time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements. However, by exploiting the block structure of OFDM communication signals, the need for the reference receiver is reduced or possibly removed entirely. This research uses …


Model-Based Control Using Model And Mechanization Fusion Techniques For Image-Aided Navigation, Constance D. Hendrix Mar 2009

Model-Based Control Using Model And Mechanization Fusion Techniques For Image-Aided Navigation, Constance D. Hendrix

Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned aerial vehicles are no longer used for just reconnaissance. Current requirements call for smaller autonomous vehicles that replace the human in high-risk activities. Many times these activities are performed in GPS-degraded environments. Without GPS providing today's most accurate navigation solution, autonomous navigation in tight areas is more difficult. Today, image-aided navigation is used and other methods are explored to more accurately navigate in such areas (e.g., indoors). This thesis explores the use of inertial measurements and navigation solution updates using cameras with a model-based Linear Quadratic Gaussian controller. To demonstrate the methods behind this research, the controller will provide …