Precise point positioning with the BeiDou navigation satellite system.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Min; Qu, Lizhong; Zhao, Qile; Guo, Jing; Su, Xing; Li, Xiaotao

2014-01-08

By the end of 2012, China had launched 16 BeiDou-2 navigation satellites that include six GEOs, five IGSOs and five MEOs. This has provided initial navigation and precise pointing services ability in the Asia-Pacific regions. In order to assess the navigation and positioning performance of the BeiDou-2 system, Wuhan University has built up a network of BeiDou Experimental Tracking Stations (BETS) around the World. The Position and Navigation Data Analyst (PANDA) software was modified to determine the orbits of BeiDou satellites and provide precise orbit and satellite clock bias products from the BeiDou satellite system for user applications. This article uses the BeiDou/GPS observations of the BeiDou Experimental Tracking Stations to realize the BeiDou and BeiDou/GPS static and kinematic precise point positioning (PPP). The result indicates that the precision of BeiDou static and kinematic PPP reaches centimeter level. The precision of BeiDou/GPS kinematic PPP solutions is improved significantly compared to that of BeiDou-only or GPS-only kinematic PPP solutions. The PPP convergence time also decreases with the use of combined BeiDou/GPS systems.

Fuzzy Logic Controller for Small Satellites Navigation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Della Pietra, G; Falzini, S; Colzi, E; Crisconio, M

2005-01-01

.... The navigator aims at operating satellites in orbit with a minimum ground support and very good performances, by the adoption of innovative technologies, such as attitude observation GPS, attitude...

China Satellite Navigation Conference

CERN Document Server

Liu, Jingnan; Fan, Shiwei; Wang, Feixue

2016-01-01

These Proceedings present selected research papers from CSNC2016, held during 18th-20th May in Changsha, China. The theme of CSNC2016 is Smart Sensing, Smart Perception. These papers discuss the technologies and applications of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the latest progress made in the China BeiDou System (BDS) especially. They are divided into 12 topics to match the corresponding sessions in CSNC2016, which broadly covered key topics in GNSS. Readers can learn about the BDS and keep abreast of the latest advances in GNSS techniques and applications.

China Satellite Navigation Conference

CERN Document Server

Liu, Jingnan; Yang, Yuanxi; Fan, Shiwei; Yu, Wenxian

2017-01-01

These proceedings present selected research papers from CSNC2017, held during 23th-25th May in Shanghai, China. The theme of CSNC2017 is Positioning, Connecting All. These papers discuss the technologies and applications of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the latest progress made in the China BeiDou System (BDS) especially. They are divided into 12 topics to match the corresponding sessions in CSNC2017, which broadly covered key topics in GNSS. Readers can learn about the BDS and keep abreast of the latest advances in GNSS techniques and applications.

77 FR 42419 - Airworthiness Directives; Honeywell International, Inc. Global Navigation Satellite Sensor Units

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-19

... Airworthiness Directives; Honeywell International, Inc. Global Navigation Satellite Sensor Units AGENCY: Federal.... Model KGS200 Mercury\\2\\ wide area augmentation system (WAAS) global navigation satellite sensor units... similar Honeywell global positioning system (GPS) sensor and the same software as the Model KGS200 Mercury...

An alternative ionospheric correction model for global navigation satellite systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hoque, M. M.; Jakowski, N.

2015-04-01

The ionosphere is recognized as a major error source for single-frequency operations of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). To enhance single-frequency operations the global positioning system (GPS) uses an ionospheric correction algorithm (ICA) driven by 8 coefficients broadcasted in the navigation message every 24 h. Similarly, the global navigation satellite system Galileo uses the electron density NeQuick model for ionospheric correction. The Galileo satellite vehicles (SVs) transmit 3 ionospheric correction coefficients as driver parameters of the NeQuick model. In the present work, we propose an alternative ionospheric correction algorithm called Neustrelitz TEC broadcast model NTCM-BC that is also applicable for global satellite navigation systems. Like the GPS ICA or Galileo NeQuick, the NTCM-BC can be optimized on a daily basis by utilizing GNSS data obtained at the previous day at monitor stations. To drive the NTCM-BC, 9 ionospheric correction coefficients need to be uploaded to the SVs for broadcasting in the navigation message. Our investigation using GPS data of about 200 worldwide ground stations shows that the 24-h-ahead prediction performance of the NTCM-BC is better than the GPS ICA and comparable to the Galileo NeQuick model. We have found that the 95 percentiles of the prediction error are about 16.1, 16.1 and 13.4 TECU for the GPS ICA, Galileo NeQuick and NTCM-BC, respectively, during a selected quiet ionospheric period, whereas the corresponding numbers are found about 40.5, 28.2 and 26.5 TECU during a selected geomagnetic perturbed period. However, in terms of complexity the NTCM-BC is easier to handle than the Galileo NeQuick and in this respect comparable to the GPS ICA.

GNSS-based receiver autonomous integrity monitoring for aircraft navigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Imparato, D.

2016-01-01

Nowadays, GNSS-based navigation is moving more and more to critical applications. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which in the past used to be represented by the American GPS and the Russian GLONASS are now growing in number and performance. The European systemGalileo and the Chinese

GAUSS Market Analysis for Integrated Satellite Communication and Navigation Location Based services

Science.gov (United States)

Di Fazio, Antonella; Dricot, Fabienne; Tata, Francesco

2003-07-01

The demand for mobile information services coupled with positioning technologies for delivering value- added services that depend on a user's location has rapidly increased during last years. In particular, services and applications related with improved mobility safety and transport efficiency look very attractive.Solutions for location services vary in respect of positioning accuracy and the technical infrastructure required, and the associated investment in terminals and networks. From the analysis of the state-of-the art, it comes that various technologies are currently available on the European market, while mobile industry is gearing up to launch a wide variety of location services like tracking, alarming and locating.Nevertheless, when addressing safety of life as well as security applications, severe hurdles have to be posed in the light of existing technologies. Existing navigation (e.g. GPS) and communication systems are not able to completely satisfy the needs and requirements of safety-of-life-critical applications. As a matter of fact, the GPS system's main weaknesses today is its lack of integrity, which means its inability to warn users of a malfunction in a reasonable time, while the other positioning techniques do not provide satisfactory accuracy as well, and terrestrial communication networks are not capable to cope with stringent requirement in terms of service reliability and coverage.In this context, GAUSS proposes an innovative satellite-based solution using novel technology and effective tools for addressing mobility challenges in a cost efficient manner, improving safety and effectiveness.GAUSS (Galileo And UMTS Synergetic System) is a Research and Technological Development project co- funded by European Commission, within the frame of the 5th IST Programme. The project lasted two years, and it was successfully completed in November 2002. GAUSS key concept is the integration of Satellite Navigation GNSS and UMTS communication technology, to

Global navigation satellite systems performance analysis and augmentation strategies in aviation

Science.gov (United States)

Sabatini, Roberto; Moore, Terry; Ramasamy, Subramanian

2017-11-01

In an era of significant air traffic expansion characterized by a rising congestion of the radiofrequency spectrum and a widespread introduction of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are being exposed to a variety of threats including signal interferences, adverse propagation effects and challenging platform-satellite relative dynamics. Thus, there is a need to characterize GNSS signal degradations and assess the effects of interfering sources on the performance of avionics GNSS receivers and augmentation systems used for an increasing number of mission-essential and safety-critical aviation tasks (e.g., experimental flight testing, flight inspection/certification of ground-based radio navigation aids, wide area navigation and precision approach). GNSS signal deteriorations typically occur due to antenna obscuration caused by natural and man-made obstructions present in the environment (e.g., elevated terrain and tall buildings when flying at low altitude) or by the aircraft itself during manoeuvring (e.g., aircraft wings and empennage masking the on-board GNSS antenna), ionospheric scintillation, Doppler shift, multipath, jamming and spurious satellite transmissions. Anyone of these phenomena can result in partial to total loss of tracking and possible tracking errors, depending on the severity of the effect and the receiver characteristics. After designing GNSS performance threats, the various augmentation strategies adopted in the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management and Avionics (CNS + A) context are addressed in detail. GNSS augmentation can take many forms but all strategies share the same fundamental principle of providing supplementary information whose objective is improving the performance and/or trustworthiness of the system. Hence it is of paramount importance to consider the synergies offered by different augmentation strategies including Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS), Ground

IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The NASA IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data (IPUTG0) data set contains GPS readings, including latitude, longitude, track, ground speed, off distance,...

Sources of Error in Satellite Navigation Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacek Januszewski

2017-09-01

Full Text Available An uninterrupted information about the user’s position can be obtained generally from satellite navigation system (SNS. At the time of this writing (January 2017 currently two global SNSs, GPS and GLONASS, are fully operational, two next, also global, Galileo and BeiDou are under construction. In each SNS the accuracy of the user’s position is affected by the three main factors: accuracy of each satellite position, accuracy of pseudorange measurement and satellite geometry. The user’s position error is a function of both the pseudorange error called UERE (User Equivalent Range Error and user/satellite geometry expressed by right Dilution Of Precision (DOP coefficient. This error is decomposed into two types of errors: the signal in space ranging error called URE (User Range Error and the user equipment error UEE. The detailed analyses of URE, UEE, UERE and DOP coefficients, and the changes of DOP coefficients in different days are presented in this paper.

GNSS global navigation satellite systems : GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and more

CERN Document Server

Hofmann-Wellenhof, Bernhard; Wasle, Elmar

2008-01-01

This book is an extension to the acclaimed scientific bestseller "GPS - Theory and Practice". It covers Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and includes the Russian GLONASS, the European system Galileo, and additional systems.

Individual Global Navigation Satellite Systems in the Space Service Volume

Science.gov (United States)

Force, Dale A.

2015-01-01

Besides providing position, navigation, and timing (PNT) to terrestrial users, GPS is currently used to provide for precision orbit determination, precise time synchronization, real-time spacecraft navigation, and three-axis control of Earth orbiting satellites. With additional Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) coming into service (GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo), it will be possible to provide these services by using other GNSS constellations. The paper, "GPS in the Space Service Volume," presented at the ION GNSS 19th International Technical Meeting in 2006 (Ref. 1), defined the Space Service Volume, and analyzed the performance of GPS out to 70,000 km. This paper will report a similar analysis of the performance of each of the additional GNSS and compare them with GPS alone. The Space Service Volume, defined as the volume between 3,000 km altitude and geosynchronous altitude, as compared with the Terrestrial Service Volume between the surface and 3,000 km. In the Terrestrial Service Volume, GNSS performance will be similar to performance on the Earth's surface. The GPS system has established signal requirements for the Space Service Volume. A separate paper presented at the conference covers the use of multiple GNSS in the Space Service Volume.

IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data, Version 1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The NASA IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data (IPUTG0) data set contains GPS readings, including latitude, longitude, track, ground speed, off distance,...

Initial Assessment of Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Observations

Science.gov (United States)

McKague, D. S.; Ruf, C. S.

2017-12-01

The NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYNSS) mission provides high temporal resolution observations of cyclones from a constellation of eight low-Earth orbiting satellites. Using the relatively new technique of Global Navigation Satellite System reflectometry (GNSS-R), all-weather observations are possible, penetrating even deep convection within hurricane eye walls. The compact nature of the GNSS-R receivers permits the use of small satellites, which in turn enables the launch of a constellation of satellites from a single launch vehicle. Launched in December of 2016, the eight CYGNSS satellites provide 25 km resolution observations of mean square slope (surface roughness) and surface winds with a 2.8 hour median revisit time from 38 S to 38 N degrees latitude. In addition to the calibration and validation of CYGNSS sea state observations, the CYGNSS science team is assessing the ability of the mission to provide estimates of cyclone size, intensity, and integrated kinetic energy. With its all-weather ability and high temporal resolution, the CYGNSS mission will add significantly to our ability to monitor cyclone genesis and intensification and will significantly reduce uncertainties in our ability to estimate cyclone intensity, a key variable in predicting its destructive potential. Members of the CYGNSS Science Team are also assessing the assimilation of CYGNSS data into hurricane forecast models to determine the impact of the data on forecast skill, using the data to study extra-tropical cyclones, and looking at connections between tropical cyclones and global scale weather, including the global hydrologic cycle. This presentation will focus on the assessment of early on-orbit observations of cyclones with respect to these various applications.

a European Global Navigation Satellite System — the German Market and Value Adding Chain Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Vollerthun, A.; Wieser, M.

2002-03-01

Since Europe is considering to establish a "market-driven" European Global Navigation Satellite System, the German Center of Aerospace initiated a market research to justify a German investment in such a European project. The market research performed included the following market segments: aviation, railway, road traffic, shipping, surveying, farming, military, space applications, leisure, and sport. In these market segments, the forementioned inputs were determined for satellite navigation hardware (receivers) as well as satellite navigation services. The forecast period was from year 2007 to 2017. For the considered period, the market amounts to a total of DM 83.0 billion (approx. US $50 billion), whereas the satellite navigation equipment market makes up DM 39.8 billion, and charges for value-added-services amount to DM 43.2 billion. On closer examination road traffic can be identified as the dominant market share, both in the receiver-market and service-market. With a share of 96% for receivers and 73% for services the significance of the road traffic segment becomes obvious. The second part of this paper investigates the effects the market potential has on the Value-Adding-Chain. Therefore, all participants in the Value-Adding-Chain are identified, using industrial cost structure models the employment effect is analyzed, and possible tax revenues for the state are examined.

The PPP Precision Analysis Based on BDS Regional Navigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHU Yongxing

2015-04-01

Full Text Available BeiDou navigation satellite system(BDS has opened service in most of the Asia-Pacific region, it offers the possibility to break the technological monopoly of GPS in the field of high-precision applications, so its performance of precise point positioning (PPP has been a great concern. Firstly, the constellation of BeiDou regional navigation system and BDS/GPS tracking network is introduced. Secondly, the precise ephemeris and clock offset accuracy of BeiDou satellite based on domestic tracking network is analyzed. Finally, the static and kinematic PPP accuracy is studied, and compared with the GPS. The actual measured numerical example shows that the static and kinematic PPP based on BDS can achieve centimeter-level and decimeter-level respectively, reaching the current level of GPS precise point positioning.

Precise positioning with current multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xingxing; Zhang, Xiaohong; Ren, Xiaodong; Fritsche, Mathias; Wickert, Jens; Schuh, Harald

2015-02-09

The world of satellite navigation is undergoing dramatic changes with the rapid development of multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs). At the moment more than 70 satellites are already in view, and about 120 satellites will be available once all four systems (BeiDou + Galileo + GLONASS + GPS) are fully deployed in the next few years. This will bring great opportunities and challenges for both scientific and engineering applications. In this paper we develop a four-system positioning model to make full use of all available observations from different GNSSs. The significant improvement of satellite visibility, spatial geometry, dilution of precision, convergence, accuracy, continuity and reliability that a combining utilization of multi-GNSS brings to precise positioning are carefully analyzed and evaluated, especially in constrained environments.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Rapid Clock Product Summary from NASA CDDIS

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This derived product set consists of Global Navigation Satellite System Rapid Clock Product Summary from the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS)....

The Creation of Differential Correction Systems and the Systems of Global Navigation Satellite System Monitoring

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Polishchuk, G. M; Kozlov, V. I; Urlichich, Y. M; Dvorkin, V. V; Gvozdev, V. V

2002-01-01

... for the Russian Federation and a system of global navigation satellite system monitoring. These projects are some of the basic ones in the Federal program "Global Navigation System," aimed at maintenance and development of the GLONASS system...

Optimization of communication network topology for navigation sharing among distributed satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Zhaohui; Zhang, Yulin

2013-01-01

Navigation sharing among distributed satellites is quite important for coordinated motion and collision avoidance. This paper proposes optimization methods of the communication network topology to achieve navigation sharing. The whole communication network constructing by inter-satellite links are considered as a topology graph. The aim of this paper is to find the communication network topology with minimum communication connections' number (MCCN) in different conditions. It has found that the communication capacity and the number of channels are two key parameters affecting the results. The model of MCCN topology for navigation sharing is established and corresponding method is designed. Two main scenarios, viz., homogeneous case and heterogeneous case, are considered. For the homogeneous case where each member has the same communication capacity, it designs a construction method (Algorithm 1) to find the MCCN topology. For the heterogeneous case, it introduces a modified genetic algorithm (Algorithm 2) to find the MCCN topology. When considering the fact that the number of channels is limited, the Algorithm 2 is further modified by adding a penalized term in the fitness function. The effectiveness of these algorithms is all proved in theoretical. Three examples are further tested to illustrate the methods developed in this paper.

CPM Signals for Satellite Navigation in the S and C Bands.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Rui; Sun, Yanbo; Zhao, Danfeng

2015-06-05

Frequency allocations in the L band suitable for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) services are getting crowded and system providers face an ever tougher job when they try to bring in new signals and services while maintaining radio frequency compatibility. With the successive opening of the S and C bands to GNSS service, the multi-band combined navigation is predicted to become a key technology for future high-precision positioning navigation systems, and a single modulation scheme satisfying the requirements in each band is a promising solution for reducing user terminal complexity. A universal modulation scheme based on the continuous phase modulation (CPM) family suitable for the above bands' demands is proposed. Moreover, this paper has put forward two specific CPM signals for the S and C bands, respectively. Then the proposed modulation schemes, together with existing candidates, are comprehensively evaluated. Simulation results show that the proposed CPM signals can not only satisfy the constraint condition of compatibility in different bands well and reduce user terminal complexity, but also provide superior performance in terms of tracking accuracy, multi-path mitigation and anti-jamming compared to other candidate modulation schemes.

Orbit and clock determination of BDS regional navigation satellite system based on IGS M-GEX and WHU BETS tracking network

Science.gov (United States)

GENG, T.; Zhao, Q.; Shi, C.; Shum, C.; Guo, J.; Su, X.

2013-12-01

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) began to provide the regional open service on December 27th 2012 and will provide the global open service by the end of 2020. Compared to GPS, the space segment of BDS Regional System consists of 5 Geostationary Earth Orbit satellites (GEO), 5 Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit satellites (IGSO) and 4 Medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites. Since 2011, IGS Multiple-GNSS Experiment (M-GEX) focuses on tracking the newly available GNSS signals. This includes all signals from the modernized satellites of the GPS and GLONASS systems, as well as signals of the BDS, Galileo and QZSS systems. Up to now, BDS satellites are tracked by around 25 stations with a variety of different antennas and receivers from different GNSS manufacture communities in M-GEX network. Meanwhile, there are 17 stations with Unicore Communications Incorporation's GPS/BDS receivers in BeiDou Experimental Tracking Stations (BETS) network by Wuhan University. In addition, 5 BDS satellites have been tracking by the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS). BDS performance is expected to be further studied by the GNSS communities. Following an introduction of the BDS system and above different tracking network, this paper discusses the achieved BDS characterization and performance assessment. Firstly, the BDS signal and measurement quality are analyzed with different antennas and receivers in detail compared to GPS. This includes depth of coverage for satellite observation, carrier-to-noise-density ratios, code noise and multipath, carrier phase errors. Secondly, BDS Precise Orbit Determination (POD) is processed. Different arc lengths and sets of orbit parameters are tested using Position And Navigation Data Analysis software (PANDA) which is developed at the Wuhan University. GEO, IGSO and MEO satellites orbit quality will be assessed using overlap comparison, 2-day orbit fit and external validations with Satellite Laser Range (SLR). Then BDS satellites are equipped

A Navigation/Positioning Service Based on Pseudolites Installed on Stratospheric Airships

OpenAIRE

辻井, 利昭; TSUJII, Toshiaki; 張替, 正敏; HARIGAE, Masatoshi

2002-01-01

Transmitters of GPS-like signals, called pseudolites (PL) or "pseudo-satellites" have been widely investigated as an additional ranging source for performance enhancement of GPS. Ground-based GPS augmentation systems using pseudolites have been investigated for several applications such as vehicle navigation in downtown urban canyons, positioning in deep open-cut pits and mines and precision landing of aircraft. The concept of an innovative GPS navigation/ positioning system augmented by airs...

Analysis on coverage ability of BeiDou navigation satellite system for manned spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Sihao; Yao, Zheng; Zhuang, Xuebin; Lu, Mingquan

2014-12-01

To investigate the service ability of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) for manned spacecraft, both the current regional and the future-planned global constellations of BDS are introduced and simulated. The orbital parameters of the International Space Station and China's Tiangong-1 spacelab are used to create the simulation scenario and evaluate the performance of the BDS constellations. The number of visible satellites and the position dilution (PDOP) of precision at the spacecraft-based receiver are evaluated. Simulation and analysis show quantitative results on the coverage ability and time percentages of both the current BDS regional and future global constellations for manned-space orbits which can be a guideline to the applications and mission design of BDS receivers on manned spacecraft.

Navigation studies based on the ubiquitous positioning technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Lei; Mi, Weijie; Wang, Defeng

2007-11-01

This paper summarized the nowadays positioning technologies, such as absolute positioning methods and relative positioning methods, indoor positioning and outdoor positioning, active positioning and passive positioning. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies were introduced as the omnipresent out-door positioning technologies, including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BD-1/2. After analysis of the shortcomings of GNSS, indoor positioning technologies were discussed and compared, including A-GPS, Cellular network, Infrared, Electromagnetism, Computer Vision Cognition, Embedded Pressure Sensor, Ultrasonic, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), Bluetooth, WLAN etc.. Then the concept and characteristics of Ubiquitous Positioning was proposed. After the ubiquitous positioning technologies contrast and selection followed by system engineering methodology, a navigation system model based on Incorporate Indoor-Outdoor Positioning Solution was proposed. And this model was simulated in the Galileo Demonstration for World Expo Shanghai project. In the conclusion, the prospects of ubiquitous positioning based navigation were shown, especially to satisfy the public location information acquiring requirement.

Ionosphere Delay Calibration and Calibration Errors for Satellite Navigation of Aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Ian; Manucci, Anthony; Iijima, Byron; Lindqwister, Ulf; Muna, Demitri; Pi, Xiaoqing; Wilson, Brian

2000-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing a satellite-based navigation system for aircraft using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Positioning accuracy of a few meters will be achieved by broadcasting corrections to the direct GPS signal. These corrections are derived using the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS), which includes a ground network of at least 24 GPS receivers across the Continental US (CONUS). WAAS will provide real-time total electron content (TEC) measurements that can be mapped to fixed grid points using a real-time mapping algorithm. These TECs will be converted into vertical delay corrections for the GPS L1 frequency and broadcast to users every five minutes via geosynchronous satellite. Users will convert these delays to slant calibrations along their own lines-of-sight (LOS) to GPS satellites. Uncertainties in the delay calibrations will also be broadcast, allowing users to estimate the uncertainty of their position. To maintain user safety without reverting to excessive safety margins an empirical model of user calibration errors has been developed. WAAS performance depends on factors that include geographic location (errors increase near WAAS borders), and ionospheric conditions, such as the enhanced spatial electron density gradients found during ionospheric storms.

Guidance, Navigation, and Control Techniques and Technologies for Active Satellite Removal

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega Hernando, Guillermo; Erb, Sven; Cropp, Alexander; Voirin, Thomas; Dubois-Matra, Olivier; Rinalducci, Antonio; Visentin, Gianfranco; Innocenti, Luisa; Raposo, Ana

2013-09-01

This paper shows an internal feasibility analysis to de- orbit a non-functional satellite of big dimensions by the Technical Directorate of the European Space Agency ESA. The paper focuses specifically on the design of the techniques and technologies for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) system of the spacecraft mission that will capture the satellite and ultimately will de-orbit it on a controlled re-entry.The paper explains the guidance strategies to launch, rendezvous, close-approach, and capture the target satellite. The guidance strategy uses chaser manoeuvres, hold points, and collision avoidance trajectories to ensure a safe capture. It also details the guidance profile to de-orbit it in a controlled re-entry.The paper continues with an analysis of the required sensing suite and the navigation algorithms to allow the homing, fly-around, and capture of the target satellite. The emphasis is placed around the design of a system to allow the rendezvous with an un-cooperative target, including the autonomous acquisition of both the orbital elements and the attitude of the target satellite.Analysing the capture phase, the paper provides a trade- off between two selected capture systems: the net and the tentacles. Both are studied from the point of view of the GNC system.The paper analyses as well the advanced algorithms proposed to control the final compound after the capture that will allow the controlled de-orbiting of the assembly in a safe place in the Earth.The paper ends proposing the continuation of this work with the extension to the analysis of the destruction process of the compound in consecutive segments starting from the entry gate to the rupture and break up.

Comprehensive Comparisons of Satellite Data, Signals, and Measurements between the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and the Global Positioning System †

Science.gov (United States)

Jan, Shau-Shiun; Tao, An-Lin

2016-01-01

The Chinese BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) aims to provide global positioning service by 2020. The combined use of BDS and Global Positioning System (GPS) is proposed to provide navigation service with more stringent requirements. Actual satellite data, signals and measurements were collected for more than one month to analyze the positioning service qualities from both BDS and GPS. In addition to the conversions of coordinate and timing system, five data quality analysis (DQA) methods, three signal quality analysis (SQA) methods, and four measurement quality analysis (MQA) methods are proposed in this paper to improve the integrated positioning performance of BDS and GPS. As shown in the experiment results, issues related to BDS and GPS are resolved by the above proposed quality analysis methods. Thus, the anomalies in satellite data, signals and measurements can be detected by following the suggested resolutions to enhance the positioning performance of the combined use of BDS and GPS in the Asia Pacific region. PMID:27187403

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Final Clock Product (5 minute resolution, daily files, generated weekly) from NASA CDDIS

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This derived product set consists of Global Navigation Satellite System Final Satellite and Receiver Clock Product (5-minute granularity, daily files, generated...

Characteristics of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Multipath and Its Mitigation Method Based on Kalman Filter and Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoother.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiuzhao; Yang, Wei; Zhang, Shubi; Liu, Xin

2018-01-12

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) carrier phase measurement for short baseline meets the requirements of deformation monitoring of large structures. However, the carrier phase multipath effect is the main error source with double difference (DD) processing. There are lots of methods to deal with the multipath errors of Global Position System (GPS) carrier phase data. The BeiDou navigation satellite System (BDS) multipath mitigation is still a research hotspot because the unique constellation design of BDS makes it different to mitigate multipath effects compared to GPS. Multipath error periodically repeats for its strong correlation to geometry of satellites, reflective surface and antenna which is also repetitive. We analyzed the characteristics of orbital periods of BDS satellites which are consistent with multipath repeat periods of corresponding satellites. The results show that the orbital periods and multipath periods for BDS geostationary earth orbit (GEO) and inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites are about one day but the periods of MEO satellites are about seven days. The Kalman filter (KF) and Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoother (RTSS) was introduced to extract the multipath models from single difference (SD) residuals with traditional sidereal filter (SF). Wavelet filter and Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) were also used to mitigate multipath effects. The experimental results show that the three filters methods all have obvious effect on improvement of baseline accuracy and the performance of KT-RTSS method is slightly better than that of wavelet filter and EMD filter. The baseline vector accuracy on east, north and up (E, N, U) components with KF-RTSS method were improved by 62.8%, 63.6%, 62.5% on day of year 280 and 57.3%, 53.4%, 55.9% on day of year 281, respectively.

Characteristics of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Multipath and Its Mitigation Method Based on Kalman Filter and Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoother

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiuzhao Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS carrier phase measurement for short baseline meets the requirements of deformation monitoring of large structures. However, the carrier phase multipath effect is the main error source with double difference (DD processing. There are lots of methods to deal with the multipath errors of Global Position System (GPS carrier phase data. The BeiDou navigation satellite System (BDS multipath mitigation is still a research hotspot because the unique constellation design of BDS makes it different to mitigate multipath effects compared to GPS. Multipath error periodically repeats for its strong correlation to geometry of satellites, reflective surface and antenna which is also repetitive. We analyzed the characteristics of orbital periods of BDS satellites which are consistent with multipath repeat periods of corresponding satellites. The results show that the orbital periods and multipath periods for BDS geostationary earth orbit (GEO and inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO satellites are about one day but the periods of MEO satellites are about seven days. The Kalman filter (KF and Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoother (RTSS was introduced to extract the multipath models from single difference (SD residuals with traditional sidereal filter (SF. Wavelet filter and Empirical mode decomposition (EMD were also used to mitigate multipath effects. The experimental results show that the three filters methods all have obvious effect on improvement of baseline accuracy and the performance of KT-RTSS method is slightly better than that of wavelet filter and EMD filter. The baseline vector accuracy on east, north and up (E, N, U components with KF-RTSS method were improved by 62.8%, 63.6%, 62.5% on day of year 280 and 57.3%, 53.4%, 55.9% on day of year 281, respectively.

Squeezeposenet: Image Based Pose Regression with Small Convolutional Neural Networks for Real Time Uas Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, M. S.; Urban, S.; Jutzi, B.

2017-08-01

The number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is increasing since low-cost airborne systems are available for a wide range of users. The outdoor navigation of such vehicles is mostly based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) methods to gain the vehicles trajectory. The drawback of satellite-based navigation are failures caused by occlusions and multi-path interferences. Beside this, local image-based solutions like Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and Visual Odometry (VO) can e.g. be used to support the GNSS solution by closing trajectory gaps but are computationally expensive. However, if the trajectory estimation is interrupted or not available a re-localization is mandatory. In this paper we will provide a novel method for a GNSS-free and fast image-based pose regression in a known area by utilizing a small convolutional neural network (CNN). With on-board processing in mind, we employ a lightweight CNN called SqueezeNet and use transfer learning to adapt the network to pose regression. Our experiments show promising results for GNSS-free and fast localization.

Tropospheric and ionospheric media calibrations based on global navigation satellite system observation data

Science.gov (United States)

Feltens, Joachim; Bellei, Gabriele; Springer, Tim; Kints, Mark V.; Zandbergen, René; Budnik, Frank; Schönemann, Erik

2018-06-01

Context: Calibration of radiometric tracking data for effects in the Earth atmosphere is a crucial element in the field of deep-space orbit determination (OD). The troposphere can induce propagation delays in the order of several meters, the ionosphere up to the meter level for X-band signals and up to tens of meters, in extreme cases, for L-band ones. The use of media calibrations based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurement data can improve the accuracy of the radiometric observations modelling and, as a consequence, the quality of orbit determination solutions. Aims: ESOC Flight Dynamics employs ranging, Doppler and delta-DOR (Delta-Differential One-Way Ranging) data for the orbit determination of interplanetary spacecraft. Currently, the media calibrations for troposphere and ionosphere are either computed based on empirical models or, under mission specific agreements, provided by external parties such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. In order to become independent from external models and sources, decision fell to establish a new in-house internal service to create these media calibrations based on GNSS measurements recorded at the ESA tracking sites and processed in-house by the ESOC Navigation Support Office with comparable accuracy and quality. Methods: For its concept, the new service was designed to be as much as possible depending on own data and resources and as less as possible depending on external models and data. Dedicated robust and simple algorithms, well suited for operational use, were worked out for that task. This paper describes the approach built up to realize this new in-house internal media calibration service. Results: Test results collected during three months of running the new media calibrations in quasi-operational mode indicate that GNSS-based tropospheric corrections can remove systematic signatures from the Doppler observations and biases from the range ones. For the ionosphere, a

Observability of satellite launcher navigation with INS, GPS, attitude sensors and reference trajectory

Science.gov (United States)

Beaudoin, Yanick; Desbiens, André; Gagnon, Eric; Landry, René

2018-01-01

The navigation system of a satellite launcher is of paramount importance. In order to correct the trajectory of the launcher, the position, velocity and attitude must be known with the best possible precision. In this paper, the observability of four navigation solutions is investigated. The first one is the INS/GPS couple. Then, attitude reference sensors, such as magnetometers, are added to the INS/GPS solution. The authors have already demonstrated that the reference trajectory could be used to improve the navigation performance. This approach is added to the two previously mentioned navigation systems. For each navigation solution, the observability is analyzed with different sensor error models. First, sensor biases are neglected. Then, sensor biases are modelled as random walks and as first order Markov processes. The observability is tested with the rank and condition number of the observability matrix, the time evolution of the covariance matrix and sensitivity to measurement outlier tests. The covariance matrix is exploited to evaluate the correlation between states in order to detect structural unobservability problems. Finally, when an unobservable subspace is detected, the result is verified with theoretical analysis of the navigation equations. The results show that evaluating only the observability of a model does not guarantee the ability of the aiding sensors to correct the INS estimates within the mission time. The analysis of the covariance matrix time evolution could be a powerful tool to detect this situation, however in some cases, the problem is only revealed with a sensitivity to measurement outlier test. None of the tested solutions provide GPS position bias observability. For the considered mission, the modelling of the sensor biases as random walks or Markov processes gives equivalent results. Relying on the reference trajectory can improve the precision of the roll estimates. But, in the context of a satellite launcher, the roll

Distributed Extended Kalman Filter for Position, Velocity, Time, Estimation in Satellite Navigation Receivers

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O. Jakubov

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Common techniques for position-velocity-time estimation in satellite navigation, iterative least squares and the extended Kalman filter, involve matrix operations. The matrix inversion and inclusion of a matrix library pose requirements on a computational power and operating platform of the navigation processor. In this paper, we introduce a novel distributed algorithm suitable for implementation in simple parallel processing units each for a tracked satellite. Such a unit performs only scalar sum, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The algorithm can be efficiently implemented in hardware logic. Given the fast position-velocity-time estimator, frequent estimates can foster dynamic performance of a vector tracking receiver. The algorithm has been designed from a factor graph representing the extended Kalman filter by splitting vector nodes into scalar ones resulting in a cyclic graph with few iterations needed. Monte Carlo simulations have been conducted to investigate convergence and accuracy. Simulation case studies for a vector tracking architecture and experimental measurements with a real-time software receiver developed at CTU in Prague were conducted. The algorithm offers compromises in stability, accuracy, and complexity depending on the number of iterations. In scenarios with a large number of tracked satellites, it can outperform the traditional methods at low complexity.

Target Detection Based on EBPSK Satellite Passive Radar

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Lu Zeyuan

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Passive radar is a topic anti stealth technology with simple structure, and low cost. Radiation source model, signal transmission model, and target detection are the key points of passive radar technology research. The paper analyzes the characteristics of EBPSK signal modulation and target detection method aspect of spaceborne radiant source. By comparison with other satellite navigation and positioning system, the characteristics of EBPSK satellite passive radar system are analyzed. It is proved that the maximum detection range of EBPSK satellite signal can satisfy the needs of the proposed model. In the passive radar model, sparse representation is used to achieve high resolution DOA detection. The comparison with the real target track by simulation demonstrates that effective detection of airborne target using EBPSK satellite passive radar system based on sparse representation is efficient.

Air traffic management system design using satellite based geo-positioning and communications assets

Science.gov (United States)

Horkin, Phil

1995-01-01

The current FAA and ICAO FANS vision of Air Traffic Management will transition the functions of Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance to satellite based assets in the 21st century. Fundamental to widespread acceptance of this vision is a geo-positioning system that can provide worldwide access with best case differential GPS performance, but without the associated problems. A robust communications capability linking-up aircraft and towers to meet the voice and data requirements is also essential. The current GPS constellation does not provide continuous global coverage with a sufficient number of satellites to meet the precision landing requirements as set by the world community. Periodic loss of the minimum number of satellites in view creates an integrity problem, which prevents GPS from becoming the primary system for navigation. Furthermore, there is reluctance on the part of many countries to depend on assets like GPS and GLONASS which are controlled by military communities. This paper addresses these concerns and provides a system solving the key issues associated with navigation, automatic dependent surveillance, and flexible communications. It contains an independent GPS-like navigation system with 27 satellites providing global coverage with a minimum of six in view at all times. Robust communications is provided by a network of TDMA/FDMA communications payloads contained on these satellites. This network can support simultaneous communications for up to 30,000 links, nearly enough to simultaneously support three times the current global fleet of jumbo air passenger aircraft. All of the required hardware is directly traceable to existing designs.

Addressing the Influence of Space Weather on Airline Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Sparks, Lawrence

2012-01-01

The advent of satellite-based augmentation systems has made it possible to navigate aircraft safely using radio signals emitted by global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System. As a signal propagates through the earth's ionosphere, it suffers delay that is proportional to the total electron content encountered along the raypath. Since the magnitude of this total electron content is strongly influenced by space weather, the safety and reliability of GNSS for airline navigation requires continual monitoring of the state of the ionosphere and calibration of ionospheric delay. This paper examines the impact of space weather on GNSS-based navigation and provides an overview of how the Wide Area Augmentation System protects its users from positioning error due to ionospheric disturbances

Vision Based Navigation for Autonomous Cooperative Docking of CubeSats

Science.gov (United States)

Pirat, Camille; Ankersen, Finn; Walker, Roger; Gass, Volker

2018-05-01

A realistic rendezvous and docking navigation solution applicable to CubeSats is investigated. The scalability analysis of the ESA Autonomous Transfer Vehicle Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) performances and the Russian docking system, shows that the docking of two CubeSats would require a lateral control performance of the order of 1 cm. Line of sight constraints and multipath effects affecting Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements in close proximity prevent the use of this sensor for the final approach. This consideration and the high control accuracy requirement led to the use of vision sensors for the final 10 m of the rendezvous and docking sequence. A single monocular camera on the chaser satellite and various sets of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the target vehicle ensure the observability of the system throughout the approach trajectory. The simple and novel formulation of the measurement equations allows differentiating unambiguously rotations from translations between the target and chaser docking port and allows a navigation performance better than 1 mm at docking. Furthermore, the non-linear measurement equations can be solved in order to provide an analytic navigation solution. This solution can be used to monitor the navigation filter solution and ensure its stability, adding an extra layer of robustness for autonomous rendezvous and docking. The navigation filter initialization is addressed in detail. The proposed method is able to differentiate LEDs signals from Sun reflections as demonstrated by experimental data. The navigation filter uses a comprehensive linearised coupled rotation/translation dynamics, describing the chaser to target docking port motion. The handover, between GNSS and vision sensor measurements, is assessed. The performances of the navigation function along the approach trajectory is discussed.

Transit navigation through Northern Sea Route from satellite data and CMIP5 simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Khon, Vyacheslav C.; Mokhov, Igor I.; Semenov, Vladimir A.

2017-02-01

Rapid Arctic sea ice decline over the last few decades opens new perspectives for Arctic marine navigation. Further warming in the Arctic will promote the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as an alternative to the conventional Suez or Panama Canal routes for intercontinental shipping. Here we use both satellite data and CMIP5 ensemble of climate models to estimate the NSR transit window allowing intercontinental navigation between Atlantic and Pacific regions. To this end, we introduce a novel approach to calculate start and end dates of the navigation season along the NSR. We show that modern climate models are able to reproduce the mean time of the NSR transit window and its trend over the last few decades. The selected models demonstrate that the rate of increase of the NSR navigation season will slow down over the next few decades with the RCP4.5 scenario. By the end of the 21st century ensemble-mean estimates show an increase of the NSR transit window by about 4 and 6.5 months according to RCP4.5 and 8.5, respectively. Estimated trends for the end date of the navigation season are found to be stronger compared to those for the start date.

Development of Fast Error Compensation Algorithm for Integrated Inertial-Satellite Navigation System of Small-size Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Complex Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Fomichev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In accordance with the structural features of small-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, and considering the feasibility of this project, the article studies an integrated inertial-satellite navigation system (INS. The INS algorithm development is based on the method of indirect filtration and principle of loosely coupled combination of output data on UAV positions and velocity. Data on position and velocity are provided from the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS and satellite navigation system (GPS. A difference between the output flows of measuring data on position and velocity provided from the SINS and GPS is used to evaluate SINS errors by means of the basic algorithm of Kalman filtering. Then the outputs of SINS are revised. The INS possesses the following advantages: a simpler mathematical model of Kalman filtering, high reliability, two independently operating navigation systems, and high redundancy of available navigation information.But in case of loosely coupled scheme, INS can meet the challenge of high precision and reliability of navigation only when the SINS and GPS operating conditions are normal all the time. The proposed INS is used with UAV moving in complex environment due to obstacles available, severe natural climatic conditions, etc. This case expects that it is impossible for UAV to receive successful GPS-signals frequently. In order to solve this problem, was developed an algorithm for rapid compensation for errors of INS information, which could effectively solve the problem of failure of the navigation system in case there are no GPS-signals .Since it is almost impossible to obtain the data of the real trajectory in practice, in the course of simulation in accordance with the kinematic model of the UAV and the complex environment of the terrain, the flight path generator is used to produce the flight path. The errors of positions and velocities are considered as an indicator of the INS effectiveness. The results

The Design of Compass/BeiDou Navigation Satellite Terminal for Migrant Bird Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaohui Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A terminal of Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS, which can not only support BeiDou-1 and BeiDou-2 but also support Global Positioning System (GPS, is designed to research the activities of the migrant birds, with our novel design of a multiband antenna. By a high-density integration, this terminal is designed with a compact size and light weight. When the terminal is assembled to a whooper swan, its flying trace is recorded by the CNSS, which is in agreement with that of GPS. The flying route map based on the CNSS is useful to check the situation and habit of the migrant bird, which is important for animal protection and bird flu outbreak prediction.

A New Algorithm for ABS/GPS Integration Based on Fuzzy-Logic in Vehicle Navigation System

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Ali Amin Zadeh

2011-10-01

Full Text Available GPS based vehicle navigation systems have difficulties in tracking vehicles in urban canyons due to poor satellite availability. ABS (Antilock Brake System Navigation System consists of self-contained optical encoders mounted on vehicle wheels that can continuously provide accurate short-term positioning information. In this paper, a new concept regarding GPS/ABS integration, based on Fuzzy Logic is presented. The proposed algorithm is used to identify GPS position accuracy based on environment and vehicle dynamic knowledge. The GPS is used as reference during the time it is in a good condition and replaced by ABS positioning system when GPS information is unreliable. We compare our proposed algorithm with other common algorithm in real environment. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the stability and reliability of ABS/GPS navigation system.

Geomagnetic storm effects on GPS based navigation

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P. V. S. Rama Rao

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The energetic events on the sun, solar wind and subsequent effects on the Earth's geomagnetic field and upper atmosphere (ionosphere comprise space weather. Modern navigation systems that use radio-wave signals, reflecting from or propagating through the ionosphere as a means of determining range or distance, are vulnerable to a variety of effects that can degrade the performance of the navigational systems. In particular, the Global Positioning System (GPS that uses a constellation of earth orbiting satellites are affected due to the space weather phenomena.

Studies made during two successive geomagnetic storms that occurred during the period from 8 to 12 November 2004, have clearly revealed the adverse affects on the GPS range delay as inferred from the Total Electron Content (TEC measurements made from a chain of seven dual frequency GPS receivers installed in the Indian sector. Significant increases in TEC at the Equatorial Ionization anomaly crest region are observed, resulting in increased range delay during the periods of the storm activity. Further, the storm time rapid changes occurring in TEC resulted in a number of phase slips in the GPS signal compared to those on quiet days. These phase slips often result in the loss of lock of the GPS receivers, similar to those that occur during strong(>10 dB L-band scintillation events, adversely affecting the GPS based navigation.

Integrating Communication and Navigation: Next Generation Broadcast Service (NGBS)

Science.gov (United States)

Donaldson, Jennifer

2017-01-01

NASA Goddard has been investing in technology demonstrations of a beacon service, now called Next Generation Broadcast Services (NGBS). NGBS is a global, space-based, communications and navigation service for users of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). NGBS will provide an S-band beacon messaging source and radio navigation available to users at orbital altitudes 1400 km and below, increasing the autonomy and resiliency of onboard communication and navigation. NGBS will deliver both one-way radiometric (Doppler and pseudorange) and fast forward data transport services to users. Portions of the overall forward data volume will be allocated for fixed message types while the remaining data volume will be left for user forward command data. The NGBS signal will reside within the 2106.43 MHz spectrum currently allocated for the Space Networks multiple access forward (MAF) service and a live service demonstration is currently being planned via the 2nd and 3rd generation TDRS satellites.

An approach for real-time fast point positioning of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System using augmentation information

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Rui; Zhang, Rui; Zhang, Pengfei; Liu, Jinhai; Lu, Xiaochun

2018-07-01

This study proposes an approach to facilitate real-time fast point positioning of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) based on regional augmentation information. We term this as the precise positioning based on augmentation information (BPP) approach. The coordinates of the reference stations were highly constrained to extract the augmentation information, which contained not only the satellite orbit clock error correlated with the satellite running state, but also included the atmosphere error and unmodeled error, which are correlated with the spatial and temporal states. Based on these mixed augmentation corrections, a precise point positioning (PPP) model could be used for the coordinates estimation of the user stations, and the float ambiguity could be easily fixed for the single-difference between satellites. Thus, this technique provided a quick and high-precision positioning service. Three different datasets with small, medium, and large baselines (0.6 km, 30 km and 136 km) were used to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed BPP method. The validations showed that using the BPP model, 1–2 cm positioning service can be provided in a 100 km wide area after just 2 s of initialization. Thus, as the proposed approach not only capitalized on both PPP and RTK but also provided consistent application, it can be used for area augmentation positioning.

Modeling and Assessment of Precise Time Transfer by Using BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Triple-Frequency Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Pengfei; Zhang, Rui; Liu, Jinhai; Lu, Xiaochun

2018-01-01

This study proposes two models for precise time transfer using the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System triple-frequency signals: ionosphere-free (IF) combined precise point positioning (PPP) model with two dual-frequency combinations (IF-PPP1) and ionosphere-free combined PPP model with a single triple-frequency combination (IF-PPP2). A dataset with a short baseline (with a common external time frequency) and a long baseline are used for performance assessments. The results show that IF-PPP1 and IF-PPP2 models can both be used for precise time transfer using BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) triple-frequency signals, and the accuracy and stability of time transfer is the same in both cases, except for a constant system bias caused by the hardware delay of different frequencies, which can be removed by the parameter estimation and prediction with long time datasets or by a priori calibration. PMID:29596330

The Satellite Clock Bias Prediction Method Based on Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Neural Network

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, C. L.; Yu, H. G.; Wei, Z. C.; Pan, J. D.

2017-05-01

The continuous improvement of the prediction accuracy of Satellite Clock Bias (SCB) is the key problem of precision navigation. In order to improve the precision of SCB prediction and better reflect the change characteristics of SCB, this paper proposes an SCB prediction method based on the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy neural network. Firstly, the SCB values are pre-treated based on their characteristics. Then, an accurate Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy neural network model is established based on the preprocessed data to predict SCB. This paper uses the precise SCB data with different sampling intervals provided by IGS (International Global Navigation Satellite System Service) to realize the short-time prediction experiment, and the results are compared with the ARIMA (Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average) model, GM(1,1) model, and the quadratic polynomial model. The results show that the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy neural network model is feasible and effective for the SCB short-time prediction experiment, and performs well for different types of clocks. The prediction results for the proposed method are better than the conventional methods obviously.

Modeling and Assessment of Precise Time Transfer by Using BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Triple-Frequency Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Tu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This study proposes two models for precise time transfer using the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System triple-frequency signals: ionosphere-free (IF combined precise point positioning (PPP model with two dual-frequency combinations (IF-PPP1 and ionosphere-free combined PPP model with a single triple-frequency combination (IF-PPP2. A dataset with a short baseline (with a common external time frequency and a long baseline are used for performance assessments. The results show that IF-PPP1 and IF-PPP2 models can both be used for precise time transfer using BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS triple-frequency signals, and the accuracy and stability of time transfer is the same in both cases, except for a constant system bias caused by the hardware delay of different frequencies, which can be removed by the parameter estimation and prediction with long time datasets or by a priori calibration.

Differential GNSS and Vision-Based Tracking to Improve Navigation Performance in Cooperative Multi-UAV Systems

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Amedeo Rodi Vetrella

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Autonomous navigation of micro-UAVs is typically based on the integration of low cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS receivers and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS-based inertial and magnetic sensors to stabilize and control the flight. The resulting navigation performance in terms of position and attitude accuracy may not suffice for other mission needs, such as the ones relevant to fine sensor pointing. In this framework, this paper presents a cooperative UAV navigation algorithm that allows a chief vehicle, equipped with inertial and magnetic sensors, a Global Positioning System (GPS receiver, and a vision system, to improve its navigation performance (in real time or in the post processing phase exploiting formation flying deputy vehicles equipped with GPS receivers. The focus is set on outdoor environments and the key concept is to exploit differential GPS among vehicles and vision-based tracking (DGPS/Vision to build a virtual additional navigation sensor whose information is then integrated in a sensor fusion algorithm based on an Extended Kalman Filter. The developed concept and processing architecture are described, with a focus on DGPS/Vision attitude determination algorithm. Performance assessment is carried out on the basis of both numerical simulations and flight tests. In the latter ones, navigation estimates derived from the DGPS/Vision approach are compared with those provided by the onboard autopilot system of a customized quadrotor. The analysis shows the potential of the developed approach, mainly deriving from the possibility to exploit magnetic- and inertial-independent accurate attitude information.

Experimental study on the precise orbit determination of the BeiDou navigation satellite system.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lina; Ge, Maorong; Wang, Jiexian; Wickert, Jens; Schuh, Harald

2013-03-01

The regional service of the Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system is now in operation with a constellation including five Geostationary Earth Orbit satellites (GEO), five Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) satellites and four Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. Besides the standard positioning service with positioning accuracy of about 10 m, both precise relative positioning and precise point positioning are already demonstrated. As is well known, precise orbit and clock determination is essential in enhancing precise positioning services. To improve the satellite orbits of the BeiDou regional system, we concentrate on the impact of the tracking geometry and the involvement of MEOs, and on the effect of integer ambiguity resolution as well. About seven weeks of data collected at the BeiDou Experimental Test Service (BETS) network is employed in this experimental study. Several tracking scenarios are defined, various processing schemata are designed and carried out; and then, the estimates are compared and analyzed in detail. The results show that GEO orbits, especially the along-track component, can be significantly improved by extending the tracking network in China along longitude direction, whereas IGSOs gain more improvement if the tracking network extends in latitude. The involvement of MEOs and ambiguity-fixing also make the orbits better.

Radar and electronic navigation

CERN Document Server

Sonnenberg, G J

2013-01-01

Radar and Electronic Navigation, Sixth Edition discusses radar in marine navigation, underwater navigational aids, direction finding, the Decca navigator system, and the Omega system. The book also describes the Loran system for position fixing, the navy navigation satellite system, and the global positioning system (GPS). It reviews the principles, operation, presentations, specifications, and uses of radar. It also describes GPS, a real time position-fixing system in three dimensions (longitude, latitude, altitude), plus velocity information with Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). It is accur

Handbook of satellite applications

CERN Document Server

Madry, Scott; Camacho-Lara, Sergio

2017-01-01

The first edition of this ground breaking reference work was the most comprehensive reference source available about the key aspects of the satellite applications field. This updated second edition covers the technology, the markets, applications and regulations related to satellite telecommunications, broadcasting and networking—including civilian and military systems; precise satellite navigation and timing networks (i.e. GPS and others); remote sensing and meteorological satellite systems. Created under the auspices of the International Space University based in France, this brand new edition is now expanded to cover new innovative small satellite constellations, new commercial launching systems, innovation in military application satellites and their acquisition, updated appendices, a useful glossary and more.

Satellite Navigation Systems: Policy, Commercial and Technical Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Rycroft, M.

2003-12-01

This book adopts a broad perspective on positioning and navigation systems which rely on Earth orbiting satellites for their successful operation. The first of such global systems was the US Global Positioning System (GPS), and the next the Russian GLONASS system. Now studies relating to Europe's future Galileo system are gaining momentum and other nations are planning regional augmentation systems. All such systems are discussed here, particularly relating to political, commercial, legal and technical issues. The opportunities - and also the problems - of having three similar systems in operation simultaneously are examined, and several novel applications are proposed. These range from improved vehicular transport by land, sea and air, to more accurate surveying, more efficient agricultural practices and safer operations in mountainous regions. Everyone who is challenged by these topics will find this volume invaluable. ISU WWW Server; http://www.isunet.edu. Further information on ISU Symposia may also be obtained by e-mail from symposium@isu.isunet.edu Link: http://www.wkap.nl/prod/b/1-4020-1678-6

Compact autonomous navigation system (CANS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Y. C.; Ying, L.; Xiong, K.; Cheng, H. Y.; Qiao, G. D.

2017-11-01

Autonomous navigation of Satellite and constellation has series of benefits, such as to reduce operation cost and ground station workload, to avoid the event of crises of war and natural disaster, to increase spacecraft autonomy, and so on. Autonomous navigation satellite is independent of ground station support. Many systems are developed for autonomous navigation of satellite in the past 20 years. Along them American MANS (Microcosm Autonomous Navigation System) [1] of Microcosm Inc. and ERADS [2] [3] (Earth Reference Attitude Determination System) of Honeywell Inc. are well known. The systems anticipate a series of good features of autonomous navigation and aim low cost, integrated structure, low power consumption and compact layout. The ERADS is an integrated small 3-axis attitude sensor system with low cost and small volume. It has the Earth center measurement accuracy higher than the common IR sensor because the detected ultraviolet radiation zone of the atmosphere has a brightness gradient larger than that of the IR zone. But the ERADS is still a complex system because it has to eliminate many problems such as making of the sapphire sphere lens, birefringence effect of sapphire, high precision image transfer optical fiber flattener, ultraviolet intensifier noise, and so on. The marginal sphere FOV of the sphere lens of the ERADS is used to star imaging that may be bring some disadvantages., i.e. , the image energy and attitude measurements accuracy may be reduced due to the tilt image acceptance end of the fiber flattener in the FOV. Besides Japan, Germany and Russia developed visible earth sensor for GEO [4] [5]. Do we have a way to develop a cheaper/easier and more accurate autonomous navigation system that can be used to all LEO spacecraft, especially, to LEO small and micro satellites? To return this problem we provide a new type of the system—CANS (Compact Autonomous Navigation System) [6].

Jig-Time and Navigational Support in the Control of Road Transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataliya Grigorievna Kuftinova

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this article the question of the direction of use of jig-time and navigation providing the motor transport in the field of steering of transportation process is considered. The solution of transport tasks demand existence of jig-time and navigation providing (JTNP based on use of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, geographical information systems (GIS, means and technologies of telematics.

Flight Test Result for the Ground-Based Radio Navigation System Sensor with an Unmanned Air Vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Jaegyu; Ahn, Woo-Guen; Seo, Seungwoo; Lee, Jang Yong; Park, Jun-Pyo

2015-11-11

The Ground-based Radio Navigation System (GRNS) is an alternative/backup navigation system based on time synchronized pseudolites. It has been studied for some years due to the potential vulnerability issue of satellite navigation systems (e.g., GPS or Galileo). In the framework of our study, a periodic pulsed sequence was used instead of the randomized pulse sequence recommended as the RTCM (radio technical commission for maritime services) SC (special committee)-104 pseudolite signal, as a randomized pulse sequence with a long dwell time is not suitable for applications requiring high dynamics. This paper introduces a mathematical model of the post-correlation output in a navigation sensor, showing that the aliasing caused by the additional frequency term of a periodic pulsed signal leads to a false lock (i.e., Doppler frequency bias) during the signal acquisition process or in the carrier tracking loop of the navigation sensor. We suggest algorithms to resolve the frequency false lock issue in this paper, relying on the use of a multi-correlator. A flight test with an unmanned helicopter was conducted to verify the implemented navigation sensor. The results of this analysis show that there were no false locks during the flight test and that outliers stem from bad dilution of precision (DOP) or fluctuations in the received signal quality.

Regional positioning using a low Earth orbit satellite constellation

Science.gov (United States)

Shtark, Tomer; Gurfil, Pini

2018-02-01

Global and regional satellite navigation systems are constellations orbiting the Earth and transmitting radio signals for determining position and velocity of users around the globe. The state-of-the-art navigation satellite systems are located in medium Earth orbits and geosynchronous Earth orbits and are characterized by high launching, building and maintenance costs. For applications that require only regional coverage, the continuous and global coverage that existing systems provide may be unnecessary. Thus, a nano-satellites-based regional navigation satellite system in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with significantly reduced launching, building and maintenance costs, can be considered. Thus, this paper is aimed at developing a LEO constellation optimization and design method, using genetic algorithms and gradient-based optimization. The preliminary results of this study include 268 LEO constellations, aimed at regional navigation in an approximately 1000 km × 1000 km area centered at the geographic coordinates [30, 30] degrees. The constellations performance is examined using simulations, and the figures of merit include total coverage time, revisit time, and geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) percentiles. The GDOP is a quantity that determines the positioning solution accuracy and solely depends on the spatial geometry of the satellites. Whereas the optimization method takes into account only the Earth's second zonal harmonic coefficient, the simulations include the Earth's gravitational field with zonal and tesseral harmonics up to degree 10 and order 10, Solar radiation pressure, drag, and the lunisolar gravitational perturbation.

Satellite based Ocean Forecasting, the SOFT project

Science.gov (United States)

Stemmann, L.; Tintoré, J.; Moneris, S.

2003-04-01

The knowledge of future oceanic conditions would have enormous impact on human marine related areas. For such reasons, a number of international efforts are being carried out to obtain reliable and manageable ocean forecasting systems. Among the possible techniques that can be used to estimate the near future states of the ocean, an ocean forecasting system based on satellite imagery is developped through the Satelitte based Ocean ForecasTing project (SOFT). SOFT, established by the European Commission, considers the development of a forecasting system of the ocean space-time variability based on satellite data by using Artificial Intelligence techniques. This system will be merged with numerical simulation approaches, via assimilation techniques, to get a hybrid SOFT-numerical forecasting system of improved performance. The results of the project will provide efficient forecasting of sea-surface temperature structures, currents, dynamic height, and biological activity associated to chlorophyll fields. All these quantities could give valuable information on the planning and management of human activities in marine environments such as navigation, fisheries, pollution control, or coastal management. A detailed identification of present or new needs and potential end-users concerned by such an operational tool is being performed. The project would study solutions adapted to these specific needs.

Adaptive Landmark-Based Navigation System Using Learning Techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeidan, Bassel; Dasgupta, Sakyasingha; Wörgötter, Florentin

2014-01-01

The goal-directed navigational ability of animals is an essential prerequisite for them to survive. They can learn to navigate to a distal goal in a complex environment. During this long-distance navigation, they exploit environmental features, like landmarks, to guide them towards their goal. In...... hexapod robots. As a result, it allows the robots to successfully learn to navigate to distal goals in complex environments.......The goal-directed navigational ability of animals is an essential prerequisite for them to survive. They can learn to navigate to a distal goal in a complex environment. During this long-distance navigation, they exploit environmental features, like landmarks, to guide them towards their goal....... Inspired by this, we develop an adaptive landmark-based navigation system based on sequential reinforcement learning. In addition, correlation-based learning is also integrated into the system to improve learning performance. The proposed system has been applied to simulated simple wheeled and more complex...

Combined Global Navigation Satellite Systems in the Space Service Volume

Science.gov (United States)

Force, Dale A.; Miller, James J.

2013-01-01

Besides providing position, velocity, and timing (PVT) for terrestrial users, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is also being used to provide PVT information for earth orbiting satellites. In 2006, F. H. Bauer, et. al., defined the Space Service Volume in the paper GPS in the Space Service Volume , presented at ION s 19th international Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division, and looked at GPS coverage for orbiting satellites. With GLONASS already operational, and the first satellites of the Galileo and Beidou/COMPASS constellations already in orbit, it is time to look at the use of the new Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) coming into service to provide PVT information for earth orbiting satellites. This presentation extends GPS in the Space Service Volume by examining the coverage capability of combinations of the new constellations with GPS GPS was first explored as a system for refining the position, velocity, and timing of other spacecraft equipped with GPS receivers in the early eighties. Because of this, a new GPS utility developed beyond the original purpose of providing position, velocity, and timing services for land, maritime, and aerial applications. GPS signals are now received and processed by spacecraft both above and below the GPS constellation, including signals that spill over the limb of the earth. Support of GPS space applications is now part of the system plan for GPS, and support of the Space Service Volume by other GNSS providers has been proposed to the UN International Committee on GNSS (ICG). GPS has been demonstrated to provide decimeter level position accuracy in real-time for satellites in low Earth orbit (centimeter level in non-real-time applications). GPS has been proven useful for satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and also for satellites in highly elliptical orbits. Depending on how many satellites are in view, one can keep time locked to the GNSS standard, and through that to Universal Time as long as at least one

Navigation Architecture for a Space Mobile Network

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez, Jennifer E.; Ashman, Benjamin; Gramling, Cheryl; Heckler, Gregory W.; Carpenter, Russell

2016-01-01

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS) is a proposed beacon service to provide a global, space based GPS augmentation service based on the NASA Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) System. The TASS signal will be tied to the GPS time system and usable as an additional ranging and Doppler radiometric source. Additionally, it will provide data vital to autonomous navigation in the near Earth regime, including space weather information, TDRS ephemerides, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), and forward commanding capability. TASS benefits include enhancing situational awareness, enabling increased autonomy, and providing near real-time command access for user platforms. As NASA Headquarters' Space Communication and Navigation Office (SCaN) begins to move away from a centralized network architecture and towards a Space Mobile Network (SMN) that allows for user initiated services, autonomous navigation will be a key part of such a system. This paper explores how a TASS beacon service enables the Space Mobile Networking paradigm, what a typical user platform would require, and provides an in-depth analysis of several navigation scenarios and operations concepts. This paper provides an overview of the TASS beacon and its role within the SMN and user community. Supporting navigation analysis is presented for two user mission scenarios: an Earth observing spacecraft in low earth orbit (LEO), and a highly elliptical spacecraft in a lunar resonance orbit. These diverse flight scenarios indicate the breadth of applicability of the TASS beacon for upcoming users within the current network architecture and in the SMN.

Estimating Zenith Tropospheric Delays from BeiDou Navigation Satellite System Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Sui

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The GNSS derived Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD plays today a very critical role in meteorological study and weather forecasts, as ZTDs of thousands of GNSS stations are operationally assimilated into numerical weather prediction models. Recently, the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS was officially announced to provide operational services around China and its neighborhood and it was demonstrated to be very promising for precise navigation and positioning. In this contribution, we concentrate on estimating ZTD using BDS observations to assess its capacity for troposphere remote sensing. A local network which is about 250 km from Beijing and comprised of six stations equipped with GPS- and BDS-capable receivers is utilized. Data from 5 to 8 November 2012 collected on the network is processed in network mode using precise orbits and in Precise Point Positioning mode using precise orbits and clocks. The precise orbits and clocks are generated from a tracking network with most of the stations in China and several stations around the world. The derived ZTDs are compared with that estimated from GPS data using the final products of the International GNSS Service (IGS. The comparison shows that the bias and the standard deviation of the ZTD differences are about 2 mm and 5 mm, respectively, which are very close to the differences of GPS ZTD estimated using different software packages.

Public road infrastructure inventory in degraded global navigation satellite system signal environments

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolova, N.; Morrison, A.; Haakonsen, T. A.

2015-04-01

Recent advancement of land-based mobile mapping enables rapid and cost-effective collection of highquality road related spatial information. Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) can provide spatial information with subdecimeter accuracy in nominal operation environments. However, performance in challenging environments such as tunnels is not well characterized. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) manages the country's public road network and its infrastructure, a large segment of which is represented by road tunnels (there are about 1 000 road tunnels in Norway with a combined length of 800 km). In order to adopt mobile mapping technology for streamlining road network and infrastructure management and maintenance tasks, it is important to ensure that the technology is mature enough to meet existing requirements for object positioning accuracy in all types of environments, and provide homogeneous accuracy over the mapping perimeter. This paper presents results of a testing campaign performed within a project funded by the NPRA as a part of SMarter road traffic with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) (SMITS) program. The testing campaign objective was performance evaluation of high end commercial MMSs for inventory of public areas, focusing on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal degraded environments.

SLS Model Based Design: A Navigation Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, T. Emerson; Anzalone, Evan; Park, Thomas; Geohagan, Kevin

2018-01-01

The SLS Program has implemented a Model-based Design (MBD) and Model-based Requirements approach for managing component design information and system requirements. This approach differs from previous large-scale design efforts at Marshall Space Flight Center where design documentation alone conveyed information required for vehicle design and analysis and where extensive requirements sets were used to scope and constrain the design. The SLS Navigation Team is responsible for the Program-controlled Design Math Models (DMMs) which describe and represent the performance of the Inertial Navigation System (INS) and the Rate Gyro Assemblies (RGAs) used by Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C). The SLS Navigation Team is also responsible for navigation algorithms. The navigation algorithms are delivered for implementation on the flight hardware as a DMM. For the SLS Block 1B design, the additional GPS Receiver hardware model is managed as a DMM at the vehicle design level. This paper describes the models, and discusses the processes and methods used to engineer, design, and coordinate engineering trades and performance assessments using SLS practices as applied to the GN&C system, with a particular focus on the navigation components.

Simulation and Analysis of Autonomous Time Synchronization Based on Asynchronism Two-way Inter-satellite Link

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, L.; Yang, X. H.; Sun, B. Q.; Qin, W. J.; Kong, Y.

2013-09-01

The measurement of the inter-satellite link is one of the key techniques in the autonomous operation of satellite navigation system. Based on the asynchronism inter-satellite two-way measurement mode in GPS constellation, the reduction formula of the inter-satellite time synchronization is built in this paper. Moreover, the corrective method of main systematic errors is proposed. Inter-satellite two-way time synchronization is simulated on the basis of IGS (International GNSS Service) precise ephemeris. The impacts of the epoch domestication of asynchronism inter-satellite link pseudo-range, the initial orbit, and the main systematic errors on satellite time synchronization are analyzed. Furthermore, the broadcast clock error of each satellite is calculated by the ``centralized'' inter-satellite autonomous time synchronization. Simulation results show that the epoch domestication of asynchronism inter-satellite link pseudo-range and the initial orbit have little impact on the satellite clock errors, and thus they needn't be taken into account. The errors caused by the relativistic effect and the asymmetry of path travel have large impact on the satellite clock errors. These should be corrected with theoretical formula. Compared with the IGS precise clock error, the root mean square of the broadcast clock error of each satellite is about 0.4 ns.

A fuzzy logic based navigation for mobile robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adel Ali S Al-Jumaily; Shamsudin M Amin; Mohamed Khalil

1998-01-01

The main issue of intelligent robot is how to reach its goal safely in real time when it moves in unknown environment. The navigational planning is becoming the central issue in development of real-time autonomous mobile robots. Behaviour based robots have been successful in reacting with dynamic environment but still there are some complexity and challenging problems. Fuzzy based behaviours present as powerful method to solve the real time reactive navigation problems in unknown environment. We shall classify the navigation generation methods, five some characteristics of these methods, explain why fuzzy logic is suitable for the navigation of mobile robot and automated guided vehicle, and describe a reactive navigation that is flexible to react through their behaviours to the change of the environment. Some simulation results will be presented to show the navigation of the robot. (Author)

A novel angle computation and calibration algorithm of bio-inspired sky-light polarization navigation sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Xian, Zhiwen; Hu, Xiaoping; Lian, Junxiang; Zhang, Lilian; Cao, Juliang; Wang, Yujie; Ma, Tao

2014-09-15

Navigation plays a vital role in our daily life. As traditional and commonly used navigation technologies, Inertial Navigation System (INS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can provide accurate location information, but suffer from the accumulative error of inertial sensors and cannot be used in a satellite denied environment. The remarkable navigation ability of animals shows that the pattern of the polarization sky can be used for navigation. A bio-inspired POLarization Navigation Sensor (POLNS) is constructed to detect the polarization of skylight. Contrary to the previous approach, we utilize all the outputs of POLNS to compute input polarization angle, based on Least Squares, which provides optimal angle estimation. In addition, a new sensor calibration algorithm is presented, in which the installation angle errors and sensor biases are taken into consideration. Derivation and implementation of our calibration algorithm are discussed in detail. To evaluate the performance of our algorithms, simulation and real data test are done to compare our algorithms with several exiting algorithms. Comparison results indicate that our algorithms are superior to the others and are more feasible and effective in practice.

SLS Navigation Model-Based Design Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, T. Emerson; Anzalone, Evan; Geohagan, Kevin; Bernard, Bill; Park, Thomas

2018-01-01

The SLS Program chose to implement a Model-based Design and Model-based Requirements approach for managing component design information and system requirements. This approach differs from previous large-scale design efforts at Marshall Space Flight Center where design documentation alone conveyed information required for vehicle design and analysis and where extensive requirements sets were used to scope and constrain the design. The SLS Navigation Team has been responsible for the Program-controlled Design Math Models (DMMs) which describe and represent the performance of the Inertial Navigation System (INS) and the Rate Gyro Assemblies (RGAs) used by Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C). The SLS Navigation Team is also responsible for the navigation algorithms. The navigation algorithms are delivered for implementation on the flight hardware as a DMM. For the SLS Block 1-B design, the additional GPS Receiver hardware is managed as a DMM at the vehicle design level. This paper provides a discussion of the processes and methods used to engineer, design, and coordinate engineering trades and performance assessments using SLS practices as applied to the GN&C system, with a particular focus on the Navigation components. These include composing system requirements, requirements verification, model development, model verification and validation, and modeling and analysis approaches. The Model-based Design and Requirements approach does not reduce the effort associated with the design process versus previous processes used at Marshall Space Flight Center. Instead, the approach takes advantage of overlap between the requirements development and management process, and the design and analysis process by efficiently combining the control (i.e. the requirement) and the design mechanisms. The design mechanism is the representation of the component behavior and performance in design and analysis tools. The focus in the early design process shifts from the development and

Street navigation using visual information on mobile phones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nguyen, Phuong Giang; Andersen, Hans Jørgen; Høilund, Carsten

2010-01-01

Applications with street navigation have been recently introduced on mobile phone devices. A major part of existing systems use integrated GPS as input for indicating the location. However, these systems often fail or make abrupt shifts in urban environment due to occlusion of satellites....... Furthermore, they only give the position of a person and not the object of his attention, which is just as important for localization based services. In this paper we introduce a system using mobile phones built-in cameras for navigation and localization using visual information in accordance with the way we...

Intelligent personal navigator supported by knowledge-based systems for estimating dead reckoning navigation parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Moafipoor, Shahram

Personal navigators (PN) have been studied for about a decade in different fields and applications, such as safety and rescue operations, security and emergency services, and police and military applications. The common goal of all these applications is to provide precise and reliable position, velocity, and heading information of each individual in various environments. In the PN system developed in this dissertation, the underlying assumption is that the system does not require pre-existing infrastructure to enable pedestrian navigation. To facilitate this capability, a multisensor system concept, based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), inertial navigation, barometer, magnetometer, and a human pedometry model has been developed. An important aspect of this design is to use the human body as navigation sensor to facilitate Dead Reckoning (DR) navigation in GPS-challenged environments. The system is designed predominantly for outdoor environments, where occasional loss of GPS lock may happen; however, testing and performance demonstration have been extended to indoor environments. DR navigation is based on a relative-measurement approach, with the key idea of integrating the incremental motion information in the form of step direction (SD) and step length (SL) over time. The foundation of the intelligent navigation system concept proposed here rests in exploiting the human locomotion pattern, as well as change of locomotion in varying environments. In this context, the term intelligent navigation represents the transition from the conventional point-to-point DR to dynamic navigation using the knowledge about the mechanism of the moving person. This approach increasingly relies on integrating knowledge-based systems (KBS) and artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies, including artificial neural networks (ANN) and fuzzy logic (FL). In addition, a general framework of the quality control for the real-time validation of the DR processing is proposed, based on a

Lightning-generated whistler waves observed by probes on the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System satellite at low latitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Holzworth, R. H.; McCarthy, M. P.; Pfaff, R. F.; Jacobson, A. R.; Willcockson, W. L.; Rowland, D. E.

2011-06-01

Direct evidence is presented for a causal relationship between lightning and strong electric field transients inside equatorial ionospheric density depletions. In fact, these whistler mode plasma waves may be the dominant electric field signal within such depletions. Optical lightning data from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite and global lightning location information from the World Wide Lightning Location Network are presented as independent verification that these electric field transients are caused by lightning. The electric field instrument on C/NOFS routinely measures lightning-related electric field wave packets or sferics, associated with simultaneous measurements of optical flashes at all altitudes encountered by the satellite (401-867 km). Lightning-generated whistler waves have abundant access to the topside ionosphere, even close to the magnetic equator.

From extended integrity monitoring to the safety evaluation of satellite-based localisation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legrand, Cyril; Beugin, Julie; Marais, Juliette; Conrard, Blaise; El-Koursi, El-Miloudi; Berbineau, Marion

2016-01-01

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS, already used in aeronautics for safety-related applications, can play a major role in railway safety by allowing a train to locate itself safely. However, in order to implement this positioning solution in any embedded system, its performances must be evaluated according to railway standards. The evaluation of GNSS performances is not based on the same attributes class than RAMS evaluation. Face to these diffculties, we propose to express the integrity attribute, performance of satellite-based localisation. This attribute comes from aeronautical standards and for a hybridised GNSS with inertial system. To achieve this objective, the integrity attribute must be extended to this kind of system and algorithms initially devoted to GNSS integrity monitoring only must be adapted. Thereafter, the formalisation of this integrity attribute permits us to analyse the safety quantitatively through the probabilities of integrity risk and wrong-side failure. In this paper, after an introductory discussion about the use of localisation systems in railway safety context together with integrity issues, a particular integrity monitoring is proposed and described. The detection events of this algorithm permit us to conclude about safety level of satellite-based localisation system.

Vision Based Autonomous Robot Navigation Algorithms and Implementations

CERN Document Server

Chatterjee, Amitava; Nirmal Singh, N

2013-01-01

This book is devoted to the theory and development of autonomous navigation of mobile robots using computer vision based sensing mechanism. The conventional robot navigation systems, utilizing traditional sensors like ultrasonic, IR, GPS, laser sensors etc., suffer several drawbacks related to either the physical limitations of the sensor or incur high cost. Vision sensing has emerged as a popular alternative where cameras can be used to reduce the overall cost, maintaining high degree of intelligence, flexibility and robustness. This book includes a detailed description of several new approaches for real life vision based autonomous navigation algorithms and SLAM. It presents the concept of how subgoal based goal-driven navigation can be carried out using vision sensing. The development concept of vision based robots for path/line tracking using fuzzy logic is presented, as well as how a low-cost robot can be indigenously developed in the laboratory with microcontroller based sensor systems. The book descri...

Handbook of satellite applications

CERN Document Server

Madry, Scott; Camacho-Lara, Sergio

2013-01-01

Top space experts from around the world have collaborated to produce this comprehensive, authoritative, and clearly illustrated reference guide to the fast growing, multi-billion dollar field of satellite applications and space communications. This handbook, done under the auspices of the International Space University based in France, addresses not only system technologies but also examines market dynamics, technical standards and regulatory constraints. The handbook is a completely multi-disciplinary reference book that covers, in an in-depth fashion, the fields of satellite telecommunications, Earth observation, remote sensing, satellite navigation, geographical information systems, and geosynchronous meteorological systems. It covers current practices and designs as well as advanced concepts and future systems. It provides a comparative analysis of the common technologies and design elements for satellite application bus structures, thermal controls, power systems, stabilization techniques, telemetry, com...

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS: The Utmost Interdisciplinary Integrator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernd Eissfeller

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Currently four global satellite navigation systems are under modernization and development: The US American GPS III, the Russian GLONASS, the European Galileo and Chinese BeiDou systems. In the paper the interdisciplinary contributions of different scientific areas to GNSS are assessed. It is outlined that GNSS is not only a technical system but also a basic element of mobile computing high-tech market. At the same time a GNSS has the role of a force enabler in security related applications. Technology, market and security policies are interdependent and are sometimes in a relationship of tension. The goal of the paper is to describe the overall systemics of GNSS from a holistic point of view. The paper also addresses the human factor side of GNSS. The requirements on human resources in GNSS are at least two-fold: On the one hand very specialized engineers are needed; on the other hand the generalists are necessary who are able to understand the system aspects. Decision makers in institutions and industry need special knowledge in technologies, economics and political strategies. Is the current university system able to educate and prepare such generalists? Are specialized master courses for GNSS needed? Are external training courses necessary?

ANALYSIS OF FREE ROUTE AIRSPACE AND PERFORMANCE BASED NAVIGATION IMPLEMENTATION IN THE EUROPEAN AIR NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Pavlova

2014-12-01

Full Text Available European Air Traffic Management system requires continuous improvements as air traffic is increasingday by day. For this purpose it was developed by international organizations Free Route Airspace and PerformanceBased Navigation concepts that allow to offer a required level of safety, capacity, environmental performance alongwith cost-effectiveness. The aim of the article is to provide detailed analysis of Free Route Airspace and PerformanceBased Navigation implementation status within European region including Ukrainian air navigation system.

Data Analysis of the TK-1G Sounding Rocket Installed with a Satellite Navigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lesong Zhou

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article gives an in-depth analysis of the experimental data of the TK-1G sounding rocket installed with the satellite navigation system. It turns out that the data acquisition rate of the rocket sonde is high, making the collection of complete trajectory and meteorological data possible. By comparing the rocket sonde measurements with those obtained by virtue of other methods, we find that the rocket sonde can be relatively precise in measuring atmospheric parameters within the scope of 20–60 km above the ground. This establishes the fact that the TK-1G sounding rocket system is effective in detecting near-space atmospheric environment.

Ground Simulation of an Autonomous Satellite Rendezvous and Tracking System Using Dual Robotic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Trube, Matthew J.; Hyslop, Andrew M.; Carignan, Craig R.; Easley, Joseph W.

2012-01-01

A hardware-in-the-loop ground system was developed for simulating a robotic servicer spacecraft tracking a target satellite at short range. A relative navigation sensor package "Argon" is mounted on the end-effector of a Fanuc 430 manipulator, which functions as the base platform of the robotic spacecraft servicer. Machine vision algorithms estimate the pose of the target spacecraft, mounted on a Rotopod R-2000 platform, relay the solution to a simulation of the servicer spacecraft running in "Freespace", which performs guidance, navigation and control functions, integrates dynamics, and issues motion commands to a Fanuc platform controller so that it tracks the simulated servicer spacecraft. Results will be reviewed for several satellite motion scenarios at different ranges. Key words: robotics, satellite, servicing, guidance, navigation, tracking, control, docking.

Cyber security with radio frequency interferences mitigation study for satellite systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gang; Wei, Sixiao; Chen, Genshe; Tian, Xin; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh; Nguyen, Tien M.; Blasch, Erik

2016-05-01

Satellite systems including the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and the satellite communications (SATCOM) system provide great convenience and utility to human life including emergency response, wide area efficient communications, and effective transportation. Elements of satellite systems incorporate technologies such as navigation with the global positioning system (GPS), satellite digital video broadcasting, and information transmission with a very small aperture terminal (VSAT), etc. The satellite systems importance is growing in prominence with end users' requirement for globally high data rate transmissions; the cost reduction of launching satellites; development of smaller sized satellites including cubesat, nanosat, picosat, and femtosat; and integrating internet services with satellite networks. However, with the promising benefits, challenges remain to fully develop secure and robust satellite systems with pervasive computing and communications. In this paper, we investigate both cyber security and radio frequency (RF) interferences mitigation for satellite systems, and demonstrate that they are not isolated. The action space for both cyber security and RF interferences are firstly summarized for satellite systems, based on which the mitigation schemes for both cyber security and RF interferences are given. A multi-layered satellite systems structure is provided with cross-layer design considering multi-path routing and channel coding, to provide great security and diversity gains for secure and robust satellite systems.

Systems and Methods for Determining Inertial Navigation System Faults

Science.gov (United States)

Bharadwaj, Raj Mohan (Inventor); Bageshwar, Vibhor L. (Inventor); Kim, Kyusung (Inventor)

2017-01-01

An inertial navigation system (INS) includes a primary inertial navigation system (INS) unit configured to receive accelerometer measurements from an accelerometer and angular velocity measurements from a gyroscope. The primary INS unit is further configured to receive global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals from a GNSS sensor and to determine a first set of kinematic state vectors based on the accelerometer measurements, the angular velocity measurements, and the GNSS signals. The INS further includes a secondary INS unit configured to receive the accelerometer measurements and the angular velocity measurements and to determine a second set of kinematic state vectors of the vehicle based on the accelerometer measurements and the angular velocity measurements. A health management system is configured to compare the first set of kinematic state vectors and the second set of kinematic state vectors to determine faults associated with the accelerometer or the gyroscope based on the comparison.

Validation of High Wind Retrievals from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

McKague, D. S.; Ruf, C. S.; Balasubramaniam, R.; Clarizia, M. P.

2017-12-01

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission, launched in December of 2016, provides all-weather observations of sea surface winds. Using GPS-based bistatic reflectometry, the CYGNSS satellites can estimate sea surface winds even through a hurricane eye wall. This, combined with the high temporal resolution of the CYGNSS constellation (median revisit time of 2.8 hours), yields unprecedented ability to estimate hurricane strength winds. While there are a number of other sources of sea surface wind estimates, such as buoys, dropsondes, passive and active microwave from aircraft and satellite, and models, the combination of all-weather, high accuracy, short revisit time, high spatial coverage, and continuous operation of the CYGNSS mission enables significant advances in the understanding, monitoring, and prediction of cyclones. Validating CYGNSS wind retrievals over the bulk of the global wind speed distribution, which peaks at around 7 meters per second, is relatively straight-forward, requiring spatial-temporal matching of observations with independent sources (such as those mentioned above). Validating CYGNSS wind retrievals for "high" winds (> 20 meters per second), though, is problematic. Such winds occur only in intense storms. While infrequent, making validation opportunities also infrequent and problematic due to their intense nature, such storms are important to study because of the high potential for damage and loss of life. This presentation will describe the efforts of the CYGNSS Calibration/Validation team to gather measurements of high sea surface winds for development and validation of the CYGNSS geophysical model function (GMF), which forms the basis of retrieving winds from CYGNSS observations. The bulk of these observations come from buoy measurements as well as aircraft ("hurricane hunter") measurements from passive microwave and dropsondes. These data are matched in space and time to CYGNSS observations for training of the

Advantages of Hybrid Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asim Bilajbegović

2007-05-01

Full Text Available In a decision-making situation, what kind of GPS equipment to purchase, one always has a dilemma, tobuy hybrid (GPS+GLONASS or only GPS receivers? In the case of completeness of the GLONASS satellite system, this dilemma probably would not have existed. The answer to this dilemma is given in the present paper, but for the constellation of the GLONASS satellites in summer 2006 (14 satellites operational. Due to the short operational period of these satellites (for example GLONASS-M, 5 years, and not launching new ones, at this moment (February 25, 2007, only 10 satellites are operational. For the sake of research and giving answers to these questions, about 252 RTK measurements have been done using (GPS and GNSS receivers, on points with different obstructions of horizon. Besides that, initialisation time has been investigated for both systems from about 480 measurements, using rover's antenna with metal cover, during a time interval of 0.5, 2 and 5 seconds. Moreover, accuracy, firmware declared accuracy and redundancy of GPS and GNSS RTK measurements have been investigating.  

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NAVIGATION SYSTEMS IN CIVIL AVIATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasiya Sergeyevna Stepanenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes the history of navigation systems formation, such as "Cicada" system, which at that time could compete with the US "Transit", European, Chinese Beidou navigation system and the Japanese Quasi-Zenit.The detailed information about improving the American GPS system, launched in 1978 and working till now is provided. The characteristics of GPS-III counterpart "Transit", which became the platform for creating such modern globalnavigation systems as GLONASS and GPS. The process of implementation of the GLONASS system in civil aviation, itssegments, functions and features are considered. The stages of GLONASS satellite system orbital grouping formation are analyzed. The author draws the analogy with the American GPS system, the GALILEO system, which has a number of additional advantages, are given. The author remarks the features of the European counterpart of the GALILEO global nav- igation system. One of the goals of this system is to provide a high-precision positioning system, which Europe can rely on regardless of the Russian GLONASS system, the US - GPS and the Chinese Beidou. GALILEO offers a unique global search and rescue function called SAR, with an important feedback function. The peculiarities of Chinese scientists’ navi- gation system, the Beidou satellite system, and the Japanese global Quasi-Zenith Satellite System are described.Global navigation systems development tendencies are considered. The author dwells upon the path to world satel- lite systems globalization, a good example of which is the trend towards GLONASS and Beidou unification. Most attention was paid to the latest development of Russian scientists’ autonomous navigation system SINS 2015, which is a strap-down inertial navigation system and allows you to navigate the aircraft without being connected to a global satellite system. The ways of navigation systems further development in Russia are determined. The two naturally opposite directions are

Results from Navigator GPS Flight Testing for the Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lulich, Tyler D.; Bamford, William A.; Wintermitz, Luke M. B.; Price, Samuel R.

2012-01-01

The recent delivery of the first Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Navigator Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission spacecraft is a high water mark crowning a decade of research and development in high-altitude space-based GPS. Preceding MMS delivery, the engineering team had developed receivers to support multiple missions and mission studies, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) navigation for the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), above the constellation navigation for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) proof-of-concept studies, cis-Lunar navigation with rapid re-acquisition during re-entry for the Orion Project and an orbital demonstration on the Space Shuttle during the Hubble Servicing Mission (HSM-4).

Design Issues for MEMS-Based Pedestrian Inertial Navigation Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. S. Marinushkin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes design issues for MEMS-based pedestrian inertial navigation systems. By now the algorithms to estimate navigation parameters for strap-down inertial navigation systems on the basis of plural observations have been already well developed. At the same time mathematical and software processing of information in the case of pedestrian inertial navigation systems has its specificity, due to the peculiarities of their functioning and exploitation. Therefore, there is an urgent task to enhance existing fusion algorithms for use in pedestrian navigation systems. For this purpose the article analyzes the characteristics of the hardware composition and configuration of existing systems of this class. The paper shows advantages of various technical solutions. Relying on their main features it justifies a choice of the navigation system architecture and hardware composition enabling improvement of the estimation accuracy of user position as compared to the systems using only inertial sensors. The next point concerns the development of algorithms for complex processing of heterogeneous information. To increase an accuracy of the free running pedestrian inertial navigation system we propose an adaptive algorithm for joint processing of heterogeneous information based on the fusion of inertial info rmation with magnetometer measurements using EKF approach. Modeling of the algorithm was carried out using a specially developed functional prototype of pedestrian inertial navigation system, implemented as a hardware/software complex in Matlab environment. The functional prototype tests of the developed system demonstrated an improvement of the navigation parameters estimation compared to the systems based on inertial sensors only. It enables to draw a conclusion that the synthesized algorithm provides satisfactory accuracy for calculating the trajectory of motion even when using low-grade inertial MEMS sensors. The developed algorithm can be

Autonomous Navigation Using LiAISON in the Earth-Moon System

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — An innovative technique using satellite-to-satellite tracking for onboard autonomous absolute navigation has been conceived at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics...

A Geometry-Based Cycle Slip Detection and Repair Method with Time-Differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP for a Single Frequency Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS Receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuang Qian

2016-12-01

Full Text Available As the field of high-precision applications based on carriers continues to expand, the development of low-cost, small, modular receivers and their application in diverse scenarios and situations with complex data quality has increased the requirements of carrier-phase data preprocessing. A new geometry-based cycle slip detection and repair method based on Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS is proposed. The method uses a Time-differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP model, which eliminates the Inner-System Bias (ISB between GPS and BDS, and it is conducive to the effective combination of GPS and BDS. It avoids the interference of the noise of the pseudo-range with cycle slip detection, while the cycle slips are preserved as integers. This method does not limit the receiver frequency number, and it is applicable to single-frequency data. The process is divided into two steps to detect and repair cycle slip. The first step is cycle slip detection, using the Improved Local Analysis Method (ILAM to find satellites that have cycle slips; The second step is to repair the cycle slips, including estimating the float solution of changes in ambiguities at the satellites that have cycle slips with the least squares method and the integer solution of the cycle slips by rounding. In the process of rounding, in addition to the success probability, a decimal test is carried out to validate the result. Finally, experiments with filed test data are carried out to prove the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the detectable cycle slips number with GPS + BDS is much greater than that with GPS. The method can also detect the non-integer outliers while fixing the cycle slip. The maximum decimal bias in repair is less than that with GPS. It implies that this method takes full advantages of multi-system.

Relativistic Time Transfer for Inter-satellite Links

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie, Yi, E-mail: yixie@nju.edu.cn [Department of Astronomy, School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing (China); Shanghai Key Laboratory of Space Navigation and Position Techniques, Shanghai (China); Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University, Ministry of Education, Nanjing (China)

2016-04-26

Inter-Satellite links (ISLs) will be an important technique for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in the future. Based on the principles of general relativity, the time transfer in an ISL is modeled and the algorithm for onboard computation is described. It is found, in general, satellites with circular orbits and identical semi-major axes can benefit inter-satellite time transfer by canceling out terms associated with the transformations between the proper times and the Geocentric Coordinate Time. For a GPS-like GNSS, the Shapiro delay is as large as 0.1 ns when the ISL passes at the limb of the Earth. However, in more realistic cases, this value will decrease to about 50 ps.

Mobile satellite communications in the 1990's

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jai

1992-07-01

The evolution of Inmarsat global services from a single market and single service of the 1980's to all of the key mobile markets and a wide range of new terminals and services in the 1990's is described. An overview of existing mobile satellite services, as well as new services under implementation for introduction in the near and longer term, including a handheld satellite phone (Inmarsat-P), is provided. The initiative taken by Inmarsat in the integration of its global mobile satellite services with global navigation capability derived from GPS (Global Positioning System) and the GLONASS (Russian GPS) navigation satellite systems and the provision of an international civil overlay for GPS/GLONASS integrity and augmentation is highlighted. To complete the overview of the development of mobile satellite services in the 1990's, the known national and regional mobile satellite system plans and the various recent proposals for both orbiting and geostationary satellite systems for proving handheld satellite phone and/or data messaging services are described.

GPS navigation algorithms for Autonomous Airborne Refueling of Unmanned Air Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Khanafseh, Samer Mahmoud

Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have recently generated great interest because of their potential to perform hazardous missions without risking loss of life. If autonomous airborne refueling is possible for UAVs, mission range and endurance will be greatly enhanced. However, concerns about UAV-tanker proximity, dynamic mobility and safety demand that the relative navigation system meets stringent requirements on accuracy, integrity, and continuity. In response, this research focuses on developing high-performance GPS-based navigation architectures for Autonomous Airborne Refueling (AAR) of UAVs. The AAR mission is unique because of the potentially severe sky blockage introduced by the tanker. To address this issue, a high-fidelity dynamic sky blockage model was developed and experimentally validated. In addition, robust carrier phase differential GPS navigation algorithms were derived, including a new method for high-integrity reacquisition of carrier cycle ambiguities for recently-blocked satellites. In order to evaluate navigation performance, world-wide global availability and sensitivity covariance analyses were conducted. The new navigation algorithms were shown to be sufficient for turn-free scenarios, but improvement in performance was necessary to meet the difficult requirements for a general refueling mission with banked turns. Therefore, several innovative methods were pursued to enhance navigation performance. First, a new theoretical approach was developed to quantify the position-domain integrity risk in cycle ambiguity resolution problems. A mechanism to implement this method with partially-fixed cycle ambiguity vectors was derived, and it was used to define tight upper bounds on AAR navigation integrity risk. A second method, where a new algorithm for optimal fusion of measurements from multiple antennas was developed, was used to improve satellite coverage in poor visibility environments such as in AAR. Finally, methods for using data-link extracted

A Behaviour-Based Architecture for Mapless Navigation Using Vision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet Serdar Guzel

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Autonomous robots operating in an unknown and uncertain environment must be able to cope with dynamic changes to that environment. For a mobile robot in a cluttered environment to navigate successfully to a goal while avoiding obstacles is a challenging problem. This paper presents a new behaviour-based architecture design for mapless navigation. The architecture is composed of several modules and each module generates behaviours. A novel method, inspired from a visual homing strategy, is adapted to a monocular vision-based system to overcome goal-based navigation problems. A neural network-based obstacle avoidance strategy is designed using a 2-D scanning laser. To evaluate the performance of the proposed architecture, the system has been tested using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS, which is a very powerful 3D simulation environment. In addition, real experiments to guide a Pioneer 3-DX mobile robot, equipped with a pan-tilt-zoom camera in a cluttered environment are presented. The analysis of the results allows us to validate the proposed behaviour-based navigation strategy.

Performance Improvement of Inertial Navigation System by Using Magnetometer with Vehicle Dynamic Constraints

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Daehee Won

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A navigation algorithm is proposed to increase the inertial navigation performance of a ground vehicle using magnetic measurements and dynamic constraints. The navigation solutions are estimated based on inertial measurements such as acceleration and angular velocity measurements. To improve the inertial navigation performance, a three-axis magnetometer is used to provide the heading angle, and nonholonomic constraints (NHCs are introduced to increase the correlation between the velocity and the attitude equation. The NHCs provide a velocity feedback to the attitude, which makes the navigation solution more robust. Additionally, an acceleration-based roll and pitch estimation is applied to decrease the drift when the acceleration is within certain boundaries. The magnetometer and NHCs are combined with an extended Kalman filter. An experimental test was conducted to verify the proposed method, and a comprehensive analysis of the performance in terms of the position, velocity, and attitude showed that the navigation performance could be improved by using the magnetometer and NHCs. Moreover, the proposed method could improve the estimation performance for the position, velocity, and attitude without any additional hardware except an inertial sensor and magnetometer. Therefore, this method would be effective for ground vehicles, indoor navigation, mobile robots, vehicle navigation in urban canyons, or navigation in any global navigation satellite system-denied environment.

Satellite-Based Sunshine Duration for Europe

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Bodo Ahrens

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, two different methods were applied to derive daily and monthly sunshine duration based on high-resolution satellite products provided by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring using data from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager. The satellite products were either hourly cloud type or hourly surface incoming direct radiation. The satellite sunshine duration estimates were not found to be significantly different using the native 15-minute temporal resolution of SEVIRI. The satellite-based sunshine duration products give additional spatial information over the European continent compared with equivalent in situ-based products. An evaluation of the satellite sunshine duration by product intercomparison and against station measurements was carried out to determine their accuracy. The satellite data were found to be within ±1 h/day compared to high-quality Baseline Surface Radiation Network or surface synoptic observations (SYNOP station measurements. The satellite-based products differ more over the oceans than over land, mainly because of the treatment of fractional clouds in the cloud type-based sunshine duration product. This paper presents the methods used to derive the satellite sunshine duration products and the performance of the different retrievals. The main benefits and disadvantages compared to station-based products are also discussed.

Ego-motion based on EM for bionic navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Xiaofeng; Wang, L. J.; Liu, J. G.

2015-12-01

Researches have proved that flying insects such as bees can achieve efficient and robust flight control, and biologists have explored some biomimetic principles regarding how they control flight. Based on those basic studies and principles acquired from the flying insects, this paper proposes a different solution of recovering ego-motion for low level navigation. Firstly, a new type of entropy flow is provided to calculate the motion parameters. Secondly, EKF, which has been used for navigation for some years to correct accumulated error, and estimation-Maximization, which is always used to estimate parameters, are put together to determine the ego-motion estimation of aerial vehicles. Numerical simulation on MATLAB has proved that this navigation system provides more accurate position and smaller mean absolute error than pure optical flow navigation. This paper has done pioneering work in bionic mechanism to space navigation.

Advanced satellite servicing facility studies

Science.gov (United States)

Qualls, Garry D.; Ferebee, Melvin J., Jr.

1988-01-01

A NASA-sponsored systems analysis designed to identify and recommend advanced subsystems and technologies specifically for a manned Sun-synchronous platform for satellite management is discussed. An overview of system design, manned and unmanned servicing facilities, and representative mission scenarios are given. Mission areas discussed include facility based satellite assembly, checkout, deployment, refueling, repair, and systems upgrade. The ferrying of materials and consumables to and from manufacturing platforms, deorbit, removal, repositioning, or salvage of satellites and debris, and crew rescue of any other manned vehicles are also examined. Impacted subsytems discussed include guidance navigation and control, propulsion, data management, power, thermal control, structures, life support, and radiation management. In addition, technology issues which would have significant impacts on the system design are discussed.

IMPLEMENTATION OF AERONAUTICAL LOCAL SATELLITE AUGMENTATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stojce Ilcev

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract. This paper introduces development and implementation of new Local Satellite AugmentationSystem as an integration component of the Regional Satellite Augmentation System (RSAS employingcurrent and new Satellite Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS for improvement of the AirTraffic Control (ATC and Air Traffic Management (ATM and for enhancement safety systems includingtransport security and control of flights in all stages, airport approaching, landing, departures and allmovements over airport surface areas. The current first generation of the Global Navigation Satellite SystemGNSS-1 applications are represented by fundamental military solutions for Position, Velocity and Time ofthe satellite navigation and determination systems such as the US GPS and Russian GLONASS (Former-USSR requirements, respectively. The establishment of Aeronautical CNS is also discussed as a part ofGlobal Satellite Augmentation Systems of GPS and GLONASS systems integrated with existing and futureRSAS and LSAS in airports areas. Specific influence and factors related to the Comparison of the Currentand New Aeronautical CNS System including the Integration of RSAS and GNSS solutions are discussedand packet of facts is determined to maximize the new satellite Automatic Dependent Surveillance System(ADSS and Special Effects of the RSAS Networks. The possible future integration of RSAS and GNSS andthe common proposal of the satellite Surface Movement Guidance and Control are presented in thechangeless ways as of importance for future enfacements of ATC and ATM for any hypothetical airportinfrastructure.Keywords: ADSS, ATC, ATM, CNS, GSAS, LRAS, RSAS, SMGC, Special Effects of RSAS.

Establishment of high-precision navigation system in the Republic of Armenia

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Manukyan Larisa Vladimirovna

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Medium-Earth orbit satellite systems make it possible to provide services on time coordination and navigation support for a wide range of consumers. At present, there are global navigation satellite systems GLONASS (Russia and GPS (USA. Users of these systems have an opportunity to determine their location accurately with the given characteristics of their navigation devices. In all developed countries the progress of geodesy and cartography is closely related to the implementation of advanced new technologies in both scientific and industrial areas. The introduction of new technologies and equipment in production is essential for the development of geodesy and cartography, bringing the existing geodetic networks and cartographic materials to modern condition. In the Republic of Armenia there are also plans on introduction of the systems for monitoring and management of vehicles for various purposes, as well as it is proposed to establish and implement an effective satellite navigation system to monitor and control traffic on the basis of advanced satellite technology. The article describes the basic steps to create the network of reference stations, GPS, aerial photography of much of the territory of Armenia, the creation of digital terrain model and the new maps by orthophotoplans. The analysis of the materials were carried out, on the basis of which in the Republic in 2015 a high-precision navigation system will be created. Due to the hard work of surveyors, cartographers and topographers the Republic was brought to European states level.

Simulation-based camera navigation training in laparoscopy-a randomized trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Cecilia; Sørensen, Jette Led; Konge, Lars

2017-01-01

patient safety. The objectives of this trial were to examine how to train laparoscopic camera navigation and to explore the transfer of skills to the operating room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized, single-center superiority trial with three groups: The first group practiced simulation-based camera...... navigation tasks (camera group), the second group practiced performing a simulation-based cholecystectomy (procedure group), and the third group received no training (control group). Participants were surgical novices without prior laparoscopic experience. The primary outcome was assessment of camera.......033), had a higher score. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation-based training improves the technical skills required for camera navigation, regardless of practicing camera navigation or the procedure itself. Transfer to the clinical setting could, however, not be demonstrated. The control group demonstrated higher...

GPS surveying method applied to terminal area navigation flight experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murata, M; Shingu, H; Satsushima, K; Tsuji, T; Ishikawa, K; Miyazawa, Y; Uchida, T [National Aerospace Laboratory, Tokyo (Japan)

1993-03-01

With an objective of evaluating accuracy of new landing and navigation systems such as microwave landing guidance system and global positioning satellite (GPS) system, flight experiments are being carried out using experimental aircraft. This aircraft mounts a GPS and evaluates its accuracy by comparing the standard orbits spotted by a Kalman filter from the laser tracing data on the aircraft with the navigation results. The GPS outputs position and speed information from an earth-centered-earth-fixed system called the World Geodetic System, 1984 (WGS84). However, in order to compare the navigation results with output from a reference orbit sensor or other navigation sensor, it is necessary to structure a high-precision reference coordinates system based on the WGS84. A method that applies the GPS phase interference measurement for this problem was proposed, and used actually in analyzing a flight experiment data. As referred to a case of the method having been applied to evaluating an independent navigation accuracy, the method was verified sufficiently effective and reliable not only in navigation method analysis, but also in the aspect of navigational operations. 12 refs., 10 figs., 5 tabs.

Geometrically constrained kinematic global navigation satellite systems positioning: Implementation and performance

Science.gov (United States)

Asgari, Jamal; Mohammadloo, Tannaz H.; Amiri-Simkooei, Ali Reza

2015-09-01

GNSS kinematic techniques are capable of providing precise coordinates in extremely short observation time-span. These methods usually determine the coordinates of an unknown station with respect to a reference one. To enhance the precision, accuracy, reliability and integrity of the estimated unknown parameters, GNSS kinematic equations are to be augmented by possible constraints. Such constraints could be derived from the geometric relation of the receiver positions in motion. This contribution presents the formulation of the constrained kinematic global navigation satellite systems positioning. Constraints effectively restrict the definition domain of the unknown parameters from the three-dimensional space to a subspace defined by the equation of motion. To test the concept of the constrained kinematic positioning method, the equation of a circle is employed as a constraint. A device capable of moving on a circle was made and the observations from 11 positions on the circle were analyzed. Relative positioning was conducted by considering the center of the circle as the reference station. The equation of the receiver's motion was rewritten in the ECEF coordinates system. A special attention is drawn onto how a constraint is applied to kinematic positioning. Implementing the constraint in the positioning process provides much more precise results compared to the unconstrained case. This has been verified based on the results obtained from the covariance matrix of the estimated parameters and the empirical results using kinematic positioning samples as well. The theoretical standard deviations of the horizontal components are reduced by a factor ranging from 1.24 to 2.64. The improvement on the empirical standard deviation of the horizontal components ranges from 1.08 to 2.2.

14 CFR 141.91 - Satellite bases.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Satellite bases. 141.91 Section 141.91... OTHER CERTIFICATED AGENCIES PILOT SCHOOLS Operating Rules § 141.91 Satellite bases. The holder of a... assistant chief instructor is designated for each satellite base, and that assistant chief instructor is...

Navigation GPS/GLONASS in the Arctic and aurora

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Chernouss S. A.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The correspondence of the time-spatial distribution of the radiances of the aurora oval and time-spatial changes in the parameters of the navigation satellites' signal has been shown. For this aim the experimental data on the regional and local heterogeneities of the Total Electron Content (or TEC and the data on the signal delays in the polar ionosphere have been analyzed. Using the data concerning aurora as the indicator of disturbances in the work of the GPS/GLONASS systems can give the opportunity to increase considerably the accuracy of positioning in the Arctic with the help of satellite navigation systems (SNS.

Wavefront Propagation and Fuzzy Based Autonomous Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adel Al-Jumaily

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Path planning and obstacle avoidance are the two major issues in any navigation system. Wavefront propagation algorithm, as a good path planner, can be used to determine an optimal path. Obstacle avoidance can be achieved using possibility theory. Combining these two functions enable a robot to autonomously navigate to its destination. This paper presents the approach and results in implementing an autonomous navigation system for an indoor mobile robot. The system developed is based on a laser sensor used to retrieve data to update a two dimensional world model of therobot environment. Waypoints in the path are incorporated into the obstacle avoidance. Features such as ageing of objects and smooth motion planning are implemented to enhance efficiency and also to cater for dynamic environments.

Ultrasound-based tumor movement compensation during navigated laparoscopic liver interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahin, Osama; Beširević, Armin; Kleemann, Markus; Schlaefer, Alexander

2014-05-01

Image-guided navigation aims to provide better orientation and accuracy in laparoscopic interventions. However, the ability of the navigation system to reflect anatomical changes and maintain high accuracy during the procedure is crucial. This is particularly challenging in soft organs such as the liver, where surgical manipulation causes significant tumor movements. We propose a fast approach to obtain an accurate estimation of the tumor position throughout the procedure. Initially, a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound image is reconstructed and the tumor is segmented. During surgery, the position of the tumor is updated based on newly acquired tracked ultrasound images. The initial segmentation of the tumor is used to automatically detect the tumor and update its position in the navigation system. Two experiments were conducted. First, a controlled phantom motion using a robot was performed to validate the tracking accuracy. Second, a needle navigation scenario based on pseudotumors injected into ex vivo porcine liver was studied. In the robot-based evaluation, the approach estimated the target location with an accuracy of 0.4 ± 0.3 mm. The mean navigation error in the needle experiment was 1.2 ± 0.6 mm, and the algorithm compensated for tumor shifts up to 38 mm in an average time of 1 s. We demonstrated a navigation approach based on tracked laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS), and focused on the neighborhood of the tumor. Our experimental results indicate that this approach can be used to quickly and accurately compensate for tumor movements caused by surgical manipulation during laparoscopic interventions. The proposed approach has the advantage of being based on the routinely used LUS; however, it upgrades its functionality to estimate the tumor position in 3D. Hence, the approach is repeatable throughout surgery, and enables high navigation accuracy to be maintained.

Cibola flight experiment satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, P.; Liddle, Doug; Paffett, John; Sweeting, Martin; Curiel, A.; Sun, Wei; Eves, Stuart

2004-11-01

In order to achieve an "economy of scale" with respect to payload capacity the major trend in telecommunications satellites is for larger and larger platforms. With these large platforms the level of integration between platform and payload is increasing leading to longer delivery schedules. The typical lifecycle for procurement of these large telecommunications satellites is now 3-6 years depending on the level of non-recurring engineering needed. Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has designed a low-cost platform aimed at telecommunications and navigation applications. SSTL's Geostationary Minisatellite Platform (GMP) is a new entrant addressing the lower end of the market with payloads up to 250kg requiring less than 1.5 kW power. The British National Space Centre through the MOSAIC Small Satellite Initiative supported the development of GMP. The main design goals for GMP are low-cost for the complete mission including launch and operations and a platform allowing flexible payload accommodation. GMP is specifically designed to allow rapid development and deployment with schedules typically between 1 and 2 years from contract signature to flight readiness. GMP achieves these aims by a modular design where the level of integration between the platform and payload is low. The modular design decomposes the satellite into three major components - the propulsion bay, the avionics bay and the payload module. Both the propulsion and avionics bays are reusable, largely unchanged, and independent of the payload configuration. Such a design means that SSTL or a 3rd party manufacturer can manufacture the payload in parallel to the platform with integration taking place quite late in the schedule. In July 2003 SSTL signed a contract for ESA's first Galileo navigation satellite known as GSTBV2/A. The satellite is based on GMP and ESA plan to launch it into a MEO orbit late in 2005. The second flight of GMP is likely to be in 2006 carrying a geostationary payload

Laser Guidestar Satellite for Ground-based Adaptive Optics Imaging of Geosynchronous Satellites and Astronomical Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Marlow, W. A.; Cahoy, K.; Males, J.; Carlton, A.; Yoon, H.

2015-12-01

Real-time observation and monitoring of geostationary (GEO) satellites with ground-based imaging systems would be an attractive alternative to fielding high cost, long lead, space-based imagers, but ground-based observations are inherently limited by atmospheric turbulence. Adaptive optics (AO) systems are used to help ground telescopes achieve diffraction-limited seeing. AO systems have historically relied on the use of bright natural guide stars or laser guide stars projected on a layer of the upper atmosphere by ground laser systems. There are several challenges with this approach such as the sidereal motion of GEO objects relative to natural guide stars and limitations of ground-based laser guide stars; they cannot be used to correct tip-tilt, they are not point sources, and have finite angular sizes when detected at the receiver. There is a difference between the wavefront error measured using the guide star compared with the target due to cone effect, which also makes it difficult to use a distributed aperture system with a larger baseline to improve resolution. Inspired by previous concepts proposed by A.H. Greenaway, we present using a space-based laser guide starprojected from a satellite orbiting the Earth. We show that a nanosatellite-based guide star system meets the needs for imaging GEO objects using a low power laser even from 36,000 km altitude. Satellite guide star (SGS) systemswould be well above atmospheric turbulence and could provide a small angular size reference source. CubeSatsoffer inexpensive, frequent access to space at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems, and are now being deployed to geostationary orbits and on interplanetary trajectories. The fundamental CubeSat bus unit of 10 cm cubed can be combined in multiple units and offers a common form factor allowing for easy integration as secondary payloads on traditional launches and rapid testing of new technologies on-orbit. We describe a 6U CubeSat SGS measuring 10 cm x 20 cm x

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTIC MEMS-BASED IMUs FOR UAVs NAVIGATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. A. Mohamed

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Accurate 3D reconstruction has become essential for non-traditional mapping applications such as urban planning, mining industry, environmental monitoring, navigation, surveillance, pipeline inspection, infrastructure monitoring, landslide hazard analysis, indoor localization, and military simulation. The needs of these applications cannot be satisfied by traditional mapping, which is based on dedicated data acquisition systems designed for mapping purposes. Recent advances in hardware and software development have made it possible to conduct accurate 3D mapping without using costly and high-end data acquisition systems. Low-cost digital cameras, laser scanners, and navigation systems can provide accurate mapping if they are properly integrated at the hardware and software levels. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs are emerging as a mobile mapping platform that can provide additional economical and practical advantages. However, such economical and practical requirements need navigation systems that can provide uninterrupted navigation solution. Hence, testing the performance characteristics of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS or low cost navigation sensors for various UAV applications is important research. This work focuses on studying the performance characteristics under different manoeuvres using inertial measurements integrated with single point positioning, Real-Time-Kinematic (RTK, and additional navigational aiding sensors. Furthermore, the performance of the inertial sensors is tested during Global Positioning System (GPS signal outage.

Model-base visual navigation of a mobile robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roening, J.

1992-08-01

The thesis considers the problems of visual guidance of a mobile robot. A visual navigation system is formalized consisting of four basic components: world modelling, navigation sensing, navigation and action. According to this formalization an experimental system is designed and realized enabling real-world navigation experiments. A priori knowledge of the world is used for global path finding, aiding scene analysis and providing feedback information to the close the control loop between planned and actual movements. Two world models were developed. The first approach was a map-based model especially designed for low-level description of indoor environments. The other was a higher level and more symbolic representation of the surroundings utilizing the spatial graph concept. Two passive vision approaches were developed to extract navigation information. With passive three- camera stereovision a sparse depth map of the scene was produced. Another approach employed a fish-eye lens to map the entire scene of the surroundings without camera scanning. The local path planning of the system is supported by three-dimensional scene interpreter providing a partial understanding of scene contents. The interpreter consists of data-driven low-level stages and a model-driven high-level stage. Experiments were carried out in a simulator and test vehicle constructed in the laboratory. The test vehicle successfully navigated indoors

Performance Characteristic Mems-Based IMUs for UAVs Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, H. A.; Hansen, J. M.; Elhabiby, M. M.; El-Sheimy, N.; Sesay, A. B.

2015-08-01

Accurate 3D reconstruction has become essential for non-traditional mapping applications such as urban planning, mining industry, environmental monitoring, navigation, surveillance, pipeline inspection, infrastructure monitoring, landslide hazard analysis, indoor localization, and military simulation. The needs of these applications cannot be satisfied by traditional mapping, which is based on dedicated data acquisition systems designed for mapping purposes. Recent advances in hardware and software development have made it possible to conduct accurate 3D mapping without using costly and high-end data acquisition systems. Low-cost digital cameras, laser scanners, and navigation systems can provide accurate mapping if they are properly integrated at the hardware and software levels. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are emerging as a mobile mapping platform that can provide additional economical and practical advantages. However, such economical and practical requirements need navigation systems that can provide uninterrupted navigation solution. Hence, testing the performance characteristics of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) or low cost navigation sensors for various UAV applications is important research. This work focuses on studying the performance characteristics under different manoeuvres using inertial measurements integrated with single point positioning, Real-Time-Kinematic (RTK), and additional navigational aiding sensors. Furthermore, the performance of the inertial sensors is tested during Global Positioning System (GPS) signal outage.

Determination of the centre of mass kinematics in alpine skiing using differential global navigation satellite systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilgien, Matthias; Spörri, Jörg; Chardonnens, Julien; Kröll, Josef; Limpach, Philippe; Müller, Erich

2015-01-01

In the sport of alpine skiing, knowledge about the centre of mass (CoM) kinematics (i.e. position, velocity and acceleration) is essential to better understand both performance and injury. This study proposes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based method to measure CoM kinematics without restriction of capture volume and with reasonable set-up and processing requirements. It combines the GNSS antenna position, terrain data and the accelerations acting on the skier in order to approximate the CoM location, velocity and acceleration. The validity of the method was assessed against a reference system (video-based 3D kinematics) over 12 turn cycles on a giant slalom skiing course. The mean (± s) position, velocity and acceleration differences between the CoM obtained from the GNSS and the reference system were 9 ± 12 cm, 0.08 ± 0.19 m · s(-1) and 0.22 ± 1.28 m · s(-2), respectively. The velocity and acceleration differences obtained were smaller than typical differences between the measures of several skiers on the same course observed in the literature, while the position differences were slightly larger than its discriminative meaningful change. The proposed method can therefore be interpreted to be technically valid and adequate for a variety of biomechanical research questions in the field of alpine skiing with certain limitations regarding position.

Initial assessment of the COMPASS/BeiDou-3: new-generation navigation signals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaohong; Wu, Mingkui; Liu, Wanke; Li, Xingxing; Yu, Shun; Lu, Cuixian; Wickert, Jens

2017-10-01

The successful launch of five new-generation experimental satellites of the China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, namely BeiDou I1-S, I2-S, M1-S, M2-S, and M3-S, marks a significant step in expanding BeiDou into a navigation system with global coverage. In addition to B1I (1561.098 MHz) and B3I (1269.520 MHz) signals, the new-generation BeiDou-3 experimental satellites are also capable of transmitting several new navigation signals in space, namely B1C at 1575.42 MHz, B2a at 1176.45 MHz, and B2b at 1207.14 MHz. For the first time, we present an initial characterization and performance assessment for these new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites and their signals. The L1/L2/L5 signals from GPS Block IIF satellites, E1/E5a/E5b signals from Galileo satellites, and B1I/B2I/B3I signals from BeiDou-2 satellites are also evaluated for comparison. The characteristics of the B1C, B1I, B2a, B2b, and B3I signals are evaluated in terms of observed carrier-to-noise density ratio, pseudorange multipath and noise, triple-frequency carrier-phase ionosphere-free and geometry-free combination, and double-differenced carrier-phase and code residuals. The results demonstrate that the observational quality of the new-generation BeiDou-3 signals is comparable to that of GPS L1/L2/L5 and Galileo E1/E5a/E5b signals. However, the analysis of code multipath shows that the elevation-dependent code biases, which have been previously identified to exist in the code observations of the BeiDou-2 satellites, seem to be not obvious for all the available signals of the new-generation BeiDou-3 satellites. This will significantly benefit precise applications that resolve wide-lane ambiguity based on Hatch-Melbourne-Wübbena linear combinations and other applications such as single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) based on the ionosphere-free code-carrier combinations. Furthermore, with regard to the triple-frequency carrier-phase ionosphere-free and geometry-free combination, it is found

Screen Miniatures as Icons for Backward Navigation in Content-Based Software.

Science.gov (United States)

Boling, Elizabeth; Ma, Guoping; Tao, Chia-Wen; Askun, Cengiz; Green, Tim; Frick, Theodore; Schaumburg, Heike

Users of content-based software programs, including hypertexts and instructional multimedia, rely on the navigation functions provided by the designers of those program. Typical navigation schemes use abstract symbols (arrows) to label basic navigational functions like moving forward or backward through screen displays. In a previous study, the…

Distributed Ship Navigation Control System Based on Dual Network

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Ying; Lv, Wu

2017-10-01

Navigation system is very important for ship’s normal running. There are a lot of devices and sensors in the navigation system to guarantee ship’s regular work. In the past, these devices and sensors were usually connected via CAN bus for high performance and reliability. However, as the development of related devices and sensors, the navigation system also needs the ability of high information throughput and remote data sharing. To meet these new requirements, we propose the communication method based on dual network which contains CAN bus and industrial Ethernet. Also, we import multiple distributed control terminals with cooperative strategy based on the idea of synchronizing the status by multicasting UDP message contained operation timestamp to make the system more efficient and reliable.

The use of x-ray pulsar-based navigation method for interplanetary flight

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bo; Guo, Xingcan; Yang, Yong

2009-07-01

As interplanetary missions are increasingly complex, the existing unique mature interplanetary navigation method mainly based on radiometric tracking techniques of Deep Space Network can not meet the rising demands of autonomous real-time navigation. This paper studied the applications for interplanetary flights of a new navigation technology under rapid development-the X-ray pulsar-based navigation for spacecraft (XPNAV), and valued its performance with a computer simulation. The XPNAV is an excellent autonomous real-time navigation method, and can provide comprehensive navigation information, including position, velocity, attitude, attitude rate and time. In the paper the fundamental principles and time transformation of the XPNAV were analyzed, and then the Delta-correction XPNAV blending the vehicles' trajectory dynamics with the pulse time-of-arrival differences at nominal and estimated spacecraft locations within an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) was discussed with a background mission of Mars Pathfinder during the heliocentric transferring orbit. The XPNAV has an intractable problem of integer pulse phase cycle ambiguities similar to the GPS carrier phase navigation. This article innovatively proposed the non-ambiguity assumption approach based on an analysis of the search space array method to resolve pulse phase cycle ambiguities between the nominal position and estimated position of the spacecraft. The simulation results show that the search space array method are computationally intensive and require long processing time when the position errors are large, and the non-ambiguity assumption method can solve ambiguity problem quickly and reliably. It is deemed that autonomous real-time integrated navigation system of the XPNAV blending with DSN, celestial navigation, inertial navigation and so on will be the development direction of interplanetary flight navigation system in the future.

Development of field navigation system; Field navigation system no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ibara, S; Minode, M; Nishioka, K [Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd., Osaka (Japan)

1995-04-20

This paper describes the following matters on a field navigation system developed for the purpose of covering a field of several kilometer square. This system consists of a center system and a vehicle system, and the center system comprises a map information computer and a communication data controlling computer; since the accuracy for a vehicle position detected by a GPS is not sufficient, an attempt of increasing the accuracy of vehicle position detection is made by means of a hybrid system; the hybrid system uses a satellite navigation method of differential system in which the error components in the GPS are transmitted from the center, and also uses a self-contained navigation method which performs an auxiliary function when the accuracy in the GPS has dropped; corrected GPS values, emergency messages to all of the vehicles and data of each vehicle position are communicated by wireless transmission in two ways between the center and vehicles; and accommodation of the map data adopted a system that can respond quickly to any change in roads and facilities. 3 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.

Interaction Between Hippocampus and Cerebellum Crus I in Sequence-Based but not Place-Based Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Iglói, Kinga; Doeller, Christian F.; Paradis, Anne-Lise; Benchenane, Karim; Berthoz, Alain; Burgess, Neil; Rondi-Reig, Laure

2015-01-01

To examine the cerebellar contribution to human spatial navigation we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and virtual reality. Our findings show that the sensory-motor requirements of navigation induce activity in cerebellar lobules and cortical areas known to be involved in the motor loop and vestibular processing. By contrast, cognitive aspects of navigation mainly induce activity in a different cerebellar lobule (VIIA Crus I). Our results demonstrate a functional link between cerebellum and hippocampus in humans and identify specific functional circuits linking lobule VIIA Crus I of the cerebellum to medial parietal, medial prefrontal, and hippocampal cortices in nonmotor aspects of navigation. They further suggest that Crus I belongs to 2 nonmotor loops, involved in different strategies: place-based navigation is supported by coherent activity between left cerebellar lobule VIIA Crus I and medial parietal cortex along with right hippocampus activity, while sequence-based navigation is supported by coherent activity between right lobule VIIA Crus I, medial prefrontal cortex, and left hippocampus. These results highlight the prominent role of the human cerebellum in both motor and cognitive aspects of navigation, and specify the cortico-cerebellar circuits by which it acts depending on the requirements of the task. PMID:24947462

GPS Navigation and Tracking Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahya Salameh Khraisat

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Since the introduction of GPS Navigation systems in the marketplace, consumers and businesses have been coming up with innovative ways to use the technology in their everyday life. GPS Navigation and Tracking systems keep us from getting lost when we are in strange locations, they monitor children when they are away from home, keep track of business vehicles and can even let us know where a philandering partner is at all times. Because of this we attend to build a GPS tracking device to solve the mentioned problems. Our work consists of the GPS module that collects data from satellites and calculates the position information before transmitting them to the user’s PC (of Navigation system or observers (of Tracking System using wireless technology (GSM.

Accounting of fundamental components of the rotation parameters of the Earth in the formation of a high-accuracy orbit of navigation satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Markov, Yu. G.; Mikhailov, M. V.; Pochukaev, V. N.

2012-07-01

An analysis of perturbing factors influencing the motion of a navigation satellite (NS) is carried out, and the degree of influence of each factor on the GLONASS orbit is estimated. It is found that fundamental components of the Earth's rotation parameters (ERP) are one substantial factor commensurable with maximum perturbations. Algorithms for the calculation of orbital perturbations caused by these parameters are given; these algorithms can be implemented in a consumer's equipment. The daily prediction of NS coordinates is performed on the basis of real GLONASS satellite ephemerides transmitted to a consumer, using the developed prediction algorithms taking the ERP into account. The obtained accuracy of the daily prediction of GLONASS ephemerides exceeds by tens of times the accuracy of the daily prediction performed using algorithms recommended in interface control documents.

Gamifying Navigation in Location-Based Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nadarajah, Stephanie Githa; Overgaard, Benjamin Nicholas; Pedersen, Peder Walz

2017-01-01

Location-based games entertain players usually by interactions at points of interest (POIs). Navigation between POIs often involve the use of either a physical or digital map, not taking advantage of the opportunity available to engage users in activities between POIs. The paper presents riddle s...

L’ITSS “Majorana-Giorgi” di Genova in orbita con i sistemi di navigazione via satellite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Primo Bartoli

2015-03-01

GNSS satellites (GPS, GLONASS or Galileo, based on a commercial multi-constellation receiver and on a software program developed in National Instruments LabVIEW, with the dual aim to explore the techniques of satellite navigation and to provide an attractive teaching aid for universities and secondary level technical institutes.

3D Reconfigurable MPSoC for Unmanned Spacecraft Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Dekoulis, George

2016-07-01

This paper describes the design of a new lightweight spacecraft navigation system for unmanned space missions. The system addresses the demands for more efficient autonomous navigation in the near-Earth environment or deep space. The proposed instrumentation is directly suitable for unmanned systems operation and testing of new airborne prototypes for remote sensing applications. The system features a new sensor technology and significant improvements over existing solutions. Fluxgate type sensors have been traditionally used in unmanned defense systems such as target drones, guided missiles, rockets and satellites, however, the guidance sensors' configurations exhibit lower specifications than the presented solution. The current implementation is based on a recently developed material in a reengineered optimum sensor configuration for unprecedented low-power consumption. The new sensor's performance characteristics qualify it for spacecraft navigation applications. A major advantage of the system is the efficiency in redundancy reduction achieved in terms of both hardware and software requirements.

Navigation with a passive brain based interface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erp, J.B.F. van; Werkhoven, P.J.; Thurlings, M.E.; Brouwer, A.-M.

2009-01-01

In this paper, we describe a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) for navigation. The system is based on detecting brain signals that are elicited by tactile stimulation on the torso indicating the desired direction.

Internet-Based Indoor Navigation Services

OpenAIRE

Zeinalipour-Yazti, Demetrios; Laoudias, Christos; Georgiou, Kyriakos

2017-01-01

Smartphone advances are leading to a class of Internet-based Indoor Navigation services. IIN services rely on geolocation databases that store indoor models, comprising floor maps and points of interest, along with wireless, light, and magnetic signals for localizing users. Developing IIN services creates new information management challenges - such as crowdsourcing indoor models, acquiring and fusing big data velocity signals, localization algorithms, and custodians' location privacy. Here, ...

An adaptive deep-coupled GNSS/INS navigation system with hybrid pre-filter processing

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Mouyan; Ding, Jicheng; Zhao, Lin; Kang, Yingyao; Luo, Zhibin

2018-02-01

The deep-coupling of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) with an inertial navigation system (INS) can provide accurate and reliable navigation information. There are several kinds of deeply-coupled structures. These can be divided mainly into coherent and non-coherent pre-filter based structures, which have their own strong advantages and disadvantages, especially in accuracy and robustness. In this paper, the existing pre-filters of the deeply-coupled structures are analyzed and modified to improve them firstly. Then, an adaptive GNSS/INS deeply-coupled algorithm with hybrid pre-filters processing is proposed to combine the advantages of coherent and non-coherent structures. An adaptive hysteresis controller is designed to implement the hybrid pre-filters processing strategy. The simulation and vehicle test results show that the adaptive deeply-coupled algorithm with hybrid pre-filters processing can effectively improve navigation accuracy and robustness, especially in a GNSS-challenged environment.

Adaptive Human aware Navigation based on Motion Pattern Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tranberg, Søren; Svenstrup, Mikael; Andersen, Hans Jørgen

2009-01-01

Respecting people’s social spaces is an important prerequisite for acceptable and natural robot navigation in human environments. In this paper, we describe an adaptive system for mobile robot navigation based on estimates of whether a person seeks to interact with the robot or not. The estimates...... are based on run-time motion pattern analysis compared to stored experience in a database. Using a potential field centered around the person, the robot positions itself at the most appropriate place relative to the person and the interaction status. The system is validated through qualitative tests...

Image processing and applications based on visualizing navigation service

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Chyi-Wen

2015-07-01

When facing the "overabundant" of semantic web information, in this paper, the researcher proposes the hierarchical classification and visualizing RIA (Rich Internet Application) navigation system: Concept Map (CM) + Semantic Structure (SS) + the Knowledge on Demand (KOD) service. The aim of the Multimedia processing and empirical applications testing, was to investigating the utility and usability of this visualizing navigation strategy in web communication design, into whether it enables the user to retrieve and construct their personal knowledge or not. Furthermore, based on the segment markets theory in the Marketing model, to propose a User Interface (UI) classification strategy and formulate a set of hypermedia design principles for further UI strategy and e-learning resources in semantic web communication. These research findings: (1) Irrespective of whether the simple declarative knowledge or the complex declarative knowledge model is used, the "CM + SS + KOD navigation system" has a better cognition effect than the "Non CM + SS + KOD navigation system". However, for the" No web design experience user", the navigation system does not have an obvious cognition effect. (2) The essential of classification in semantic web communication design: Different groups of user have a diversity of preference needs and different cognitive styles in the CM + SS + KOD navigation system.

The synchronization method for distributed small satellite SAR

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Lei; Gong, Xiaochun; Qiu, Wenxun; Sun, Zhaowei

2007-11-01

One of critical requirement for distributed small satellite SAR is the trigger time precision when all satellites turning on radar loads. This trigger operation is controlled by a dedicated communication tool or GPS system. In this paper a hardware platform is proposed which has integrated navigation, attitude control, and data handling system together. Based on it, a probabilistic synchronization method is proposed for SAR time precision requirement with ring architecture. To simplify design of transceiver, half-duplex communication way is used in this method. Research shows that time precision is relevant to relative frequency drift rate, satellite number, retry times, read error and round delay length. Installed with crystal oscillator short-term stability 10 -11 magnitude, this platform can achieve and maintain nanosecond order time error with a typical three satellites formation experiment during whole operating process.

Performance Analysis of Network-RTK Techniques for Drone Navigation considering Ionospheric Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Suk Bae

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, an accurate positioning has become the kernel of autonomous navigation with the rapid growth of drones including mapping purpose. The Network-based Real-time Kinematic (NRTK system was predominantly used for precision positioning in many fields such as surveying and agriculture, mostly in static mode or low-speed operation. The NRTK positioning, in general, shows much better performance with the fixed integer ambiguities. However, the success rate of the ambiguity resolution is highly dependent on the ionospheric condition and the surrounding environment of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS positioning, which particularly corresponds to the low-cost GNSS receivers. We analyzed the effects of the ionospheric conditions on the GNSS NRTK, as well as the possibility of applying the mobile NRTK to drone navigation for mapping. Two NRTK systems in operation were analyzed during a period of high ionospheric conditions, and the accuracy and the performance were compared for several operational cases. The test results show that a submeter accuracy is available even with float ambiguity under a favorable condition (i.e., visibility of the satellites as well as stable ionosphere. We still need to consider how to deal with ionospheric disturbances which may prevent NRTK positioning.

Multi-Flight-Phase GPS Navigation Filter Applications to Terrestrial Vehicle Navigation and Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Young W.; Montez, Moises N.

1994-01-01

A candidate onboard space navigation filter demonstrated excellent performance (less than 8 meter level RMS semi-major axis accuracy) in performing orbit determination of a low-Earth orbit Explorer satellite using single-frequency real GPS data. This performance is significantly better than predicted by other simulation studies using dual-frequency GPS data. The study results revealed the significance of two new modeling approaches evaluated in the work. One approach introduces a single-frequency ionospheric correction through pseudo-range and phase range averaging implementation. The other approach demonstrates a precise axis-dependent characterization of dynamic sample space uncertainty to compute a more accurate Kalman filter gain. Additionally, this navigation filter demonstrates a flexibility to accommodate both perturbational dynamic and observational biases required for multi-flight phase and inhomogeneous application environments. This paper reviews the potential application of these methods and the filter structure to terrestrial vehicle and positioning applications. Both the single-frequency ionospheric correction method and the axis-dependent state noise modeling approach offer valuable contributions in cost and accuracy improvements for terrestrial GPS receivers. With a modular design approach to either 'plug-in' or 'unplug' various force models, this multi-flight phase navigation filter design structure also provides a versatile GPS navigation software engine for both atmospheric and exo-atmospheric navigation or positioning use, thereby streamlining the flight phase or application-dependent software requirements. Thus, a standardized GPS navigation software engine that can reduce the development and maintenance cost of commercial GPS receivers is now possible.

Multi-GNSS orbit determination using satellite laser ranging

Science.gov (United States)

Bury, Grzegorz; Sośnica, Krzysztof; Zajdel, Radosław

2018-04-01

Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, and NavIC are emerging global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) and regional navigation satellite systems all of which are equipped with laser retroreflector arrays for range measurements. This paper summarizes the GNSS-intensive tracking campaigns conducted by the International Laser Ranging Service and provides results from multi-GNSS orbit determination using solely SLR observations. We consider the whole constellation of GLONASS, all active Galileo, four BeiDou satellites: 1 MEO, 3 IGSO, and one QZSS. We analyze the influence of the number of SLR observations on the quality of the 3-day multi-GNSS orbit solution. About 60 SLR observations are needed for obtaining MEO orbits of sufficient quality with the root mean square (RMS) of 3 cm for the radial component when compared to microwave-based orbits. From the analysis of a minimum number of tracking stations, when considering the 3-day arcs, 5 SLR stations do not provide a sufficient geometry of observations. The solution obtained using ten stations is characterized with RMS of 4, 9, and 18 cm in the radial, along-track, and cross-track direction, respectively, for MEO satellites. We also investigate the impact of the length of orbital arc on the quality of SLR-derived orbits. Hence, 5- and 7-day arcs constitute the best solution, whereas 3-day arcs are of inferior quality due to an insufficient number of SLR observations and 9-day arcs deteriorate the along-track component. The median RMS from the comparison between 7-day orbital arcs determined using SLR data with microwave-based orbits assumes values in the range of 3-4, 11-16, and 15-27 cm in radial, along-track, and cross-track, respectively, for MEO satellites. BeiDou IGSO and QZSS are characterized by RMS values higher by a factor of 8 and 24, respectively, than MEO orbits.

Advanced Navigation Aids System based on Augmented Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaeyong OH

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Many maritime accidents have been caused by human-error including such things as inadequate watch keeping and/or mistakes in ship handling. Also, new navigational equipment has been developed using Information Technology (IT technology to provide various kinds of information for safe navigation. Despite these efforts, the reduction of maritime accidents has not occurred to the degree expected because, navigational equipment provides too much information, and this information is not well organized, such that users feel it to be complicated rather than helpful. In this point of view, the method of representation of navigational information is more important than the quantity of that information and research is required on the representation of information to make that information more easily understood and to allow decisions to be made correctly and promptly. In this paper, we adopt Augmented Reality (AR technologies for the representation of information. AR is a 3D computer graphics technology that blends virtual reality and the real world. Recently, this technology has been widely applied in our daily lives because it can provide information more effectively to users. Therefore, we propose a new concept, a navigational system based on AR technology; we review experimental results from a ship-handling simulator and from an open sea test to verify the efficiency of the proposed system.

Autonomous Rule Based Robot Navigation In Orchards

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jens Christian; Ravn, Ole; Andersen, Nils Axel

2010-01-01

Orchard navigation using sensor-based localization and exible mission management facilitates successful missions independent of the Global Positioning System (GPS). This is especially important while driving between tight tree rows where the GPS coverage is poor. This paper suggests localization ...

Implementation of a mobile base with evasion of obstacles using ROS navigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arauz Villegas, Carolina

2013-01-01

A mobile base is implemented with evasion of obstacles using ROS Navigation. The simulation of that mobile base is performed with the 2D Stage simulator, firstly; and once understanded the operation of Navigation has proceeded to build the mobile base. The mobile base has had two DC motors, an Asus Xtion sensor, a netbook and a stm32f4-discovery microcontroller. ROS in the netbook was installed and then serial communication over USB was achieved between the netbook and the microcontroller. The microcontroller has received the velocity data sent by move_base of navigation through that communication and sends the odometry data back. A PWM control is implemented for the driving and for the speed of the motors having a control PI for the cycle of work of the same. The encoder interface of the microcontroller was used for the data acquisition of odometry. The communication between ROS and the mobile base was integrated to the navigation, which has allowed to generate mapping, location and move safely from a starting point to a point of arrival sending speed messages. (author) [es

A 3D Model Based Imdoor Navigation System for Hubei Provincial Museum

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, W.; Kruminaite, M.; Onrust, B.; Liu, H.; Xiong, Q.; Zlatanova, S.

2013-11-01

3D models are more powerful than 2D maps for indoor navigation in a complicate space like Hubei Provincial Museum because they can provide accurate descriptions of locations of indoor objects (e.g., doors, windows, tables) and context information of these objects. In addition, the 3D model is the preferred navigation environment by the user according to the survey. Therefore a 3D model based indoor navigation system is developed for Hubei Provincial Museum to guide the visitors of museum. The system consists of three layers: application, web service and navigation, which is built to support localization, navigation and visualization functions of the system. There are three main strengths of this system: it stores all data needed in one database and processes most calculations on the webserver which make the mobile client very lightweight, the network used for navigation is extracted semi-automatically and renewable, the graphic user interface (GUI), which is based on a game engine, has high performance of visualizing 3D model on a mobile display.

GLONASS satellite monitoring of nuclear transports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davydov, Yu.L.

2012-01-01

In 2011 Rosatom has made the decision to create the industry-wide automated system for monitoring of transports of radioactive substances (RS) and wastes (RAW), as well as hazardous loads by rail and automobile, based upon the same hardware as used by the GLONASS satellite navigation system - the so-called ASBT-GLONASS system. The new system will use the same technical infrastructure as the existing operational Automated System for Safe Transport of Nuclear Materials of Categories I and II (ASBT). The ASBT structure includes a network of control centres fitted with automation and communication hardware. In addition, ASBT includes technical complexes installed upon transport vehicles intended for nuclear material transport. In order to identify transport vehicle location, the GLONASS/GPS (GALS-P-ASBT) satellite navigational receiver device is used, it is developed especially for ASBT systems taking in account information security requirements. By now the basic software and hardware complex ASBT-GLONASS has been created (equipment to be carried on-board the transport vehicle loaded with RS and RAW, as well as the transport control stations) that supports transport monitoring and transmission of an emergency signal to control stations of companies which deal with RS and RAW transportation [ru

GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEMS (GNSS IN GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION AND APPLIED RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Suchilin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the introduction of the newest methods of topographic surveying into the educational and scientific process, using global navigation satellite systems (GNSS at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University. It describes the designation and use of the current reference geodetic training network for the training of students within the program of topographic practice. The basic concepts and purpose of the equipment of the geodetic class of the user segment of GNSS, both the basic location (reference stations and mobile complexes are disclosed. The technique of measuring and processing the accumulated data after field fixation (in static or kinematic modes of geographic objects and phenomena using GNSS has been given. A constantly operating network of reference stations of the faculty has been described. A full-scale example of using the GNSS complex by students of the faculty of the study area is given, the collected materials have been used for subsequent modeling (relief restoration based on the results of field measurements. Within the framework of the perspective development of the network of GNSS reference stations of the Moscow State University, the scheme of their location in the meridian direction on an ongoing basis has been shown, which will substantially expand the territorial coverage of the use of mobile GNSS complexes in geographic studies. Within the framework of the program of preservation of monuments of Russia’s cultural heritage, an example has been shown of the joint use of groundbased laser scanning techniques and a mobile GNSS complex conducted by students and teachers of leading Moscow universities and representatives of GFK Firm LLC. The result is the fixation of the geometric characteristics of the object in 1 cm steps in real coordinates, which makes it possible to carry out the necessary modeling, visualize the object in perspective form, carry out the necessary measurements, build sections

Image-based path planning for automated virtual colonoscopy navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Wei

2008-03-01

Virtual colonoscopy (VC) is a noninvasive method for colonic polyp screening, by reconstructing three-dimensional models of the colon using computerized tomography (CT). In virtual colonoscopy fly-through navigation, it is crucial to generate an optimal camera path for efficient clinical examination. In conventional methods, the centerline of the colon lumen is usually used as the camera path. In order to extract colon centerline, some time consuming pre-processing algorithms must be performed before the fly-through navigation, such as colon segmentation, distance transformation, or topological thinning. In this paper, we present an efficient image-based path planning algorithm for automated virtual colonoscopy fly-through navigation without the requirement of any pre-processing. Our algorithm only needs the physician to provide a seed point as the starting camera position using 2D axial CT images. A wide angle fisheye camera model is used to generate a depth image from the current camera position. Two types of navigational landmarks, safe regions and target regions are extracted from the depth images. Camera position and its corresponding view direction are then determined using these landmarks. The experimental results show that the generated paths are accurate and increase the user comfort during the fly-through navigation. Moreover, because of the efficiency of our path planning algorithm and rendering algorithm, our VC fly-through navigation system can still guarantee 30 FPS.

Towards Safe Navigation by Formalizing Navigation Rules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arne Kreutzmann

2013-06-01

Full Text Available One crucial aspect of safe navigation is to obey all navigation regulations applicable, in particular the collision regulations issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO Colregs. Therefore, decision support systems for navigation need to respect Colregs and this feature should be verifiably correct. We tackle compliancy of navigation regulations from a perspective of software verification. One common approach is to use formal logic, but it requires to bridge a wide gap between navigation concepts and simple logic. We introduce a novel domain specification language based on a spatio-temporal logic that allows us to overcome this gap. We are able to capture complex navigation concepts in an easily comprehensible representation that can direcly be utilized by various bridge systems and that allows for software verification.

Autonomous Robot Navigation based on Visual Landmarks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Livatino, Salvatore

2005-01-01

The use of landmarks for robot navigation is a popular alternative to having a geometrical model of the environment through which to navigate and monitor self-localization. If the landmarks are defined as special visual structures already in the environment then we have the possibility of fully a...... automatically learn and store visual landmarks, and later recognize these landmarks from arbitrary positions and thus estimate robot position and heading.......The use of landmarks for robot navigation is a popular alternative to having a geometrical model of the environment through which to navigate and monitor self-localization. If the landmarks are defined as special visual structures already in the environment then we have the possibility of fully...... autonomous navigation and self-localization using automatically selected landmarks. The thesis investigates autonomous robot navigation and proposes a new method which benefits from the potential of the visual sensor to provide accuracy and reliability to the navigation process while relying on naturally...

A Dual-Channel Acquisition Method Based on Extended Replica Folding Algorithm for Long Pseudo-Noise Code in Inter-Satellite Links.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hongbo; Chen, Yuying; Feng, Wenquan; Zhuang, Chen

2018-05-25

Inter-satellite links are an important component of the new generation of satellite navigation systems, characterized by low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), complex electromagnetic interference and the short time slot of each satellite, which brings difficulties to the acquisition stage. The inter-satellite link in both Global Positioning System (GPS) and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) adopt the long code spread spectrum system. However, long code acquisition is a difficult and time-consuming task due to the long code period. Traditional folding methods such as extended replica folding acquisition search technique (XFAST) and direct average are largely restricted because of code Doppler and additional SNR loss caused by replica folding. The dual folding method (DF-XFAST) and dual-channel method have been proposed to achieve long code acquisition in low SNR and high dynamic situations, respectively, but the former is easily affected by code Doppler and the latter is not fast enough. Considering the environment of inter-satellite links and the problems of existing algorithms, this paper proposes a new long code acquisition algorithm named dual-channel acquisition method based on the extended replica folding algorithm (DC-XFAST). This method employs dual channels for verification. Each channel contains an incoming signal block. Local code samples are folded and zero-padded to the length of the incoming signal block. After a circular FFT operation, the correlation results contain two peaks of the same magnitude and specified relative position. The detection process is eased through finding the two largest values. The verification takes all the full and partial peaks into account. Numerical results reveal that the DC-XFAST method can improve acquisition performance while acquisition speed is guaranteed. The method has a significantly higher acquisition probability than folding methods XFAST and DF-XFAST. Moreover, with the advantage of higher detection

A Dual-Channel Acquisition Method Based on Extended Replica Folding Algorithm for Long Pseudo-Noise Code in Inter-Satellite Links

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongbo Zhao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Inter-satellite links are an important component of the new generation of satellite navigation systems, characterized by low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, complex electromagnetic interference and the short time slot of each satellite, which brings difficulties to the acquisition stage. The inter-satellite link in both Global Positioning System (GPS and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS adopt the long code spread spectrum system. However, long code acquisition is a difficult and time-consuming task due to the long code period. Traditional folding methods such as extended replica folding acquisition search technique (XFAST and direct average are largely restricted because of code Doppler and additional SNR loss caused by replica folding. The dual folding method (DF-XFAST and dual-channel method have been proposed to achieve long code acquisition in low SNR and high dynamic situations, respectively, but the former is easily affected by code Doppler and the latter is not fast enough. Considering the environment of inter-satellite links and the problems of existing algorithms, this paper proposes a new long code acquisition algorithm named dual-channel acquisition method based on the extended replica folding algorithm (DC-XFAST. This method employs dual channels for verification. Each channel contains an incoming signal block. Local code samples are folded and zero-padded to the length of the incoming signal block. After a circular FFT operation, the correlation results contain two peaks of the same magnitude and specified relative position. The detection process is eased through finding the two largest values. The verification takes all the full and partial peaks into account. Numerical results reveal that the DC-XFAST method can improve acquisition performance while acquisition speed is guaranteed. The method has a significantly higher acquisition probability than folding methods XFAST and DF-XFAST. Moreover, with the advantage of higher

Mobile Robot Navigation Based on Q-Learning Technique

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Lazhar Khriji

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper shows how Q-learning approach can be used in a successful way to deal with the problem of mobile robot navigation. In real situations where a large number of obstacles are involved, normal Q-learning approach would encounter two major problems due to excessively large state space. First, learning the Q-values in tabular form may be infeasible because of the excessive amount of memory needed to store the table. Second, rewards in the state space may be so sparse that with random exploration they will only be discovered extremely slowly. In this paper, we propose a navigation approach for mobile robot, in which the prior knowledge is used within Q-learning. We address the issue of individual behavior design using fuzzy logic. The strategy of behaviors based navigation reduces the complexity of the navigation problem by dividing them in small actions easier for design and implementation. The Q-Learning algorithm is applied to coordinate between these behaviors, which make a great reduction in learning convergence times. Simulation and experimental results confirm the convergence to the desired results in terms of saved time and computational resources.

Parametric Covariance Model for Horizon-Based Optical Navigation

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Hikes, Jacob; Liounis, Andrew J.; Christian, John A.

2016-01-01

This Note presents an entirely parametric version of the covariance for horizon-based optical navigation measurements. The covariance can be written as a function of only the spacecraft position, two sensor design parameters, the illumination direction, the size of the observed planet, the size of the lit arc to be used, and the total number of observed horizon points. As a result, one may now more clearly understand the sensitivity of horizon-based optical navigation performance as a function of these key design parameters, which is insight that was obscured in previous (and nonparametric) versions of the covariance. Finally, the new parametric covariance is shown to agree with both the nonparametric analytic covariance and results from a Monte Carlo analysis.

Satellite-Based Precipitation Datasets

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Munchak, S. J.; Huffman, G. J.

2017-12-01

Of the possible sources of precipitation data, those based on satellites provide the greatest spatial coverage. There is a wide selection of datasets, algorithms, and versions from which to choose, which can be confusing to non-specialists wishing to use the data. The International Precipitation Working Group (IPWG) maintains tables of the major publicly available, long-term, quasi-global precipitation data sets (http://www.isac.cnr.it/ ipwg/data/datasets.html), and this talk briefly reviews the various categories. As examples, NASA provides two sets of quasi-global precipitation data sets: the older Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) and current Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission (IMERG). Both provide near-real-time and post-real-time products that are uniformly gridded in space and time. The TMPA products are 3-hourly 0.25°x0.25° on the latitude band 50°N-S for about 16 years, while the IMERG products are half-hourly 0.1°x0.1° on 60°N-S for over 3 years (with plans to go to 16+ years in Spring 2018). In addition to the precipitation estimates, each data set provides fields of other variables, such as the satellite sensor providing estimates and estimated random error. The discussion concludes with advice about determining suitability for use, the necessity of being clear about product names and versions, and the need for continued support for satellite- and surface-based observation.

Convolutional Neural Network-Based Robot Navigation Using Uncalibrated Spherical Images.

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Ran, Lingyan; Zhang, Yanning; Zhang, Qilin; Yang, Tao

2017-06-12

Vision-based mobile robot navigation is a vibrant area of research with numerous algorithms having been developed, the vast majority of which either belong to the scene-oriented simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) or fall into the category of robot-oriented lane-detection/trajectory tracking. These methods suffer from high computational cost and require stringent labelling and calibration efforts. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a lightweight robot navigation framework based purely on uncalibrated spherical images. To simplify the orientation estimation, path prediction and improve computational efficiency, the navigation problem is decomposed into a series of classification tasks. To mitigate the adverse effects of insufficient negative samples in the "navigation via classification" task, we introduce the spherical camera for scene capturing, which enables 360° fisheye panorama as training samples and generation of sufficient positive and negative heading directions. The classification is implemented as an end-to-end Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), trained on our proposed Spherical-Navi image dataset, whose category labels can be efficiently collected. This CNN is capable of predicting potential path directions with high confidence levels based on a single, uncalibrated spherical image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms competing ones in realistic applications.

Convolutional Neural Network-Based Robot Navigation Using Uncalibrated Spherical Images

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Lingyan Ran

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Vision-based mobile robot navigation is a vibrant area of research with numerous algorithms having been developed, the vast majority of which either belong to the scene-oriented simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM or fall into the category of robot-oriented lane-detection/trajectory tracking. These methods suffer from high computational cost and require stringent labelling and calibration efforts. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a lightweight robot navigation framework based purely on uncalibrated spherical images. To simplify the orientation estimation, path prediction and improve computational efficiency, the navigation problem is decomposed into a series of classification tasks. To mitigate the adverse effects of insufficient negative samples in the “navigation via classification” task, we introduce the spherical camera for scene capturing, which enables 360° fisheye panorama as training samples and generation of sufficient positive and negative heading directions. The classification is implemented as an end-to-end Convolutional Neural Network (CNN, trained on our proposed Spherical-Navi image dataset, whose category labels can be efficiently collected. This CNN is capable of predicting potential path directions with high confidence levels based on a single, uncalibrated spherical image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms competing ones in realistic applications.

Satellite-based laser windsounder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, J.F.; Czuchlewski, S.J.; Quick, C.R.

1997-01-01

This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The project''s primary objective is to determine the technical feasibility of using satellite-based laser wind sensing systems for detailed study of winds, aerosols, and particulates around and downstream of suspected proliferation facilities. Extensive interactions with the relevant operational organization resulted in enthusiastic support and useful guidance with respect to measurement requirements and priorities. Four candidate wind sensing techniques were evaluated, and the incoherent Doppler technique was selected. A small satellite concept design study was completed to identify the technical issues inherent in a proof-of-concept small satellite mission. Use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer instead of a Fabry-Perot would significantly simplify the optical train and could reduce weight, and possibly power, requirements with no loss of performance. A breadboard Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based system has been built to verify these predictions. Detailed plans were made for resolving other issues through construction and testing of a ground-based lidar system in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin, and through numerical lidar wind data assimilation studies

Improving BeiDou precise orbit determination using observations of onboard MEO satellite receivers

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Ge, Haibo; Li, Bofeng; Ge, Maorong; Shen, Yunzhong; Schuh, Harald

2017-12-01

In recent years, the precise orbit determination (POD) of the regional Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been a hot spot because of its special constellation consisting of five geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites and five inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit (IGSO) satellites besides four medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites since the end of 2012. GEO and IGSO satellites play an important role in regional BDS applications. However, this brings a great challenge to the POD, especially for the GEO satellites due to their geostationary orbiting. Though a number of studies have been carried out to improve the POD performance of GEO satellites, the result is still much worse than that of IGSO and MEO, particularly in the along-track direction. The major reason is that the geostationary characteristic of a GEO satellite results in a bad geometry with respect to the ground tracking network. In order to improve the tracking geometry of the GEO satellites, a possible strategy is to mount global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers on MEO satellites to collect the signals from GEO/IGSO GNSS satellites so as that these observations can be used to improve GEO/IGSO POD. We extended our POD software package to simulate all the related observations and to assimilate the MEO-onboard GNSS observations in orbit determination. Based on GPS and BDS constellations, simulated studies are undertaken for various tracking scenarios. The impact of the onboard GNSS observations is investigated carefully and presented in detail. The results show that MEO-onboard observations can significantly improve the orbit precision of GEO satellites from metres to decimetres, especially in the along-track direction. The POD results of IGSO satellites also benefit from the MEO-onboard data and the precision can be improved by more than 50% in 3D direction.

On-the-fly Locata/inertial navigation system integration for precise maritime application

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Jiang, Wei; Li, Yong; Rizos, Chris

2013-10-01

The application of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology has meant that marine navigators have greater access to a more consistent and accurate positioning capability than ever before. However, GNSS may not be able to meet all emerging navigation performance requirements for maritime applications with respect to service robustness, accuracy, integrity and availability. In particular, applications in port areas (for example automated docking) and in constricted waterways, have very stringent performance requirements. Even when an integrated inertial navigation system (INS)/GNSS device is used there may still be performance gaps. GNSS signals are easily blocked or interfered with, and sometimes the satellite geometry may not be good enough for high accuracy and high reliability applications. Furthermore, the INS accuracy degrades rapidly during GNSS outages. This paper investigates the use of a portable ground-based positioning system, known as ‘Locata’, which was integrated with an INS, to provide accurate navigation in a marine environment without reliance on GNSS signals. An ‘on-the-fly’ Locata resolution algorithm that takes advantage of geometry change via an extended Kalman filter is proposed in this paper. Single-differenced Locata carrier phase measurements are utilized to achieve accurate and reliable solutions. A ‘loosely coupled’ decentralized Locata/INS integration architecture based on the Kalman filter is used for data processing. In order to evaluate the system performance, a field trial was conducted on Sydney Harbour. A Locata network consisting of eight Locata transmitters was set up near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The experiment demonstrated that the Locata on-the-fly (OTF) algorithm is effective and can improve the system accuracy in comparison with the conventional ‘known point initialization’ (KPI) method. After the OTF and KPI comparison, the OTF Locata/INS integration is then assessed further and its performance

On-the-fly Locata/inertial navigation system integration for precise maritime application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Wei; Li, Yong; Rizos, Chris

2013-01-01

The application of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology has meant that marine navigators have greater access to a more consistent and accurate positioning capability than ever before. However, GNSS may not be able to meet all emerging navigation performance requirements for maritime applications with respect to service robustness, accuracy, integrity and availability. In particular, applications in port areas (for example automated docking) and in constricted waterways, have very stringent performance requirements. Even when an integrated inertial navigation system (INS)/GNSS device is used there may still be performance gaps. GNSS signals are easily blocked or interfered with, and sometimes the satellite geometry may not be good enough for high accuracy and high reliability applications. Furthermore, the INS accuracy degrades rapidly during GNSS outages. This paper investigates the use of a portable ground-based positioning system, known as ‘Locata’, which was integrated with an INS, to provide accurate navigation in a marine environment without reliance on GNSS signals. An ‘on-the-fly’ Locata resolution algorithm that takes advantage of geometry change via an extended Kalman filter is proposed in this paper. Single-differenced Locata carrier phase measurements are utilized to achieve accurate and reliable solutions. A ‘loosely coupled’ decentralized Locata/INS integration architecture based on the Kalman filter is used for data processing. In order to evaluate the system performance, a field trial was conducted on Sydney Harbour. A Locata network consisting of eight Locata transmitters was set up near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The experiment demonstrated that the Locata on-the-fly (OTF) algorithm is effective and can improve the system accuracy in comparison with the conventional ‘known point initialization’ (KPI) method. After the OTF and KPI comparison, the OTF Locata/INS integration is then assessed further and its performance

Heading-vector navigation based on head-direction cells and path integration.

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Kubie, John L; Fenton, André A

2009-05-01

Insect navigation is guided by heading vectors that are computed by path integration. Mammalian navigation models, on the other hand, are typically based on map-like place representations provided by hippocampal place cells. Such models compute optimal routes as a continuous series of locations that connect the current location to a goal. We propose a "heading-vector" model in which head-direction cells or their derivatives serve both as key elements in constructing the optimal route and as the straight-line guidance during route execution. The model is based on a memory structure termed the "shortcut matrix," which is constructed during the initial exploration of an environment when a set of shortcut vectors between sequential pairs of visited waypoint locations is stored. A mechanism is proposed for calculating and storing these vectors that relies on a hypothesized cell type termed an "accumulating head-direction cell." Following exploration, shortcut vectors connecting all pairs of waypoint locations are computed by vector arithmetic and stored in the shortcut matrix. On re-entry, when local view or place representations query the shortcut matrix with a current waypoint and goal, a shortcut trajectory is retrieved. Since the trajectory direction is in head-direction compass coordinates, navigation is accomplished by tracking the firing of head-direction cells that are tuned to the heading angle. Section 1 of the manuscript describes the properties of accumulating head-direction cells. It then shows how accumulating head-direction cells can store local vectors and perform vector arithmetic to perform path-integration-based homing. Section 2 describes the construction and use of the shortcut matrix for computing direct paths between any pair of locations that have been registered in the shortcut matrix. In the discussion, we analyze the advantages of heading-based navigation over map-based navigation. Finally, we survey behavioral evidence that nonhippocampal

Observation of Wetland Dynamics with Global Navigation Satellite Signals Reflectometry

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Zuffada, C.; Shah, R.; Nghiem, S. V.; Cardellach, E.; Chew, C. C.

2015-12-01

Wetland dynamics is crucial to changes in both atmospheric methane and terrestrial water storage. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5) highlights the role of wetlands as a key driver of methane (CH4) emission, which is more than one order of magnitude stronger than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in the centennial time scale. Among the multitude of methane emission sources (hydrates, livestock, rice cultivation, freshwaters, landfills and waste, fossil fuels, biomass burning, termites, geological sources, and soil oxidation), wetlands constitute the largest contributor with the widest uncertainty range of 177-284 Tg(CH4) yr-1 according to the IPCC estimate. Wetlands are highly susceptible to climate change that might lead to wetland collapse. Such wetland destruction would decrease the terrestrial water storage capacity and thus contribute to sea level rise, consequently exacerbating coastal flooding problems. For both methane change and water storage change, wetland dynamics is a crucial factor with the largest uncertainty. Nevertheless, a complete and consistent map of global wetlands still needs to be obtained as the Ramsar Convention calls for a wetlands inventory and impact assessment. We develop a new method for observations of wetland change using Global Navigation Satellite Signals Reflectometry (GNSS-R) signatures for global wetland mapping in synergy with the existing capability, not only as a static inventory but also as a temporal dataset, to advance the capability for monitoring the dynamics of wetland extent relevant to addressing the science issues of CH4 emission change and terrestrial water storage change. We will demonstrate the capability of the new GNSS-R method over a rice field in the Ebro Delta wetland in Spain.

Power management of a new generation navigation satellite%新一代导航卫星电源系统自主管理方法

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张泰峰

2017-01-01

对新一代导航卫星电源系统的组成结构和工作原理进行了介绍,详细论述了母线控制方式、充电管理方法、电池均衡技术、在轨管理策略等,实现了电源系统高可靠、长寿命的设计目标.%The composition,structure and working principle of the new generation navigation satellite power system were introduced.The main-bus control,battery charging,battery balancing,on-orbit management were presented in detail.Satellite power system with high reliability and long life was achieved.

A relative navigation sensor for CubeSats based on LED fiducial markers

Science.gov (United States)

Sansone, Francesco; Branz, Francesco; Francesconi, Alessandro

2018-05-01

Small satellite platforms are becoming very appealing both for scientific and commercial applications, thanks to their low cost, short development times and availability of standard components and subsystems. The main disadvantage with such vehicles is the limitation of available resources to perform mission tasks. To overcome this drawback, mission concepts are under study that foresee cooperation between autonomous small satellites to accomplish complex tasks; among these, on-orbit servicing and on-orbit assembly of large structures are of particular interest and the global scientific community is putting a significant effort in the miniaturization of critical technologies that are required for such innovative mission scenarios. In this work, the development and the laboratory testing of an accurate relative navigation package for nanosatellites compliant to the CubeSat standard is presented. The system features a small camera and two sets of LED fiducial markers, and is conceived as a standard package that allows small spacecraft to perform mutual tracking during rendezvous and docking maneuvers. The hardware is based on off-the-shelf components assembled in a compact configuration that is compatible with the CubeSat standard. The image processing and pose estimation software was custom developed. The experimental evaluation of the system allowed to determine both the static and dynamic performances. The system is capable to determine the close range relative position and attitude faster than 10 S/s, with errors always below 10 mm and 2 deg.

FLIGHT DEVELOPMENT OF A DISTRIBUTED INERTIAL SATELLITE MICRONAVIGATTION SYSTEM FOR SYNTHETIC - APERTURE RADAR

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Alexander Vladimirovich Chernodarov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The current state of the onboard systems is characterized by the integration of aviation and radio-electronic equipment systems for solving problems of navigation and control. These problems include micro-navigation of the anten- na phase center (APC of the radar during the review of the Earth's surface from aboard the aircraft. Increasing of the reso- lution of the radar station (RLS by hardware increasing the antenna size is not always possible due to restrictions on the aircraft onboard equipment weight and dimensions. Therefore the implementation of analytic extension of the radiation pattern by "gluing" the images, obtained by RLS on the aircraft motion trajectory is embodied. The estimations are con- verted into amendments to the signals of RLS with synthetic aperture RSA to compensate instabilities. The purpose of the research is building a theoretical basis and a practical implementation of procedures for evaluating the trajectory APS in- stabilities using a distributed system of inertial-satellite micro-navigation (DSMN taking into account the RSA flight oper- ations actual conditions. The technology of evaluation and compensation of RSA trajectory instabilities via DSMN is con- sidered. The implementation of this technology is based on the mutual support of inertial, satellite and radar systems. Syn- chronization procedures of inertial and satellite measurements in the evaluation of DSMN errors are proposed. The given results of DSMN flight testing justify the possibility and expediency to apply the proposed technology in order to improve the resolution of RSA. The compensation of aircraft trajectory instabilities in RSA signals can be provided by inertial- satellite micro-navigation system, taking into account the actual conditions of the RSA flight operations. The researches show that in order to achieve the required resolution of RSA it seems to be appropriate to define the rational balance be- tween accuracy DSMN characteristics

Ground Stereo Vision-Based Navigation for Autonomous Take-off and Landing of UAVs: A Chan-Vese Model Approach

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Dengqing Tang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article aims at flying target detection and localization of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV autonomous take-off and landing within Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS-denied environments. A Chan-Vese model–based approach is proposed and developed for ground stereo vision detection. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF is fused into state estimation to reduce the localization inaccuracy caused by measurement errors of object detection and Pan-Tilt unit (PTU attitudes. Furthermore, the region-of-interest (ROI setting up is conducted to improve the real-time capability. The present work contributes to real-time, accurate and robust features, compared with our previous works. Both offline and online experimental results validate the effectiveness and better performances of the proposed method against the traditional triangulation-based localization algorithm.

MULTI-GNSS RECEIVER FOR AEROSPACE NAVIGATION AND POSITIONING APPLICATIONS

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T. R. Peres

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The upcoming Galileo system opens a wide range of new opportunities in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS market. However, the characteristics of the future GNSS signals require the development of new GNSS receivers. In the frame of the REAGE project, DEIMOS and ISEL have developed a GNSS receiver targeted for aerospace applications, supporting current and future GPS L1 and Galileo E1 signals, based on commercial (or, in the furthest extent, industrial grade components. Although the REAGE project aimed at space applications, the REAGE receiver is also applicable to many terrestrial applications (ground or airborne, such as Georeferencing and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV navigation. This paper presents the architecture and features of the REAGE receiver, as well as some results of the validation campaign with GPS L1 and Galileo E1 signals.

Global trends in satellite-based emergency mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Stefan; Giulio-Tonolo, Fabio; Lyons, Josh; Kučera, Jan; Jones, Brenda; Schneiderhan, Tobias; Platzeck, Gabriel; Kaku, Kazuya; Hazarika, Manzul Kumar; Czaran, Lorant; Li, Suju; Pedersen, Wendi; James, Godstime Kadiri; Proy, Catherine; Muthike, Denis Macharia; Bequignon, Jerome; Guha-Sapir, Debarati

2016-01-01

Over the past 15 years, scientists and disaster responders have increasingly used satellite-based Earth observations for global rapid assessment of disaster situations. We review global trends in satellite rapid response and emergency mapping from 2000 to 2014, analyzing more than 1000 incidents in which satellite monitoring was used for assessing major disaster situations. We provide a synthesis of spatial patterns and temporal trends in global satellite emergency mapping efforts and show that satellite-based emergency mapping is most intensively deployed in Asia and Europe and follows well the geographic, physical, and temporal distributions of global natural disasters. We present an outlook on the future use of Earth observation technology for disaster response and mitigation by putting past and current developments into context and perspective.

Improved artificial bee colony algorithm based gravity matching navigation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Wei; Zhao, Bo; Zhou, Guang Tao; Wang, Qiu Ying; Yu, Chun Yang

2014-07-18

Gravity matching navigation algorithm is one of the key technologies for gravity aided inertial navigation systems. With the development of intelligent algorithms, the powerful search ability of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm makes it possible to be applied to the gravity matching navigation field. However, existing search mechanisms of basic ABC algorithms cannot meet the need for high accuracy in gravity aided navigation. Firstly, proper modifications are proposed to improve the performance of the basic ABC algorithm. Secondly, a new search mechanism is presented in this paper which is based on an improved ABC algorithm using external speed information. At last, modified Hausdorff distance is introduced to screen the possible matching results. Both simulations and ocean experiments verify the feasibility of the method, and results show that the matching rate of the method is high enough to obtain a precise matching position.

Dual-EKF-Based Real-Time Celestial Navigation for Lunar Rover

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Li Xie

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A key requirement of lunar rover autonomous navigation is to acquire state information accurately in real-time during its motion and set up a gradual parameter-based nonlinear kinematics model for the rover. In this paper, we propose a dual-extended-Kalman-filter- (dual-EKF- based real-time celestial navigation (RCN method. The proposed method considers the rover position and velocity on the lunar surface as the system parameters and establishes a constant velocity (CV model. In addition, the attitude quaternion is considered as the system state, and the quaternion differential equation is established as the state equation, which incorporates the output of angular rate gyroscope. Therefore, the measurement equation can be established with sun direction vector from the sun sensor and speed observation from the speedometer. The gyro continuous output ensures the algorithm real-time operation. Finally, we use the dual-EKF method to solve the system equations. Simulation results show that the proposed method can acquire the rover position and heading information in real time and greatly improve the navigation accuracy. Our method overcomes the disadvantage of the cumulative error in inertial navigation.

A Novel Augmented Reality Navigation System for Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Base Surgery: A Feasibility Study

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liang; Yang, Jian; Chu, Yakui; Wu, Wenbo; Xue, Jin; Liang, Ping; Chen, Lei

2016-01-01

Objective To verify the reliability and clinical feasibility of a self-developed navigation system based on an augmented reality technique for endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. Materials and Methods In this study we performed a head phantom and cadaver experiment to determine the display effect and accuracy of our navigational system. We compared cadaver head-based simulated operations, the target registration error, operation time, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index scores of our navigation system to conventional navigation systems. Results The navigation system developed in this study has a novel display mode capable of fusing endoscopic images to three-dimensional (3-D) virtual images. In the cadaver head experiment, the target registration error was 1.28 ± 0.45 mm, which met the accepted standards of a navigation system used for nasal endoscopic surgery. Compared with conventional navigation systems, the new system was more effective in terms of operation time and the mental workload of surgeons, which is especially important for less experienced surgeons. Conclusion The self-developed augmented reality navigation system for endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery appears to have advantages that outweigh those of conventional navigation systems. We conclude that this navigational system will provide rhinologists with more intuitive and more detailed imaging information, thus reducing the judgment time and mental workload of surgeons when performing complex sinus and skull base surgeries. Ultimately, this new navigational system has potential to increase the quality of surgeries. In addition, the augmented reality navigational system could be of interest to junior doctors being trained in endoscopic techniques because it could speed up their learning. However, it should be noted that the navigation system serves as an adjunct to a surgeon’s skills and knowledge, not as a substitute. PMID:26757365

A Novel Augmented Reality Navigation System for Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Base Surgery: A Feasibility Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Li

Full Text Available To verify the reliability and clinical feasibility of a self-developed navigation system based on an augmented reality technique for endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery.In this study we performed a head phantom and cadaver experiment to determine the display effect and accuracy of our navigational system. We compared cadaver head-based simulated operations, the target registration error, operation time, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index scores of our navigation system to conventional navigation systems.The navigation system developed in this study has a novel display mode capable of fusing endoscopic images to three-dimensional (3-D virtual images. In the cadaver head experiment, the target registration error was 1.28 ± 0.45 mm, which met the accepted standards of a navigation system used for nasal endoscopic surgery. Compared with conventional navigation systems, the new system was more effective in terms of operation time and the mental workload of surgeons, which is especially important for less experienced surgeons.The self-developed augmented reality navigation system for endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery appears to have advantages that outweigh those of conventional navigation systems. We conclude that this navigational system will provide rhinologists with more intuitive and more detailed imaging information, thus reducing the judgment time and mental workload of surgeons when performing complex sinus and skull base surgeries. Ultimately, this new navigational system has potential to increase the quality of surgeries. In addition, the augmented reality navigational system could be of interest to junior doctors being trained in endoscopic techniques because it could speed up their learning. However, it should be noted that the navigation system serves as an adjunct to a surgeon's skills and knowledge, not as a substitute.

CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT TRAJECTORIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE NAVIGATION SESSION OPTIMIZATION AT AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE

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V. V. Erokhin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Algorithms of determination of coordinates of the aircraft in the integrated system of navigation and optimum control of a trajectory are considered. Results of researches of parameters of a navigation session and precision characteristics of an assessment of location showed that application of optimum control of a trajectory allowув to increase the accuracy of navigation definitions in case of incomplete constellation of navigation satellites.

Communication-based positioning systems: past, present and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Guanyi; Wan Qingtao; Gan Tong

2012-01-01

This paper reviews positioning systems in the context of communication systems. First, the basic positioning technique is described for location based service (LBS) in mobile communication systems. Then the high integrity global positioning system (iGPS) is introduced in terms of aspects of what it is and how the low Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium telecommunication satellites enhance the global positioning system (GPS). Emphasis is on the Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) which is mainly based on commercial geostationary (GEO) communication satellites, including decommissioned GEO and inclined geosynchronous communication satellites. Characterized by its low cost, high flexibility, wide-area coverage and ample frequency resources, a distinctive feature of CAPS is that its navigation messages are generated on the ground, then uploaded to and forwarded by the communication satellites. Fundamental principles and key technologies applied in the construction of CAPS are presented in detail from the CAPS validation phase to its experimental system setup. A prospective view of CAPS has concluded it to be a seamless, high accuracy, large capacity navigation and communication system which can be achieved by expanding it world wide and enhancing it with LEO satellites and mobile base stations. Hence, this system is a potential candidate for the next generation of radio navigation after GPS. (invited reviews)

Benefits of Combined GPS/GLONASS with Low-Cost MEMS IMUs for Vehicular Urban Navigation

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Giovanni Pugliano

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The integration of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS has been very actively researched for many years due to the complementary nature of the two systems. In particular, during the last few years the integration with micro-electromechanical system (MEMS inertial measurement units (IMUs has been investigated. In fact, recent advances in MEMS technology have made possible the development of a new generation of low cost inertial sensors characterized by small size and light weight, which represents an attractive option for mass-market applications such as vehicular and pedestrian navigation. However, whereas there has been much interest in the integration of GPS with a MEMS-based INS, few research studies have been conducted on expanding this application to the revitalized GLONASS system. This paper looks at the benefits of adding GLONASS to existing GPS/INS(MEMS systems using loose and tight integration strategies. The relative benefits of various constraints are also assessed. Results show that when satellite visibility is poor (approximately 50% solution availability the benefits of GLONASS are only seen with tight integration algorithms. For more benign environments, a loosely coupled GPS/GLONASS/INS system offers performance comparable to that of a tightly coupled GPS/INS system, but with reduced complexity and development time.

Benefits of combined GPS/GLONASS with low-cost MEMS IMUs for vehicular urban navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Angrisano, Antonio; Petovello, Mark; Pugliano, Giovanni

2012-01-01

The integration of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) has been very actively researched for many years due to the complementary nature of the two systems. In particular, during the last few years the integration with micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs) has been investigated. In fact, recent advances in MEMS technology have made possible the development of a new generation of low cost inertial sensors characterized by small size and light weight, which represents an attractive option for mass-market applications such as vehicular and pedestrian navigation. However, whereas there has been much interest in the integration of GPS with a MEMS-based INS, few research studies have been conducted on expanding this application to the revitalized GLONASS system. This paper looks at the benefits of adding GLONASS to existing GPS/INS(MEMS) systems using loose and tight integration strategies. The relative benefits of various constraints are also assessed. Results show that when satellite visibility is poor (approximately 50% solution availability) the benefits of GLONASS are only seen with tight integration algorithms. For more benign environments, a loosely coupled GPS/GLONASS/INS system offers performance comparable to that of a tightly coupled GPS/INS system, but with reduced complexity and development time.

The First Result of Relative Positioning and Velocity Estimation Based on CAPS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jiaojiao; Ge, Jian; Wang, Liang; Wang, Ningbo; Zhou, Kai; Yuan, Hong

2018-01-01

The Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) is a new positioning system developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences based on the communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The CAPS has been regarded as a pilot system to test the new technology for the design, construction and update of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The system structure of CAPS, including the space, ground control station and user segments, is almost like the traditional Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), but with the clock on the ground, the navigation signal in C waveband, and different principles of operation. The major difference is that the CAPS navigation signal is first generated at the ground control station, before being transmitted to the satellite in orbit and finally forwarded by the communication satellite transponder to the user. This design moves the clock from the satellite in orbit to the ground. The clock error can therefore be easily controlled and mitigated to improve the positioning accuracy. This paper will present the performance of CAPS-based relative positioning and velocity estimation as assessed in Beijing, China. The numerical results show that, (1) the accuracies of relative positioning, using only code measurements, are 1.25 and 1.8 m in the horizontal and vertical components, respectively; (2) meanwhile, they are about 2.83 and 3.15 cm in static mode and 6.31 and 10.78 cm in kinematic mode, respectively, when using the carrier-phase measurements with ambiguities fixed; and (3) the accuracy of the velocity estimation is about 0.04 and 0.11 m/s in static and kinematic modes, respectively. These results indicate the potential application of CAPS for high-precision positioning and velocity estimation and the availability of a new navigation mode based on communication satellites. PMID:29757204

SALIENCY BASED SEGMENTATION OF SATELLITE IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Sharma

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Saliency gives the way as humans see any image and saliency based segmentation can be eventually helpful in Psychovisual image interpretation. Keeping this in view few saliency models are used along with segmentation algorithm and only the salient segments from image have been extracted. The work is carried out for terrestrial images as well as for satellite images. The methodology used in this work extracts those segments from segmented image which are having higher or equal saliency value than a threshold value. Salient and non salient regions of image become foreground and background respectively and thus image gets separated. For carrying out this work a dataset of terrestrial images and Worldview 2 satellite images (sample data are used. Results show that those saliency models which works better for terrestrial images are not good enough for satellite image in terms of foreground and background separation. Foreground and background separation in terrestrial images is based on salient objects visible on the images whereas in satellite images this separation is based on salient area rather than salient objects.

Evaluation of a Hospital-Based Pneumonia Nurse Navigator Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Seldon, Lisa E; McDonough, Kelly; Turner, Barbara; Simmons, Leigh Ann

2016-12-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a hospital-based pneumonia nurse navigator program. This study used a retrospective, formative evaluation. Data of patients admitted from January 2012 through December 2014 to a large community hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of pneumonia, excluding aspiration pneumonia, were used. Data included patient demographics, diagnoses, insurance coverage, core measures, average length of stay (ALOS), disposition, readmission rate, financial outcomes, and patient barriers to care were collected. Descriptive statistics and parametric testing were used to analyze data. Core measure performance was sustained at the 90th percentile 2 years after the implementation of the navigator program. The ALOS did not decrease to established benchmarks; however, the SD for ALOS decreased by nearly half after implementation of the navigator program, suggesting the program decreased the number and length of extended stays. Charges per case decreased by 21% from 2012 to 2014. Variable costs decreased by 4% over a 2-year period, which increased net profit per case by 5%. Average readmission payments increased by 8% from 2012 to 2014, and the net revenue per case increased by 8.3%. The pneumonia nurse navigator program may improve core measures, reduce ALOS, and increase net revenue. Future evaluations are necessary to substantiate these findings and optimize the cost and quality performance of navigator programs.

Image-based navigation for a robotized flexible endoscope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Stap, N.; Slump, Cornelis H.; Broeders, Ivo Adriaan Maria Johannes; van der Heijden, Ferdinand; Luo, Xiongbiao; Reichl, Tobias; Mirota, Daniel; Soper, Timothy

2014-01-01

Robotizing flexible endoscopy enables image-based control of endoscopes. Especially during high-throughput procedures, such as a colonoscopy, navigation support algorithms could improve procedure turnaround and ergonomics for the endoscopist. In this study, we have developed and implemented a

ATON (Autonomous Terrain-based Optical Navigation) for exploration missions: recent flight test results

Science.gov (United States)

Theil, S.; Ammann, N.; Andert, F.; Franz, T.; Krüger, H.; Lehner, H.; Lingenauber, M.; Lüdtke, D.; Maass, B.; Paproth, C.; Wohlfeil, J.

2018-03-01

Since 2010 the German Aerospace Center is working on the project Autonomous Terrain-based Optical Navigation (ATON). Its objective is the development of technologies which allow autonomous navigation of spacecraft in orbit around and during landing on celestial bodies like the Moon, planets, asteroids and comets. The project developed different image processing techniques and optical navigation methods as well as sensor data fusion. The setup—which is applicable to many exploration missions—consists of an inertial measurement unit, a laser altimeter, a star tracker and one or multiple navigation cameras. In the past years, several milestones have been achieved. It started with the setup of a simulation environment including the detailed simulation of camera images. This was continued by hardware-in-the-loop tests in the Testbed for Robotic Optical Navigation (TRON) where images were generated by real cameras in a simulated downscaled lunar landing scene. Data were recorded in helicopter flight tests and post-processed in real-time to increase maturity of the algorithms and to optimize the software. Recently, two more milestones have been achieved. In late 2016, the whole navigation system setup was flying on an unmanned helicopter while processing all sensor information onboard in real time. For the latest milestone the navigation system was tested in closed-loop on the unmanned helicopter. For that purpose the ATON navigation system provided the navigation state for the guidance and control of the unmanned helicopter replacing the GPS-based standard navigation system. The paper will give an introduction to the ATON project and its concept. The methods and algorithms of ATON are briefly described. The flight test results of the latest two milestones are presented and discussed.

SFOL Pulse: A High Accuracy DME Pulse for Alternative Aircraft Position and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Euiho Kim

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA performance based navigation strategy announced in 2016, the FAA stated that it would retain and expand the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME infrastructure to ensure resilient aircraft navigation capability during the event of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS outage. However, the main drawback of the DME as a GNSS back up system is that it requires a significant expansion of the current DME ground infrastructure due to its poor distance measuring accuracy over 100 m. The paper introduces a method to improve DME distance measuring accuracy by using a new DME pulse shape. The proposed pulse shape was developed by using Genetic Algorithms and is less susceptible to multipath effects so that the ranging error reduces by 36.0–77.3% when compared to the Gaussian and Smoothed Concave Polygon DME pulses, depending on noise environment.

Quad-Rotor Helicopter Autonomous Navigation Based on Vanishing Point Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jialiang Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Quad-rotor helicopter is becoming popular increasingly as they can well implement many flight missions in more challenging environments, with lower risk of damaging itself and its surroundings. They are employed in many applications, from military operations to civilian tasks. Quad-rotor helicopter autonomous navigation based on the vanishing point fast estimation (VPFE algorithm using clustering principle is implemented in this paper. For images collected by the camera of quad-rotor helicopter, the system executes the process of preprocessing of image, deleting noise interference, edge extracting using Canny operator, and extracting straight lines by randomized hough transformation (RHT method. Then system obtains the position of vanishing point and regards it as destination point and finally controls the autonomous navigation of the quad-rotor helicopter by continuous modification according to the calculated navigation error. The experimental results show that the quad-rotor helicopter can implement the destination navigation well in the indoor environment.

GNSS satellite transmit power and its impact on orbit determination

Science.gov (United States)

Steigenberger, Peter; Thoelert, Steffen; Montenbruck, Oliver

2018-06-01

Antenna thrust is a small acceleration acting on Global Navigation Satellite System satellites caused by the transmission of radio navigation signals. Knowledge about the transmit power and the mass of the satellites is required for the computation of this effect. The actual transmit power can be obtained from measurements with a high-gain antenna and knowledge about the properties of the transmit and receive antennas as well as losses along the propagation path. Transmit power measurements for different types of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou-2 satellites were taken with a 30-m dish antenna of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) located at its ground station in Weilheim. For GPS, total L-band transmit power levels of 50-240 W were obtained, 20-135 W for GLONASS, 95-265 W for Galileo, and 130-185 W for BeiDou-2. The transmit power differs usually only slightly for individual spacecraft within one satellite block. An exception are the GLONASS-M satellites where six subgroups with different transmit power levels could be identified. Considering the antenna thrust in precise orbit determination of GNSS satellites decreases the orbital radius by 1-27 mm depending on the transmit power, the satellite mass, and the orbital period.

Spoofing Detection Using GNSS/INS/Odometer Coupling for Vehicular Navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Broumandan, Ali; Lachapelle, Gérard

2018-04-24

Location information is one of the most vital information required to achieve intelligent and context-aware capability for various applications such as driverless cars. However, related security and privacy threats are a major holdback. With increasing focus on using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for autonomous navigation and related applications, it is important to provide robust navigation solutions, yet signal spoofing for illegal or covert transportation and misleading receiver timing is increasing and now frequent. Hence, detection and mitigation of spoofing attacks has become an important topic. Several contributions on spoofing detection have been made, focusing on different layers of a GNSS receiver. This paper focuses on spoofing detection utilizing self-contained sensors, namely inertial measurement units (IMUs) and vehicle odometer outputs. A spoofing detection approach based on a consistency check between GNSS and IMU/odometer mechanization is proposed. To detect a spoofing attack, the method analyses GNSS and IMU/odometer measurements independently during a pre-selected observation window and cross checks the solutions provided by GNSS and inertial navigation solution (INS)/odometer mechanization. The performance of the proposed method is verified in real vehicular environments. Mean spoofing detection time and detection performance in terms of receiver operation characteristics (ROC) in sub-urban and dense urban environments are evaluated.

Spoofing Detection Using GNSS/INS/Odometer Coupling for Vehicular Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Broumandan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Location information is one of the most vital information required to achieve intelligent and context-aware capability for various applications such as driverless cars. However, related security and privacy threats are a major holdback. With increasing focus on using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS for autonomous navigation and related applications, it is important to provide robust navigation solutions, yet signal spoofing for illegal or covert transportation and misleading receiver timing is increasing and now frequent. Hence, detection and mitigation of spoofing attacks has become an important topic. Several contributions on spoofing detection have been made, focusing on different layers of a GNSS receiver. This paper focuses on spoofing detection utilizing self-contained sensors, namely inertial measurement units (IMUs and vehicle odometer outputs. A spoofing detection approach based on a consistency check between GNSS and IMU/odometer mechanization is proposed. To detect a spoofing attack, the method analyses GNSS and IMU/odometer measurements independently during a pre-selected observation window and cross checks the solutions provided by GNSS and inertial navigation solution (INS/odometer mechanization. The performance of the proposed method is verified in real vehicular environments. Mean spoofing detection time and detection performance in terms of receiver operation characteristics (ROC in sub-urban and dense urban environments are evaluated.

INTEGRITY ANALYSIS OF REAL-TIME PPP TECHNIQUE WITH IGS-RTS SERVICE FOR MARITIME NAVIGATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. El-Diasty

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Open sea and inland waterways are the most widely used mode for transporting goods worldwide. It is the International Maritime Organization (IMO that defines the requirements for position fixing equipment for a worldwide radio-navigation system, in terms of accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability and coverage for the various phases of navigation. Satellite positioning systems can contribute to meet these requirements, as well as optimize marine transportation. Marine navigation usually consists of three major phases identified as Ocean/Coastal/Port approach/Inland waterway, in port navigation and automatic docking with alert limit ranges from 25 m to 0.25 m. GPS positioning is widely used for many applications and is currently recognized by IMO for a future maritime navigation. With the advancement in autonomous GPS positioning techniques such as Precise Point Positioning (PPP and with the advent of new real-time GNSS correction services such as IGS-Real-Time-Service (RTS, it is necessary to investigate the integrity of the PPP-based positioning technique along with IGS-RTS service in terms of availability and reliability for safe navigation in maritime application. This paper monitors the integrity of an autonomous real-time PPP-based GPS positioning system using the IGS real-time service (RTS for maritime applications that require minimum availability of integrity of 99.8 % to fulfil the IMO integrity standards. To examine the integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based technique for maritime applications, kinematic data from a dual frequency GPS receiver is collected onboard a vessel and investigated with the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS positioning technique. It is shown that the availability of integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS solution is 100 % for all navigation phases and therefore fulfil the IMO integrity standards (99.8 % availability immediately (after 1 second, after 2 minutes and after 42 minutes

Integrity Analysis of Real-Time Ppp Technique with Igs-Rts Service for Maritime Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

El-Diasty, M.

2017-10-01

Open sea and inland waterways are the most widely used mode for transporting goods worldwide. It is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that defines the requirements for position fixing equipment for a worldwide radio-navigation system, in terms of accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability and coverage for the various phases of navigation. Satellite positioning systems can contribute to meet these requirements, as well as optimize marine transportation. Marine navigation usually consists of three major phases identified as Ocean/Coastal/Port approach/Inland waterway, in port navigation and automatic docking with alert limit ranges from 25 m to 0.25 m. GPS positioning is widely used for many applications and is currently recognized by IMO for a future maritime navigation. With the advancement in autonomous GPS positioning techniques such as Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and with the advent of new real-time GNSS correction services such as IGS-Real-Time-Service (RTS), it is necessary to investigate the integrity of the PPP-based positioning technique along with IGS-RTS service in terms of availability and reliability for safe navigation in maritime application. This paper monitors the integrity of an autonomous real-time PPP-based GPS positioning system using the IGS real-time service (RTS) for maritime applications that require minimum availability of integrity of 99.8 % to fulfil the IMO integrity standards. To examine the integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based technique for maritime applications, kinematic data from a dual frequency GPS receiver is collected onboard a vessel and investigated with the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS positioning technique. It is shown that the availability of integrity of the real-time IGS-RTS PPP-based GPS solution is 100 % for all navigation phases and therefore fulfil the IMO integrity standards (99.8 % availability) immediately (after 1 second), after 2 minutes and after 42 minutes of convergence

Sensitivity of Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) Mission Navigation Accuracy to Major Error Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Corwin; Long, Anne; Car[emter. Russell

2011-01-01

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission consists of four satellites flying in formation in highly elliptical orbits about the Earth, with a primary objective of studying magnetic reconnection. The baseline navigation concept is independent estimation of each spacecraft state using GPS pseudorange measurements referenced to an Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO) with accelerometer measurements included during maneuvers. MMS state estimation is performed onboard each spacecraft using the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS), which is embedded in the Navigator GPS receiver. This paper describes the sensitivity of MMS navigation performance to two major error sources: USO clock errors and thrust acceleration knowledge errors.

76 FR 65540 - National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board; Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-21

.... L. 92-463, as amended), and the President's 2004 U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and...-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Policy and Global Positioning System (GPS) modernization. Explore opportunities for enhancing the interoperability of GPS with other emerging international Global...

Image-based particle filtering for navigation in a semi-structured agricultural environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hiremath, S.; van Evert, F.K.; ter Braak, C.J.F.; Stein, A.; van der Heijden, G.

2014-01-01

Autonomous navigation of field robots in an agricultural environment is a difficult task due to the inherent uncertainty in the environment. The drawback of existing systems is the lack of robustness to these uncertainties. In this study we propose a vision-based navigation method to address these

Enriching location-based games with navigational game activities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nadarajah, Stephanie Githa; Overgaard, Benjamin Nicholas; Pedersen, Peder Walz

2016-01-01

Mobile location-based games are experiences that entertain its players by requiring interactions mainly at points of interest (POIs). Navigation between POIs often involve the use of either a physical or digital map, not taking advantage of the opportunity available to engage users in activities...

Sensor-based control with digital maps association for global navigation: a real application for autonomous vehicles

OpenAIRE

Alves De Lima , Danilo; Corrêa Victorino , Alessandro

2015-01-01

International audience; This paper presents a sensor-based control strategy applied in the global navigation of autonomous vehicles in urban environments. Typically, sensor-based control performs local navigation tasks regarding some features perceived from the environment. However, when there is more than one possibility to go, like in road intersection, the vehicle control fails to accomplish its global navigation. In order to solve this problem, we propose the vehicle global navigation bas...

Image matching navigation based on fuzzy information

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

田玉龙; 吴伟仁; 田金文; 柳健

2003-01-01

In conventional image matching methods, the image matching process is mostly based on image statistic information. One aspect neglected by all these methods is that there is much fuzzy information contained in these images. A new fuzzy matching algorithm based on fuzzy similarity for navigation is presented in this paper. Because the fuzzy theory is of the ability of making good description of the fuzzy information contained in images, the image matching method based on fuzzy similarity would look forward to producing good performance results. Experimental results using matching algorithm based on fuzzy information also demonstrate its reliability and practicability.

Ground test of satellite constellation based quantum communication

OpenAIRE

Liao, Sheng-Kai; Yong, Hai-Lin; Liu, Chang; Shentu, Guo-Liang; Li, Dong-Dong; Lin, Jin; Dai, Hui; Zhao, Shuang-Qiang; Li, Bo; Guan, Jian-Yu; Chen, Wei; Gong, Yun-Hong; Li, Yang; Lin, Ze-Hong; Pan, Ge-Sheng

2016-01-01

Satellite based quantum communication has been proven as a feasible way to achieve global scale quantum communication network. Very recently, a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite has been launched for this purpose. However, with a single satellite, it takes an inefficient 3-day period to provide the worldwide connectivity. On the other hand, similar to how the Iridium system functions in classic communication, satellite constellation (SC) composed of many quantum satellites, could provide global...

Autonomous vision-based navigation for proximity operations around binary asteroids

Science.gov (United States)

Gil-Fernandez, Jesus; Ortega-Hernando, Guillermo

2018-06-01

Future missions to small bodies demand higher level of autonomy in the Guidance, Navigation and Control system for higher scientific return and lower operational costs. Different navigation strategies have been assessed for ESA's asteroid impact mission (AIM). The main objective of AIM is the detailed characterization of binary asteroid Didymos. The trajectories for the proximity operations shall be intrinsically safe, i.e., no collision in presence of failures (e.g., spacecraft entering safe mode), perturbations (e.g., non-spherical gravity field), and errors (e.g., maneuver execution error). Hyperbolic arcs with sufficient hyperbolic excess velocity are designed to fulfil the safety, scientific, and operational requirements. The trajectory relative to the asteroid is determined using visual camera images. The ground-based trajectory prediction error at some points is comparable to the camera Field Of View (FOV). Therefore, some images do not contain the entire asteroid. Autonomous navigation can update the state of the spacecraft relative to the asteroid at higher frequency. The objective of the autonomous navigation is to improve the on-board knowledge compared to the ground prediction. The algorithms shall fit in off-the-shelf, space-qualified avionics. This note presents suitable image processing and relative-state filter algorithms for autonomous navigation in proximity operations around binary asteroids.

Features of High-Latitude Ionospheric Irregularities Development as Revealed by Ground-Based GPS Observations, Satellite-Borne GPS Observations and Satellite In Situ Measurements over the Territory of Russia during the Geomagnetic Storm on March 17-18, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharenkova, I. E.; Cherniak, Iu. V.; Shagimuratov, I. I.; Klimenko, M. V.

2018-01-01

The dynamic picture of the response of the high- and mid-latitude ionosphere to the strong geomagnetic disturbances on March 17-18, 2015, has been studied with ground-based and satellite observations, mainly, by transionospheric measurements of delays of GPS (Global Positioning System) signals. The advantages of the joint use of ground-based GPS measurements and GPS measurements on board of the Swarm Low-Earth-Orbit satellite mission for monitoring of the appearance of ionospheric irregularities over the territory of Russia are shown for the first time. The results of analysis of ground-based and space-borne GPS observations, as well as satellite, in situ measurements, revealed large-scale ionospheric plasma irregularities observed over the territory of Russia in the latitude range of 50°-85° N during the main phase of the geomagnetic storm. The most intense ionospheric irregularities were detected in the auroral zone and in the region of the main ionospheric trough (MIT). It has been found that sharp changes in the phase of the carrier frequency of the navigation signal from all tracked satellites were recorded at all GPS stations located to the North from 55° MLAT. The development of a deep MIT was related to dynamic processes in the subauroral ionosphere, in particular, with electric fields of the intense subauroral polarization stream. Analysis of the electron and ion density values obtained by instruments on board of the Swarm and DMSP satellites showed that the zone of highly structured auroral ionosphere extended at least to heights of 850-900 km.

Guidance, Navigation, and Control System for Maneuverable Pico-Satellites, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A compact, low-power GN&C system is essential to the success of pico-satellite Automated Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D). Austin Satellite Design (ASD)...

Visual map and instruction-based bicycle navigation: a comparison of effects on behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

de Waard, Dick; Westerhuis, Frank; Joling, Danielle; Weiland, Stella; Stadtbäumer, Ronja; Kaltofen, Leonie

2017-09-01

Cycling with a classic paper map was compared with navigating with a moving map displayed on a smartphone, and with auditory, and visual turn-by-turn route guidance. Spatial skills were found to be related to navigation performance, however only when navigating from a paper or electronic map, not with turn-by-turn (instruction based) navigation. While navigating, 25% of the time cyclists fixated at the devices that present visual information. Navigating from a paper map required most mental effort and both young and older cyclists preferred electronic over paper map navigation. In particular a turn-by-turn dedicated guidance device was favoured. Visual maps are in particular useful for cyclists with higher spatial skills. Turn-by-turn information is used by all cyclists, and it is useful to make these directions available in all devices. Practitioner Summary: Electronic navigation devices are preferred over a paper map. People with lower spatial skills benefit most from turn-by-turn guidance information, presented either auditory or on a dedicated device. People with higher spatial skills perform well with all devices. It is advised to keep in mind that all users benefit from turn-by-turn information when developing a navigation device for cyclists.

IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM MODEL DURING AIRCRAFT TESTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The flight subset control is required during the aviation equipment test flights. In order to achieve this objective the complex consisting of strap down inertial navigation system (SINS and user equipment of satellite navigation systems (SNS can be used. Such combination needs to be used for error correction in positioning which is accumulated in SINS with time. This article shows the research results of the inertial navigation system (INS model. The results of the position- ing error calculation for various INS classes are given. Each of the examined INS has a different accumulated error for the same time lag. The methods of combining information of INS and SRNS are covered. The results obtained can be applied for upgrading the aircraft flight and navigation complexes. In particular, they can allow to continuously determine speed, coordinates, angular situation and repositioning rate of change of axes of the instrument frame.

Fusion of navigational data in River Information Services

Science.gov (United States)

Kazimierski, W.

2009-04-01

. Their main advantage over AIS is total independence from tracked target's facilities. For example, wrong indications of ship's GPS would affect AIS accuracy, but wouldn't have any impact on values estimated by radar. In addition to this in many times update rate for AIS data is longer than for radar. Thus, it can be noticed, that efficient tracking system introduced in RIS shall use both AIS receivers (based on satellite derived positions), and independent radar and camera sensors. This will however cause determining at least two different set of information about positions and movement parameters of targets. Doubled or multiplied vectors for single target are unacceptable, due to safety of navigation and traffic management. Hence the need of data fusion in RIS is obvious. The main goal is to develop unambiguous, clear and reliable information about ships' position and movement for all users in the system. Data fusion itself is not a new problem in maritime navigation. There are systems of Integrated Bridge on sea-going ships, which use information coming out from different sources. However the possibilities of integration of navigational information in the aspect of inland navigation, especially in River Information Services, still needs to be thoroughly surveyed. It is quite useful for simplifying the deduction, to introduce two data fusion levels. First of them is being done on board of the vessel. Its aim is to integrate all information coming from different sensors in the so called Integrated Navigational System. The other task of this fusion is to estimate reliable information about other objects based on AIS and radar. The second level is the integration of AIS, radar and closed-circuit television (CCTV) carried out in coastal station in order to determine Tactical and Strategic Traffic Image. The navigational information in RIS itself can be divided into two main groups. The first one is called static data and contains al basic information related to ship itself

Validation of an Innovative Satellite-Based UV Dosimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Marco; Masini, Andrea; Simeone, Emilio; Khazova, Marina

2016-08-01

We present an innovative satellite-based UV (ultraviolet) radiation dosimeter with a mobile app interface that has been validated by exploiting both ground-based measurements and an in-vivo assessment of the erythemal effects on some volunteers having a controlled exposure to solar radiation.Both validations showed that the satellite-based UV dosimeter has a good accuracy and reliability needed for health-related applications.The app with this satellite-based UV dosimeter also includes other related functionalities such as the provision of safe sun exposure time updated in real-time and end exposure visual/sound alert. This app will be launched on the global market by siHealth Ltd in May 2016 under the name of "HappySun" and available both for Android and for iOS devices (more info on http://www.happysun.co.uk).Extensive R&D activities are on-going for further improvement of the satellite-based UV dosimeter's accuracy.

Bio-robots automatic navigation with graded electric reward stimulation based on Reinforcement Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chen; Sun, Chao; Gao, Liqiang; Zheng, Nenggan; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2013-01-01

Bio-robots based on brain computer interface (BCI) suffer from the lack of considering the characteristic of the animals in navigation. This paper proposed a new method for bio-robots' automatic navigation combining the reward generating algorithm base on Reinforcement Learning (RL) with the learning intelligence of animals together. Given the graded electrical reward, the animal e.g. the rat, intends to seek the maximum reward while exploring an unknown environment. Since the rat has excellent spatial recognition, the rat-robot and the RL algorithm can convergent to an optimal route by co-learning. This work has significant inspiration for the practical development of bio-robots' navigation with hybrid intelligence.

PRIVATE GRAPHS – ACCESS RIGHTS ON GRAPHS FOR SEAMLESS NAVIGATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Dorner

2016-06-01

Full Text Available After the success of GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite Systems and navigation services for public streets, indoor seems to be the next big development in navigational services, relying on RTLS – Real Time Locating Services (e.g. WIFI and allowing seamless navigation. In contrast to navigation and routing services on public streets, seamless navigation will cause an additional challenge: how to make routing data accessible to defined users or restrict access rights for defined areas or only to parts of the graph to a defined user group? The paper will present case studies and data from literature, where seamless and especially indoor navigation solutions are presented (hospitals, industrial complexes, building sites, but the problem of restricted access rights was only touched from a real world, but not a technical perspective. The analysis of case studies will show, that the objective of navigation and the different target groups for navigation solutions will demand well defined access rights and require solutions, how to make only parts of a graph to a user or application available to solve a navigational task. The paper will therefore introduce the concept of private graphs, which is defined as a graph for navigational purposes covering the street, road or floor network of an area behind a public street and suggest different approaches how to make graph data for navigational purposes available considering access rights and data protection, privacy and security issues as well.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

OpenAIRE

Kia, Chua; Arshad, Mohd Rizal

2006-01-01

This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system ...

Sensory bases of navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, J L

1998-10-08

Navigating animals need to know both the bearing of their goal (the 'map' step), and how to determine that direction (the 'compass' step). Compasses are typically arranged in hierarchies, with magnetic backup as a last resort when celestial information is unavailable. Magnetic information is often essential to calibrating celestial cues, though, and repeated recalibration between celestial and magnetic compasses is important in many species. Most magnetic compasses are based on magnetite crystals, but others make use of induction or paramagnetic interactions between short-wavelength light and visual pigments. Though odors may be used in some cases, most if not all long-range maps probably depend on magnetite. Magnetitebased map senses are used to measure only latitude in some species, but provide the distance and direction of the goal in others.

X-Ray Pulsar Based Navigation and Time Determination, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — DARPA recently initiated the XNAV program to undertake development of GPS independent, precision navigation and time determination based on observations of certain...

Enabling Persistent Autonomy for Underwater Gliders with Ocean Model Predictions and Terrain Based Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew eStuntz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Effective study of ocean processes requires sampling over the duration of long (weeks to months oscillation patterns. Such sampling requires persistent, autonomous underwater vehicles, that have a similarly long deployment duration. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the ocean environment, coupled with limited communication capabilities, make navigation and localization difficult, especially in coastal regions where the majority of interesting phenomena occur. In this paper, we consider the combination of two methods for reducing navigation and localization error; a predictive approach based on ocean model predictions and a prior information approach derived from terrain-based navigation. The motivation for this work is not only for real-time state estimation, but also for accurately reconstructing the actual path that the vehicle traversed to contextualize the gathered data, with respect to the science question at hand. We present an application for the practical use of priors and predictions for large-scale ocean sampling. This combined approach builds upon previous works by the authors, and accurately localizes the traversed path of an underwater glider over long-duration, ocean deployments. The proposed method takes advantage of the reliable, short-term predictions of an ocean model, and the utility of priors used in terrain-based navigation over areas of significant bathymetric relief to bound uncertainty error in dead-reckoning navigation. This method improves upon our previously published works by 1 demonstrating the utility of our terrain-based navigation method with multiple field trials, and 2 presenting a hybrid algorithm that combines both approaches to bound navigational error and uncertainty for long-term deployments of underwater vehicles. We demonstrate the approach by examining data from actual field trials with autonomous underwater gliders, and demonstrate an ability to estimate geographical location of an underwater glider to 2

A Space Based Solar Power Satellite System

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, J. M.; Polling, D.; Ustamujic, F.; Yaldiz, R.; et al.

2002-01-01

(SPoTS) supplying other satellites with energy. SPoTS is due to be commercially viable and operative in 2020. of Technology designed the SPoTS during a full-time design period of six weeks as a third year final project. The team, organized according to the principles of systems engineering, first conducted a literature study on space wireless energy transfer to select the most suitable candidates for use on the SPoTS. After that, several different system concepts have been generated and evaluated, the most promising concept being worked out in greater detail. km altitude. Each SPoTS satellite has a 50m diameter inflatable solar collector that focuses all received sunlight. Then, the received sunlight is further redirected by means of four pointing mirrors toward four individual customer satellites. A market-analysis study showed, that providing power to geo-stationary communication satellites during their eclipse would be most beneficial. At arrival at geo-stationary orbit, the focused beam has expended to such an extent that its density equals one solar flux. This means that customer satellites can continue to use their regular solar arrays during their eclipse for power generation, resulting in a satellite battery mass reduction. the customer satellites in geo-stationary orbit, the transmitted energy beams needs to be pointed with very high accuracy. Computations showed that for this degree of accuracy, sensors are needed, which are not mainstream nowadays. Therefore further research must be conducted in this area in order to make these high-accuracy-pointing systems commercially attractive for use on the SPoTS satellites around 2020. Total 20-year system lifetime cost for 18 SPoT satellites are estimated at approximately USD 6 billion [FY2001]. In order to compete with traditional battery-based satellite power systems or possible ground based wireless power transfer systems the price per kWh for the customer must be significantly lower than the present one

Initial results of centralized autonomous orbit determination of the new-generation BDS satellites with inter-satellite link measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Chengpan; Hu, Xiaogong; Zhou, Shanshi; Liu, Li; Pan, Junyang; Chen, Liucheng; Guo, Rui; Zhu, Lingfeng; Hu, Guangming; Li, Xiaojie; He, Feng; Chang, Zhiqiao

2018-01-01

Autonomous orbit determination is the ability of navigation satellites to estimate the orbit parameters on-board using inter-satellite link (ISL) measurements. This study mainly focuses on data processing of the ISL measurements as a new measurement type and its application on the centralized autonomous orbit determination of the new-generation Beidou navigation satellite system satellites for the first time. The ISL measurements are dual one-way measurements that follow a time division multiple access (TDMA) structure. The ranging error of the ISL measurements is less than 0.25 ns. This paper proposes a derivation approach to the satellite clock offsets and the geometric distances from TDMA dual one-way measurements without a loss of accuracy. The derived clock offsets are used for time synchronization, and the derived geometry distances are used for autonomous orbit determination. The clock offsets from the ISL measurements are consistent with the L-band two-way satellite, and time-frequency transfer clock measurements and the detrended residuals vary within 0.5 ns. The centralized autonomous orbit determination is conducted in a batch mode on a ground-capable server for the feasibility study. Constant hardware delays are present in the geometric distances and become the largest source of error in the autonomous orbit determination. Therefore, the hardware delays are estimated simultaneously with the satellite orbits. To avoid uncertainties in the constellation orientation, a ground anchor station that "observes" the satellites with on-board ISL payloads is introduced into the orbit determination. The root-mean-square values of orbit determination residuals are within 10.0 cm, and the standard deviation of the estimated ISL hardware delays is within 0.2 ns. The accuracy of the autonomous orbits is evaluated by analysis of overlap comparison and the satellite laser ranging (SLR) residuals and is compared with the accuracy of the L-band orbits. The results indicate

Research on the Effectiveness of Different Estimation Algorithm on the Autonomous Orbit Determination of Lagrangian Navigation Constellation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youtao Gao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The accuracy of autonomous orbit determination of Lagrangian navigation constellation will affect the navigation accuracy for the deep space probes. Because of the special dynamical characteristics of Lagrangian navigation satellite, the error caused by different estimation algorithm will cause totally different autonomous orbit determination accuracy. We apply the extended Kalman filter and the fading–memory filter to determinate the orbits of Lagrangian navigation satellites. The autonomous orbit determination errors are compared. The accuracy of autonomous orbit determination using fading-memory filter can improve 50% compared to the autonomous orbit determination accuracy using extended Kalman filter. We proposed an integrated Kalman fading filter to smooth the process of autonomous orbit determination and improve the accuracy of autonomous orbit determination. The square root extended Kalman filter is introduced to deal with the case of inaccurate initial error variance matrix. The simulations proved that the estimation method can affect the accuracy of autonomous orbit determination greatly.

Image Based Solution to Occlusion Problem for Multiple Robots Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taj Mohammad Khan

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In machine vision, occlusions problem is always a challenging issue in image based mapping and navigation tasks. This paper presents a multiple view vision based algorithm for the development of occlusion-free map of the indoor environment. The map is assumed to be utilized by the mobile robots within the workspace. It has wide range of applications, including mobile robot path planning and navigation, access control in restricted areas, and surveillance systems. We used wall mounted fixed camera system. After intensity adjustment and background subtraction of the synchronously captured images, the image registration was performed. We applied our algorithm on the registered images to resolve the occlusion problem. This technique works well even in the existence of total occlusion for a longer period.

Satellite-based Flood Modeling Using TRMM-based Rainfall Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg Easson

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Increasingly available and a virtually uninterrupted supply of satellite-estimatedrainfall data is gradually becoming a cost-effective source of input for flood predictionunder a variety of circumstances. However, most real-time and quasi-global satelliterainfall products are currently available at spatial scales ranging from 0.25o to 0.50o andhence, are considered somewhat coarse for dynamic hydrologic modeling of basin-scaleflood events. This study assesses the question: what are the hydrologic implications ofuncertainty of satellite rainfall data at the coarse scale? We investigated this question onthe 970 km2 Upper Cumberland river basin of Kentucky. The satellite rainfall productassessed was NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM Multi-satellitePrecipitation Analysis (TMPA product called 3B41RT that is available in pseudo real timewith a latency of 6-10 hours. We observed that bias adjustment of satellite rainfall data canimprove application in flood prediction to some extent with the trade-off of more falsealarms in peak flow. However, a more rational and regime-based adjustment procedureneeds to be identified before the use of satellite data can be institutionalized among floodmodelers.

Leo satellite-based telecommunication network concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Aiken, John G.; Swan, Peter A.; Leopold, Ray J.

1991-01-01

Design considerations are discussed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite based telecommunications networks. The satellites are assumed to be connected to each other via intersatellite links. They are connected to the end user either directly or through gateways to other networks. Frequency reuse, circuit switching, packet switching, call handoff, and routing for these systems are discussed by analogy with terrestrial cellular (mobile radio) telecommunication systems.

IMPROVING CAR NAVIGATION WITH A VISION-BASED SYSTEM

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H. Kim

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The real-time acquisition of the accurate positions is very important for the proper operations of driver assistance systems or autonomous vehicles. Since the current systems mostly depend on a GPS and map-matching technique, they show poor and unreliable performance in blockage and weak areas of GPS signals. In this study, we propose a vision oriented car navigation method based on sensor fusion with a GPS and in-vehicle sensors. We employed a single photo resection process to derive the position and attitude of the camera and thus those of the car. This image georeferencing results are combined with other sensory data under the sensor fusion framework for more accurate estimation of the positions using an extended Kalman filter. The proposed system estimated the positions with an accuracy of 15 m although GPS signals are not available at all during the entire test drive of 15 minutes. The proposed vision based system can be effectively utilized for the low-cost but high-accurate and reliable navigation systems required for intelligent or autonomous vehicles.

Improving Car Navigation with a Vision-Based System

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, H.; Choi, K.; Lee, I.

2015-08-01

The real-time acquisition of the accurate positions is very important for the proper operations of driver assistance systems or autonomous vehicles. Since the current systems mostly depend on a GPS and map-matching technique, they show poor and unreliable performance in blockage and weak areas of GPS signals. In this study, we propose a vision oriented car navigation method based on sensor fusion with a GPS and in-vehicle sensors. We employed a single photo resection process to derive the position and attitude of the camera and thus those of the car. This image georeferencing results are combined with other sensory data under the sensor fusion framework for more accurate estimation of the positions using an extended Kalman filter. The proposed system estimated the positions with an accuracy of 15 m although GPS signals are not available at all during the entire test drive of 15 minutes. The proposed vision based system can be effectively utilized for the low-cost but high-accurate and reliable navigation systems required for intelligent or autonomous vehicles.

Memristive device based learning for navigation in robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarim, Mohammad; Kumar, Manish; Jha, Rashmi; Minai, Ali A

2017-11-08

Biomimetic robots have gained attention recently for various applications ranging from resource hunting to search and rescue operations during disasters. Biological species are known to intuitively learn from the environment, gather and process data, and make appropriate decisions. Such sophisticated computing capabilities in robots are difficult to achieve, especially if done in real-time with ultra-low energy consumption. Here, we present a novel memristive device based learning architecture for robots. Two terminal memristive devices with resistive switching of oxide layer are modeled in a crossbar array to develop a neuromorphic platform that can impart active real-time learning capabilities in a robot. This approach is validated by navigating a robot vehicle in an unknown environment with randomly placed obstacles. Further, the proposed scheme is compared with reinforcement learning based algorithms using local and global knowledge of the environment. The simulation as well as experimental results corroborate the validity and potential of the proposed learning scheme for robots. The results also show that our learning scheme approaches an optimal solution for some environment layouts in robot navigation.

Fine-tuning satellite-based rainfall estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Harsa, Hastuadi; Buono, Agus; Hidayat, Rahmat; Achyar, Jaumil; Noviati, Sri; Kurniawan, Roni; Praja, Alfan S.

2018-05-01

Rainfall datasets are available from various sources, including satellite estimates and ground observation. The locations of ground observation scatter sparsely. Therefore, the use of satellite estimates is advantageous, because satellite estimates can provide data on places where the ground observations do not present. However, in general, the satellite estimates data contain bias, since they are product of algorithms that transform the sensors response into rainfall values. Another cause may come from the number of ground observations used by the algorithms as the reference in determining the rainfall values. This paper describe the application of bias correction method to modify the satellite-based dataset by adding a number of ground observation locations that have not been used before by the algorithm. The bias correction was performed by utilizing Quantile Mapping procedure between ground observation data and satellite estimates data. Since Quantile Mapping required mean and standard deviation of both the reference and the being-corrected data, thus the Inverse Distance Weighting scheme was applied beforehand to the mean and standard deviation of the observation data in order to provide a spatial composition of them, which were originally scattered. Therefore, it was possible to provide a reference data point at the same location with that of the satellite estimates. The results show that the new dataset have statistically better representation of the rainfall values recorded by the ground observation than the previous dataset.

X-Ray Pulsar Based Navigation and Time Determination, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Microcosm will build on the Phase I X-ray pulsar-based navigation and timing (XNAV) feasibility assessment to develop a detailed XNAV simulation capability to...

'Outsmarting Traffic, Together': Driving as Social Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sam Hind

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The automotive world is evolving. Ten years ago Nigel Thrift (2004: 41 made the claim that the experience of driving was slipping into our 'technological unconscious'. Only recently the New York Times suggested that with the rise of automated driving, standalone navigation tools as we know them would cease to exist, instead being 'fully absorbed into the machine' (Fisher, 2013. But in order to bridge the gap between past and future driving worlds, another technological evolution is emerging. This short, critical piece charts the rise of what has been called 'social navigation' in the industry; the development of digital mapping platforms designed to foster automotive sociality. It makes two provisional points. Firstly, that 'ludic' conceptualisations can shed light on the ongoing reconfiguration of drivers, vehicles, roads and technological aids such as touch-screen satellite navigation platforms. And secondly, that as a result of this, there is a coming-into-being of a new kind of driving politics; a 'casual politicking' centred on an engagement with digital interfaces. We explicate both by turning our attention towards Waze; a social navigation application that encourages users to interact with various driving dynamics.

Autonomous Navigation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Based on Information Filters and Active Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianhong Yan

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses an autonomous navigation method for the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV C-Ranger applying information-filter-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM, and its sea trial experiments in Tuandao Bay (Shangdong Province, P.R. China. Weak links in the information matrix in an extended information filter (EIF can be pruned to achieve an efficient approach-sparse EIF algorithm (SEIF-SLAM. All the basic update formulae can be implemented in constant time irrespective of the size of the map; hence the computational complexity is significantly reduced. The mechanical scanning imaging sonar is chosen as the active sensing device for the underwater vehicle, and a compensation method based on feedback of the AUV pose is presented to overcome distortion of the acoustic images due to the vehicle motion. In order to verify the feasibility of the navigation methods proposed for the C-Ranger, a sea trial was conducted in Tuandao Bay. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed navigation approach based on SEIF-SLAM improves the accuracy of the navigation compared with conventional method; moreover the algorithm has a low computational cost when compared with EKF-SLAM.

Autonomous navigation for autonomous underwater vehicles based on information filters and active sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Bo; Zhang, Hongjin; Li, Chao; Zhang, Shujing; Liang, Yan; Yan, Tianhong

2011-01-01

This paper addresses an autonomous navigation method for the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) C-Ranger applying information-filter-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and its sea trial experiments in Tuandao Bay (Shangdong Province, P.R. China). Weak links in the information matrix in an extended information filter (EIF) can be pruned to achieve an efficient approach-sparse EIF algorithm (SEIF-SLAM). All the basic update formulae can be implemented in constant time irrespective of the size of the map; hence the computational complexity is significantly reduced. The mechanical scanning imaging sonar is chosen as the active sensing device for the underwater vehicle, and a compensation method based on feedback of the AUV pose is presented to overcome distortion of the acoustic images due to the vehicle motion. In order to verify the feasibility of the navigation methods proposed for the C-Ranger, a sea trial was conducted in Tuandao Bay. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed navigation approach based on SEIF-SLAM improves the accuracy of the navigation compared with conventional method; moreover the algorithm has a low computational cost when compared with EKF-SLAM.

Exploring User Engagement in Information Networks: Behavioural – based Navigation Modelling, Ideas and Directions

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Vesna Kumbaroska

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Revealing an endless array of user behaviors in an online environment is a very good indicator of the user’s interests either in the process of browsing or in purchasing. One such behavior is the navigation behavior, so detected user navigation patterns are able to be used for practical purposes such as: improving user engagement, turning most browsers into buyers, personalize content or interface, etc. In this regard, our research represents a connection between navigation modelling and user engagement. A usage of the Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets concept for stochastic behavioral-based modelling of the navigation process is proposed for measuring user engagement components. Different types of users are automatically identified and clustered according to their navigation behaviors, thus the developed model gives great insight into the navigation process. As part of this study, Peterson’s model for measuring the user engagement is explored and a direct calculation of its components is illustrated. At the same time, asssuming that several user sessions/visits are initialized in a certain time frame, following the Petri Nets dynamics is indicating that the proposed behavioral – based model could be used for user engagement metrics calculation, thus some basic ideas are discussed, and initial directions are given.

Magnetic field experiment on the SUNSAT satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Kotzé, P. B.; Langenhoven, B.; Risbo, T.

2002-03-01

On Tuesday 23 February 1999, at 10:29 UTC, SUNSAT was launched into an 857×655 km, 96.47° polar orbit on a Boeing-Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA. Both SUNSAT and Ørsted were NASA-sponsored secondary payloads accompanying the USA Air Force Argos satellite. In the process it became South Africa's (and Africa's) first satellite in space. Although sponsored by several private industrial organisations, it is essentially a student project with more than 96 graduate students in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch providing the majority of SUNSAT's engineering development and operation since 1992. This paper reports on the magnetic field experiment on board the Sunsat satellite, consisting of two fluxgate magnetometers, called Orimag and Scimag, both built and calibrated by the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory. Orimag is mainly used for orientation control purposes on SUNSAT, while Scimag, mounted on a boom of 2.2 m is designed to perform geomagnetic field observations, employing standard navigation fluxgate technology.

Laser-based Relative Navigation Using GPS Measurements for Spacecraft Formation Flying

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kwangwon; Oh, Hyungjik; Park, Han-Earl; Park, Sang-Young; Park, Chandeok

2015-12-01

This study presents a precise relative navigation algorithm using both laser and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in real time. The measurement model of the navigation algorithm between two spacecraft is comprised of relative distances measured by laser instruments and single differences of GPS pseudo-range measurements in spherical coordinates. Based on the measurement model, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to smooth the pseudo-range measurements and to obtain the relative navigation solution. While the navigation algorithm using only laser measurements might become inaccurate because of the limited accuracy of spacecraft attitude estimation when the distance between spacecraft is rather large, the proposed approach is able to provide an accurate solution even in such cases by employing the smoothed GPS pseudo-range measurements. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the errors of the proposed algorithm are reduced by more than about 12% compared to those of an algorithm using only laser measurements, as the accuracy of angular measurements is greater than 0.001° at relative distances greater than 30 km.

Use of Faraday-rotation data from beacon satellites to determine ionospheric corrections for interplanetary spacecraft navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Royden, H. N.; Green, D. W.; Walson, G. R.

1981-01-01

Faraday-rotation data from the linearly polarized 137-MHz beacons of the ATS-1, SIRIO, and Kiku-2 geosynchronous satellites are used to determine the ionospheric corrections to the range and Doppler data for interplanetary spacecraft navigation. The JPL operates the Deep Space Network of tracking stations for NASA; these stations monitor Faraday rotation with dual orthogonal, linearly polarized antennas, Teledyne polarization tracking receivers, analog-to-digital converter/scanners, and other support equipment. Computer software examines the Faraday data, resolves the pi ambiguities, constructs a continuous Faraday-rotation profile and converts the profile to columnar zenith total electron content at the ionospheric reference point; a second program computes the line-of-sight ionospheric correction for each pass of the spacecraft over each tracking complex. Line-of-sight ionospheric electron content using mapped Faraday-rotation data is compared with that using dispersive Doppler data from the Voyager spacecraft; a difference of about 0.4 meters, or 5 x 10 to the 16th electrons/sq m is obtained. The technique of determining the electron content of interplanetary plasma by subtraction of the ionospheric contribution is demonstrated on the plasma torus surrounding the orbit of Io.

Particle Filter Based Fault-tolerant ROV Navigation using Hydro-acoustic Position and Doppler Velocity Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhao, Bo; Blanke, Mogens; Skjetne, Roger

2012-01-01

This paper presents a fault tolerant navigation system for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The navigation system uses hydro-acoustic position reference (HPR) and Doppler velocity log (DVL) measurements to achieve an integrated navigation. The fault tolerant functionality is based on a modied...... particle lter. This particle lter is able to run in an asynchronous manner to accommodate the measurement drop out problem, and it overcomes the measurement outliers by switching observation models. Simulations with experimental data show that this fault tolerant navigation system can accurately estimate...

Tightly coupled low cost 3D RISS/GPS integration using a mixture particle filter for vehicular navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Georgy, Jacques; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2011-01-01

Satellite navigation systems such as the global positioning system (GPS) are currently the most common technique used for land vehicle positioning. However, in GPS-denied environments, there is an interruption in the positioning information. Low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors can be integrated with GPS and enhance the performance in denied GPS environments. The traditional technique for this integration problem is Kalman filtering (KF). Due to the inherent errors of low-cost MEMS inertial sensors and their large stochastic drifts, KF, with its linearized models, has limited capabilities in providing accurate positioning. Particle filtering (PF) was recently suggested as a nonlinear filtering technique to accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics, motion dynamics and noise distributions. An enhanced version of PF called the Mixture PF is utilized in this study to perform tightly coupled integration of a three dimensional (3D) reduced inertial sensors system (RISS) with GPS. In this work, the RISS consists of one single-axis gyroscope and a two-axis accelerometer used together with the vehicle's odometer to obtain 3D navigation states. These sensors are then integrated with GPS in a tightly coupled scheme. In loosely-coupled integration, at least four satellites are needed to provide acceptable GPS position and velocity updates for the integration filter. The advantage of the tightly-coupled integration is that it can provide GPS measurement update(s) even when the number of visible satellites is three or lower, thereby improving the operation of the navigation system in environments with partial blockages by providing continuous aiding to the inertial sensors even during limited GPS satellite availability. To effectively exploit the capabilities of PF, advanced modeling for the stochastic drift of the vertically aligned gyroscope is used. In order to benefit from measurement updates for such drift, which are

Tightly Coupled Low Cost 3D RISS/GPS Integration Using a Mixture Particle Filter for Vehicular Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Georgy

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Satellite navigation systems such as the global positioning system (GPS are currently the most common technique used for land vehicle positioning. However, in GPS-denied environments, there is an interruption in the positioning information. Low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS-based inertial sensors can be integrated with GPS and enhance the performance in denied GPS environments. The traditional technique for this integration problem is Kalman filtering (KF. Due to the inherent errors of low-cost MEMS inertial sensors and their large stochastic drifts, KF, with its linearized models, has limited capabilities in providing accurate positioning. Particle filtering (PF was recently suggested as a nonlinear filtering technique to accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics, motion dynamics and noise distributions. An enhanced version of PF called the Mixture PF is utilized in this study to perform tightly coupled integration of a three dimensional (3D reduced inertial sensors system (RISS with GPS. In this work, the RISS consists of one single-axis gyroscope and a two-axis accelerometer used together with the vehicle’s odometer to obtain 3D navigation states. These sensors are then integrated with GPS in a tightly coupled scheme. In loosely-coupled integration, at least four satellites are needed to provide acceptable GPS position and velocity updates for the integration filter. The advantage of the tightly-coupled integration is that it can provide GPS measurement update(s even when the number of visible satellites is three or lower, thereby improving the operation of the navigation system in environments with partial blockages by providing continuous aiding to the inertial sensors even during limited GPS satellite availability. To effectively exploit the capabilities of PF, advanced modeling for the stochastic drift of the vertically aligned gyroscope is used. In order to benefit from measurement updates for such drift

Satellite Application for Disaster Management Information Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Okpanachi, George

Abstract Satellites are becoming increasingly vital to modern day disaster management activities. Earth observation (EO) satellites provide images at various wavelengths that assist rapid-mapping in all phases of the disaster management cycle: mitigation of potential risks in a given area, preparedness for eventual disasters, immediate response to a disaster event, and the recovery/reconstruction efforts follo wing it. Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) assist all the phases by providing precise location and navigation data, helping manage land and infrastructures, and aiding rescue crews coordinate their search efforts. Effective disaster management is a complex problem, because it involves many parameters, which are usually not easy to measure and even identify: Analysis of current situation, planning, optimum resource management, coordination, controlling and monitoring current activities and making quick and correct decisions are only some of these parameters, whose complete list is very long. Disaster management information systems (DMIS) assist disaster management to analyse the situation better, make decisions and suggest further actions following the emergency plans. This requires not only fast and thorough processing and optimization abilities, but also real-time data provided to the DMIS. The need of DMIS for disaster’s real-time data can be satisfied by small satellites data utilization. Small satellites can provide up-to-data, plus a better media to transfer data. This paper suggests a rationale and a framework for utilization of small Satellite data by DMIS. DMIS should be used ‘’before’’, ‘’during’’ and ‘’after’’ the disasters. Data provided by the Small Satellites are almost crucial in any period of the disasters, because early warning can save lives, and satellite data may help to identify disasters before they occur. The paper also presents’ ‘when’’, �

An access alternative for mobile satellite networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, W. W.

1988-01-01

Conceptually, this paper discusses strategies of digital satellite communication networks for a very large number of low density traffic stations. These stations can be either aeronautical, land mobile, or maritime. The techniques can be applied to international, domestic, regional, and special purpose satellite networks. The applications can be commercial, scientific, military, emergency, navigational or educational. The key strategy is the use of a non-orthogonal access method, which tolerates overlapping signals. With n being either time or frequency partitions, and with a single overlapping signal allowed, a low cost mobile satellite system can be designed with n squared (n squared + n + 1) number of terminals.

Navigational challenges in the oceanic migrations of leatherback sea turtles

Science.gov (United States)

Sale, Alessandro; Luschi, Paolo

2009-01-01

The open-sea movements of marine animals are affected by the drifting action of currents that, if not compensated for, can produce non-negligible deviations from the correct route towards a given target. Marine turtles are paradigmatic skilful oceanic navigators that are able to reach remote goals at the end of long-distance migrations, apparently overcoming current drift effects. Particularly relevant is the case of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), which spend entire years in the ocean, wandering in search of planktonic prey. Recent analyses have revealed how the movements of satellite-tracked leatherbacks in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are strongly dependent on the oceanic currents, up to the point that turtles are often passively transported over long distances. However, leatherbacks are known to return to specific areas to breed every 2–3 years, thus finding their way back home after long periods in the oceanic environment. Here we examine the navigational consequences of the leatherbacks' close association with currents and discuss how the combined reliance on mechanisms of map-based navigation and local orientation cues close to the target may allow leatherbacks to accomplish the difficult task of returning to specific sites after years spent wandering in a moving medium. PMID:19625321

E-navigation Services for Non-SOLAS Ships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwang An

2016-06-01

Full Text Available It is clearly understood that the main benefits of e-navigation are improved safety and better protection of the environment through the promotion of standards of navigational system and a reduction in human error. In order to meet the expectations on the benefit of e-navigation, e-navigation services should be more focused on non-SOLAS ships. The purpose of this paper is to present necessary e-navigation services for non-SOLAS ships in order to prevent marine accidents in Korean coastal waters. To meet the objectives of the study, an examination on the present navigation and communication system for non-SOLAS ships was performed. Based on the IMO's e-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP and Korea's national SIP for e-navigation, future trends for the development and implementation of e-navigation were discussed. Consequently, Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC download and ENC up-date service, ENC streaming service, route support service and communication support service based on Maritime Cloud were presented as essential e-navigation services for non-SOLAS ships. This study will help for the planning and designing of the Korean e-navigation system. It is expected that the further researches on the navigation support systems based on e-navigation will be carried out in order to implement the essential e-navigation services for non-SOLAS ships.

A satellite constellation optimization for a regional GNSS remote sensing mission

Science.gov (United States)

Gavili Kilaneh, Narin; Mashhadi Hossainali, Masoud

2017-04-01

Due to the recent advances in the Global Navigation Satellite System Remote sensing (GNSS¬R) applications, optimization of a satellite orbit to investigate the Earth's properties seems significant. The comparison of the GNSS direct and reflected signals received by a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite introduces a new technique to remotely sense the Earth. Several GNSS¬R missions including Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) have been proposed for different applications such as the ocean wind speed and height monitoring. The geometric optimization of the satellite orbit before starting the mission is a key step for every space mission. Since satellite constellation design varies depending on the application, we have focused on the required geometric criteria for oceanography applications in a specified region. Here, the total number of specular points, their spatial distribution and the accuracy of their position are assumed to be sufficient for oceanography applications. Gleason's method is used to determine the position of specular points. We considered the 2-D lattice and 3-D lattice theory of flower constellation to survey whether a circular orbit or an elliptical one is suitable to improve the solution. Genetic algorithm is implemented to solve the problem. To check the visibility condition between the LEO and GPS satellites, the satellite initial state is propagated by a variable step size numerical integration method. Constellation orbit parameters achieved by optimization provide a better resolution and precession for the specular points in the study area of this research.

Detection of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) from various man-made sources using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

Science.gov (United States)

Helmboldt, J.; Park, J.; von Frese, R. R. B.; Grejner-Brzezinska, D. A.

2016-12-01

Traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) is generated by various sources and detectable by observing the spatial and temporal change of electron contents in the ionosphere. This study focused on detecting and analyzing TIDs generated by acoustic-gravity waves from man-made events including underground nuclear explosions (UNEs), mine collapses, mine blasts, and large chemical explosions (LCEs) using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In this study we selected different types of events for case study which covers two US and three North Korean UNEs, two large US mine collapses, three large US mine blasts, and a LCE in northern China and a second LCE at the Nevada Test Site. In most cases, we successfully detected the TIDs as array signatures from the multiple nearby GNSS stations. The array-based TID signatures from these studies were found to yield event-appropriate TID propagation speeds ranging from about a few hundred m/s to roughly a km/s. In addition, the event TID waveforms, and propagation angles and directions were established. The TID waveforms and the maximum angle between each event and the IPP of its TID with the longest travel distance from the source may help differentiate UNEs and LCEs, but the uneven distributions of the observing GNSS stations complicates these results. Thus, further analysis is required of the utility of the apertures of event signatures in the ionosphere for discriminating these events. In general, the results of this study show the potential utility of GNSS observations for detecting and mapping the ionospheric signatures of large-energy anthropological explosions and subsurface collapses.

Automatic Barometric Updates from Ground-Based Navigational Aids

Science.gov (United States)

1990-03-12

ro fAutomatic Barometric Updates US Department from of Transportation Ground-Based Federal Aviation Administration Navigational Aids Office of Safety...tighter vertical spacing controls , particularly for operations near Terminal Control Areas (TCAs), Airport Radar Service Areas (ARSAs), military climb and...E.F., Ruth, J.C., and Williges, B.H. (1987). Speech Controls and Displays. In Salvendy, G., E. Handbook of Human Factors/Ergonomics, New York, John

MARAD maritime experiments using the NASA ATS-6 satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Brandel, D. L.; Kaminsky, Y.

1975-01-01

The objectives of the MARAD maritime experiments (conducted in the L-band fan beam mode) using the ATS-6 satellite are detailed. They include the following: (1) to evaluate the economic benefits of fleet operators through the use of satellite communications, (2) to evaluate performance criteria for shipboard terminal equipment needed to establish various grades of fleet operations services using commercial satellite systems, (3) to determine the effects of signal propagation, ship radio frequency noise, and ship antenna pointing on the maritime communications and navigation channel, and (4) to evaluate various modems for the transmission and reception of voice, data and position location signals via satellite systems.

A navigator-based rigid body motion correction for magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ullisch, Marcus Goerge

2012-01-01

A novel three-dimensional navigator k-space trajectory for rigid body motion detection for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - the Lissajous navigator - was developed and quantitatively compared to the existing spherical navigator trajectory [1]. The spherical navigator cannot sample the complete spherical surface due to slew rate limitations of the scanner hardware. By utilizing a two dimensional Lissajous figure which is projected onto the spherical surface, the Lissajous navigator overcomes this limitation. The complete sampling of the sphere consequently leads to rotation estimates with higher and more isotropic accuracy. Simulations and phantom measurements were performed for both navigators. Both simulations and measurements show a significantly higher overall accuracy of the Lissajous navigator and a higher isotropy of the rotation estimates. Measured under identical conditions with identical postprocessing, the measured mean absolute error of the rotation estimates for the Lissajous navigator was 38% lower (0.3 ) than for the spherical navigator (0.5 ). The maximum error of the Lissajous navigator was reduced by 48% relative to the spherical navigator. The Lissajous navigator delivers higher accuracy of rotation estimation and a higher degree of isotropy than the spherical navigator with no evident drawbacks; these are two decisive advantages, especially for high-resolution anatomical imaging.

A navigator-based rigid body motion correction for magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ullisch, Marcus Goerge

2012-01-24

A novel three-dimensional navigator k-space trajectory for rigid body motion detection for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - the Lissajous navigator - was developed and quantitatively compared to the existing spherical navigator trajectory [1]. The spherical navigator cannot sample the complete spherical surface due to slew rate limitations of the scanner hardware. By utilizing a two dimensional Lissajous figure which is projected onto the spherical surface, the Lissajous navigator overcomes this limitation. The complete sampling of the sphere consequently leads to rotation estimates with higher and more isotropic accuracy. Simulations and phantom measurements were performed for both navigators. Both simulations and measurements show a significantly higher overall accuracy of the Lissajous navigator and a higher isotropy of the rotation estimates. Measured under identical conditions with identical postprocessing, the measured mean absolute error of the rotation estimates for the Lissajous navigator was 38% lower (0.3 ) than for the spherical navigator (0.5 ). The maximum error of the Lissajous navigator was reduced by 48% relative to the spherical navigator. The Lissajous navigator delivers higher accuracy of rotation estimation and a higher degree of isotropy than the spherical navigator with no evident drawbacks; these are two decisive advantages, especially for high-resolution anatomical imaging.

Navigation of Chang'E-2 asteroid exploration mission and the minimum distance estimation during its fly-by of Toutatis

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Jianfeng; Liu, Yong; Hu, Songjie; Liu, Lei; Tang, Geshi; Huang, Yong; Li, Peijia

2015-01-01

China's space probe Chang'E-2 began its asteroid exploration mission on April 15, 2012 and had been in space for 243 days before its encounter with Toutatis. With no onboard navigation equipment available, the navigation of CE-2 during its fly-by of the asteroid relied totally on ground-based Unified S-Band (USB) and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) tracking data. The orbit determination of Toutatis was achieved by using a combination of optical measurements and radar ranging. On November 30, 2012, CE-2 was targeted at a destination that was 15 km away from the asteroid as it performed its third trajectory correction maneuver. Later orbit determination analysis showed that a correction residual was still present, which necessitated another maneuver on December 12. During the two maneuvers, ground-based navigation faced a challenge in terms of the orbit determination accuracy. With the optimization of our strategy, an accuracy of better than 15 km was finally achieved for the post-maneuver orbit solution. On December 13, CE-2 successfully passed by Toutatis and conducted continuous photographing of Toutatis during the entire process. An analysis of the images that were taken from the solar panel monitoring camera and the satellite attitude information demonstrates that the closest distance obtained between CE-2 and Toutatis (Toutatis's surface) was 1.9 km, which is considerably better than the 30 km fly-by distance that we originally hoped based on the accuracies that we can obtain on the satellite and Toutatis' orbits.

Neural-network-based depth computation for blind navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Farrah; Nagarajan, Ramachandran R.; Yaacob, Sazali

2004-12-01

A research undertaken to help blind people to navigate autonomously or with minimum assistance is termed as "Blind Navigation". In this research, an aid that could help blind people in their navigation is proposed. Distance serves as an important clue during our navigation. A stereovision navigation aid implemented with two digital video cameras that are spaced apart and fixed on a headgear to obtain the distance information is presented. In this paper, a neural network methodology is used to obtain the required parameters of the camera which is known as camera calibration. These parameters are not known but obtained by adjusting the weights in the network. The inputs to the network consist of the matching features in the stereo pair images. A back propagation network with 16-input neurons, 3 hidden neurons and 1 output neuron, which gives depth, is created. The distance information is incorporated into the final processed image as four gray levels such as white, light gray, dark gray and black. Preliminary results have shown that the percentage errors fall below 10%. It is envisaged that the distance provided by neural network shall enable blind individuals to go near and pick up an object of interest.

Optical burst switching based satellite backbone network

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tingting; Guo, Hongxiang; Wang, Cen; Wu, Jian

2018-02-01

We propose a novel time slot based optical burst switching (OBS) architecture for GEO/LEO based satellite backbone network. This architecture can provide high speed data transmission rate and high switching capacity . Furthermore, we design the control plane of this optical satellite backbone network. The software defined network (SDN) and network slice (NS) technologies are introduced. Under the properly designed control mechanism, this backbone network is flexible to support various services with diverse transmission requirements. Additionally, the LEO access and handoff management in this network is also discussed.

A New Navigation Satellite Clock Bias Prediction Method Based on Modified Clock-bias Quadratic Polynomial Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y. P.; Lu, Z. P.; Sun, D. S.; Wang, N.

2016-01-01

In order to better express the characteristics of satellite clock bias (SCB) and improve SCB prediction precision, this paper proposed a new SCB prediction model which can take physical characteristics of space-borne atomic clock, the cyclic variation, and random part of SCB into consideration. First, the new model employs a quadratic polynomial model with periodic items to fit and extract the trend term and cyclic term of SCB; then based on the characteristics of fitting residuals, a time series ARIMA ~(Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average) model is used to model the residuals; eventually, the results from the two models are combined to obtain final SCB prediction values. At last, this paper uses precise SCB data from IGS (International GNSS Service) to conduct prediction tests, and the results show that the proposed model is effective and has better prediction performance compared with the quadratic polynomial model, grey model, and ARIMA model. In addition, the new method can also overcome the insufficiency of the ARIMA model in model recognition and order determination.

Ratbot automatic navigation by electrical reward stimulation based on distance measurement in unknown environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Liqiang; Sun, Chao; Zhang, Chen; Zheng, Nenggan; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2013-01-01

Traditional automatic navigation methods for bio-robots are constrained to configured environments and thus can't be applied to tasks in unknown environments. With no consideration of bio-robot's own innate living ability and treating bio-robots in the same way as mechanical robots, those methods neglect the intelligence behavior of animals. This paper proposes a novel ratbot automatic navigation method in unknown environments using only reward stimulation and distance measurement. By utilizing rat's habit of thigmotaxis and its reward-seeking behavior, this method is able to incorporate rat's intrinsic intelligence of obstacle avoidance and path searching into navigation. Experiment results show that this method works robustly and can successfully navigate the ratbot to a target in the unknown environment. This work might put a solid base for application of ratbots and also has significant implication of automatic navigation for other bio-robots as well.

Indoor Pedestrian Navigation Based on Hybrid Route Planning and Location Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schougaard, Kari Rye; Grønbæk, Kaj; Scharling, Tejs

2012-01-01

This paper introduces methods and services called PerPosNav for development of custom indoor pedestrian navigation applications to be deployed on a variety of platforms. PerPosNav combines symbolic and geometry based modeling of buildings, and in turn combines graph-based and geometric route...

Flexible navigation response in common cuckoos Cuculus canorus displaced experimentally during migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willemoes, Mikkel; Blas, Julio; Wikelski, Martin

2015-01-01

Migrating birds follow innate species-specific migration programs capable of guiding them along complex spatio-temporal routes, which may include several separate staging areas. Indeed, migration routes of common cuckoos Cuculus canorus show little variation between individuals; yet, satellite...... tracks of 11 experimentally displaced adults revealed an unexpected flexibility in individual navigation responses. The birds compensated for the translocation to unfamiliar areas by travelling toward population-specific staging areas, demonstrating true navigation capabilities. Individual responses...

Multi-agent robotic systems and applications for satellite missions

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Miguel A.

-agent robotic system has a consistent lower CPU load of 0.29 +/- 0.03 compared to 0.35 +/- 0.04 for the monolithic implementation, a 17.1 % reduction. The second contribution of this work is the development of a multi-agent robotic system for the autonomous rendezvous and docking of multiple spacecraft. To compute the maneuvers guidance, navigation and control algorithms are implemented as part of the multi-agent robotic system. The navigation and control functions are implemented using existing algorithms, but one important contribution of this section is the introduction of a new six degrees of freedom guidance method which is part of the guidance, navigation and control architecture. This new method is an explicit solution to the guidance problem, and is particularly useful for real time guidance for attitude and position, as opposed to typical guidance methods which are based on numerical solutions, and therefore are computationally intensive. A simulation scenario is run for docking four CubeSats deployed radially from a launch vehicle. Considering fully actuated CubeSats, the simulations show docking maneuvers that are successfully completed within 25 minutes which is approximately 30% of a full orbital period in low earth orbit. The final section investigates the problem of optimization of satellite constellations for fast revisit time, and introduces a new method to generate different constellation configurations that are evaluated with a genetic algorithm. Two case studies are presented. The first is the optimization of a constellation for rapid coverage of the oceans of the globe in 24 hours or less. Results show that for an 80 km sensor swath width 50 satellites are required to cover the oceans with a 24 hour revisit time. The second constellation configuration study focuses on the optimization for the rapid coverage of the North Atlantic Tracks for air traffic monitoring in 3 hours or less. The results show that for a fixed swath width of 160 km and for a 3 hour

Lunar Navigation Architecture Design Considerations

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Christopher; Getchius, Joel; Holt, Greg; Moreau, Michael

2009-01-01

The NASA Constellation Program is aiming to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface. The Constellation elements (Orion, Altair, Earth Departure Stage, and Ares launch vehicles) will require a lunar navigation architecture for navigation state updates during lunar-class missions. Orion in particular has baselined earth-based ground direct tracking as the primary source for much of its absolute navigation needs. However, due to the uncertainty in the lunar navigation architecture, the Orion program has had to make certain assumptions on the capabilities of such architectures in order to adequately scale the vehicle design trade space. The following paper outlines lunar navigation requirements, the Orion program assumptions, and the impacts of these assumptions to the lunar navigation architecture design. The selection of potential sites was based upon geometric baselines, logistical feasibility, redundancy, and abort support capability. Simulated navigation covariances mapped to entry interface flightpath- angle uncertainties were used to evaluate knowledge errors. A minimum ground station architecture was identified consisting of Goldstone, Madrid, Canberra, Santiago, Hartebeeshoek, Dongora, Hawaii, Guam, and Ascension Island (or the geometric equivalent).

Effects of transionospheric signal decorrelation on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) performance studied from irregularity dynamics around the northern crest of the EIA

Science.gov (United States)

Das, T.; Roy, B.; Paul, A.

2014-10-01

Transionospheric satellite navigation links operate primarily at L band and are frequently subject to severe degradation of performances arising out of ionospheric irregularities. Various characteristic features of equatorial ionospheric irregularity bubbles like the drift velocity, characteristic velocity, decorrelation time, and decorrelation distance can be determined using spaced aerial measurements at VHF. These parameters measured at VHF from a station Calcutta situated near the northern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) in the geophysically sensitive Indian longitude sector have been correlated with L band scintillation indices and GPS position accuracy parameters for identifying possible proxies to L band scintillations. Good correspondences have been observed between decorrelation times and distances at VHF with GPS S4 and Position Dilution of Precision during periods of GPS scintillations (S4 > 0.3) for February-April 2011, August-October 2011, and February-April 2012. A functional relation has been developed between irregularity drift velocity measured at VHF and S4 at L band during February-April 2011, and validation of measured S4 and predicted values performed during August-October 2011 and February-April 2012. Significant improvement in L band scintillation prediction and consequent navigational accuracy will result using such relations derived from VHF irregularity measurements which are much simpler and inexpensive.

Servo-Drive Amplifier for Micro-Satellite Superconductor-Levitated Flywheels, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A new servo-drive technology is available to support energy storage and navigation for micro-satellites. Exploiting the ?pinning? effect of high-temperature...

Digital waterway construction based on inland electronic navigation chart

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xue; Pan, Junfeng; Zhu, Weiwei

2015-12-01

With advantages of large capacity, long distance, low energy consumption, low cost, less land occupation and light pollution, inland waterway transportation becomes one of the most important constituents of the comprehensive transportation system and comprehensive water resources utilization in China. As one of "three elements" of navigation, waterway is the important basis for the development of water transportation and plays a key supporting role in shipping economic. The paper discuss how to realize the informatization and digitization of waterway management based on constructing an integrated system of standard inland electronic navigation chart production, waterway maintenance, navigation mark remote sensing and control, ship dynamic management, and water level remote sensing and report, which can also be the foundation of the intelligent waterway construction. Digital waterway construction is an information project and also has a practical meaning for waterway. It can not only meet the growing high assurance and security requirements for waterway, but also play a significant advantage in improving transport efficiency, reducing costs, promoting energy conservation and so on. This study lays a solid foundation on realizing intelligent waterway and building a smooth, efficient, safe, green modern inland waterway system, and must be considered as an unavoidable problem for the coordinated development between "low carbon" transportation and social economic.

Research on robot navigation vision sensor based on grating projection stereo vision

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaoling; Luo, Yinsheng; Lin, Yuchi; Zhu, Lei

2016-10-01

A novel visual navigation method based on grating projection stereo vision for mobile robot in dark environment is proposed. This method is combining with grating projection profilometry of plane structured light and stereo vision technology. It can be employed to realize obstacle detection, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) and vision odometry for mobile robot navigation in dark environment without the image match in stereo vision technology and without phase unwrapping in the grating projection profilometry. First, we research the new vision sensor theoretical, and build geometric and mathematical model of the grating projection stereo vision system. Second, the computational method of 3D coordinates of space obstacle in the robot's visual field is studied, and then the obstacles in the field is located accurately. The result of simulation experiment and analysis shows that this research is useful to break the current autonomous navigation problem of mobile robot in dark environment, and to provide the theoretical basis and exploration direction for further study on navigation of space exploring robot in the dark and without GPS environment.

NAVIGATION IN LARGE-FORMAT BUILDINGS BASED ON RFID SENSORS AND QR AND AR MARKERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Szymczyk

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The authors address the problem of passive navigation in large buildings. Based on the example of several interconnected buildings housing departments of the Lublin University of Technology, as well as the conceptual navigation system, the paper presents one of the possible ways of leading the user from the entrance of the building to a particular room. An analysis of different types of users is made and different (best for them ways of navigating the intricate corridors are proposed. Three ways of user localisation are suggested: RFID, AR and QR markers. A graph of connections between specific rooms was made and weights proposed, representing “the difficulty of covering a given distance”. In the process of navigation Dijkstra’s algorithm was used. The road is indicated as multimedia information: a voice-over or animated arrow showing the direction displayed on the smart phone screen with proprietary software installed. It is also possible to inform the user of the position of the location in which he currently is, based on the static information stored in the QR code.

Time: A Critical Parameter in Satellite Navigation and Positioning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The applications of space-borne satellites are increasing in many aspects of human endeavours; the most among them being the provision of guaranteed access to users of precise time and location services. An investigation was therefore carried out through a review process mechanism to determine the orbit parameter ...

Towards a Sign-Based Indoor Navigation System for People with Visual Impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

Rituerto, Alejandro; Fusco, Giovanni; Coughlan, James M

2016-10-01

Navigation is a challenging task for many travelers with visual impairments. While a variety of GPS-enabled tools can provide wayfinding assistance in outdoor settings, GPS provides no useful localization information indoors. A variety of indoor navigation tools are being developed, but most of them require potentially costly physical infrastructure to be installed and maintained, or else the creation of detailed visual models of the environment. We report development of a new smartphone-based navigation aid, which combines inertial sensing, computer vision and floor plan information to estimate the user's location with no additional physical infrastructure and requiring only the locations of signs relative to the floor plan. A formative study was conducted with three blind volunteer participants demonstrating the feasibility of the approach and highlighting the areas needing improvement.

Radio Interferometric Research of Ionosphere by Signals of Space Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dugin N.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Since 2012, the Radiophysical Research Institute and the Lobachevsky State University at Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre at Irbene, Latvia are making radio interferometric experiments on study of ionosphere parameters in a quiet (natural state of medium and research of artificial turbulence of the ionosphere, heated by the emission from the SURA facility. Remote diagnostics of the ionosphere is implemented using a method of radio sounding by signals of navigation satellites in combination with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI method. As a result of spectral and correlation analysis, interferometric responses of the two-element (RRI–UNN and three-element (RRI–UNN–Irbene interferometers were received by observations of 12 satellites of the navigation systems GLONASS and GPS. Here the first results are reported.

Network design consideration of a satellite-based mobile communications system

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, T.-Y.

1986-01-01

Technical considerations for the Mobile Satellite Experiment (MSAT-X), the ground segment testbed for the low-cost spectral efficient satellite-based mobile communications technologies being developed for the 1990's, are discussed. The Network Management Center contains a flexible resource sharing algorithm, the Demand Assigned Multiple Access scheme, which partitions the satellite transponder bandwidth among voice, data, and request channels. Satellite use of multiple UHF beams permits frequency reuse. The backhaul communications and the Telemetry, Tracking and Control traffic are provided through a single full-coverage SHF beam. Mobile Terminals communicate with the satellite using UHF. All communications including SHF-SHF between Base Stations and/or Gateways, are routed through the satellite. Because MSAT-X is an experimental network, higher level network protocols (which are service-specific) will be developed only to test the operation of the lowest three levels, the physical, data link, and network layers.

Discrete-State-Based Vision Navigation Control Algorithm for One Bipedal Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunwen Wei

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Navigation with the specific objective can be defined by specifying desired timed trajectory. The concept of desired direction field is proposed to deal with such navigation problem. To lay down a principled discussion of the accuracy and efficiency of navigation algorithms, strictly quantitative definitions of tracking error, actuator effect, and time efficiency are established. In this paper, one vision navigation control method based on desired direction field is proposed. This proposed method uses discrete image sequences to form discrete state space, which is especially suitable for bipedal walking robots with single camera walking on a free-barrier plane surface to track the specific objective without overshoot. The shortest path method (SPM is proposed to design such direction field with the highest time efficiency. However, one improved control method called canonical piecewise-linear function (PLF is proposed. In order to restrain the noise disturbance from the camera sensor, the band width control method is presented to significantly decrease the error influence. The robustness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm are illustrated through a number of computer simulations considering the error from camera sensor. Simulation results show that the robustness and efficiency can be balanced by choosing the proper controlling value of band width.

Planning for a data base system to support satellite conceptual design

Science.gov (United States)

Claydon, C. R.

1976-01-01

The conceptual design of an automated satellite design data base system is presented. The satellite catalog in the system includes data for all earth orbital satellites funded to the hardware stage for launch between 1970 and 1980, and provides a concise compilation of satellite capabilities and design parameters. The cost of satellite subsystems and components will be added to the base. Data elements are listed and discussed. Sensor and science and applications opportunities catalogs will be included in the data system. Capabilities of the BASIS storage, retrieval, and analysis system are used in the system design.

High accuracy autonomous navigation using the global positioning system (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Son H.; Hart, Roger C.; Shoan, Wendy C.; Wood, Terri; Long, Anne C.; Oza, Dipak H.; Lee, Taesul

1997-01-01

The application of global positioning system (GPS) technology to the improvement of the accuracy and economy of spacecraft navigation, is reported. High-accuracy autonomous navigation algorithms are currently being qualified in conjunction with the GPS attitude determination flyer (GADFLY) experiment for the small satellite technology initiative Lewis spacecraft. Preflight performance assessments indicated that these algorithms are able to provide a real time total position accuracy of better than 10 m and a velocity accuracy of better than 0.01 m/s, with selective availability at typical levels. It is expected that the position accuracy will be increased to 2 m if corrections are provided by the GPS wide area augmentation system.

Multi-Satellite Orbit Determination Using Interferometric Observables with RF Localization Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Geeraert, Jeroen L.

Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) specifically same-beam interferometry (SBI), and dual-satellite geolocation are two fields of research not previously connected. This is due to the different application of each field, SBI is used for relative interplanetary navigation of two satellites while dual-satellite geolocation is used to locate the source of a radio frequency (RF) signal. In this dissertation however, we leverage both fields to create a novel method for multi-satellite orbit determination (OD) using time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) measurements. The measurements are double differenced between the satellites and the stations, in so doing, many of the common errors are canceled which can significantly improve measurement precision. Provided with this novel OD technique, the observability is first analyzed to determine the benefits and limitations of this method. In all but a few scenarios the measurements successfully reduce the covariance when examining the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB). Reduced observability is encountered with geostationary satellites as their motion with respect to the stations is limited, especially when only one baseline is used. However, when using satellite pairs with greater relative motion with respect to the stations, even satellites that are close to, but not exactly in a geostationary orbit can be estimated accurately. We find that in a strong majority of cases the OD technique provides lower uncertainties and solutions far more accurate than using conventional OD observables such as range and range-rate while also not being affected by common errors and biases. We specifically examine GEO-GEO, GEO-MEO, and GEO-LEO dual-satellite estimation cases. The work is further extended by developing a relative navigation scenario where the chief satellite is assumed to have perfect knowledge, or some small amount of uncertainty considered but not estimated, while estimating the deputy

Examining care navigation: librarian participation in a team-based approach?

Science.gov (United States)

Nix, A Tyler; Huber, Jeffrey T; Shapiro, Robert M; Pfeifle, Andrea

2016-04-01

This study investigated responsibilities, skill sets, degrees, and certifications required of health care navigators in order to identify areas of potential overlap with health sciences librarianship. The authors conducted a content analysis of health care navigator position announcements and developed and assigned forty-eight category terms to represent the sample's responsibilities and skill sets. Coordination of patient care and a bachelor's degree were the most common responsibility and degree requirements, respectively. Results also suggest that managing and providing health information resources is an area of overlap between health care navigators and health sciences librarians, and that librarians are well suited to serve on navigation teams. Such overlap may provide an avenue for collaboration between navigators and health sciences librarians.

Smoothing-Based Relative Navigation and Coded Aperture Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Saenz-Otero, Alvar; Liebe, Carl Christian; Hunter, Roger C.; Baker, Christopher

2017-01-01

This project will develop an efficient smoothing software for incremental estimation of the relative poses and velocities between multiple, small spacecraft in a formation, and a small, long range depth sensor based on coded aperture imaging that is capable of identifying other spacecraft in the formation. The smoothing algorithm will obtain the maximum a posteriori estimate of the relative poses between the spacecraft by using all available sensor information in the spacecraft formation.This algorithm will be portable between different satellite platforms that possess different sensor suites and computational capabilities, and will be adaptable in the case that one or more satellites in the formation become inoperable. It will obtain a solution that will approach an exact solution, as opposed to one with linearization approximation that is typical of filtering algorithms. Thus, the algorithms developed and demonstrated as part of this program will enhance the applicability of small spacecraft to multi-platform operations, such as precisely aligned constellations and fractionated satellite systems.

Iconic memory-based omnidirectional route panorama navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yagi, Yasushi; Imai, Kousuke; Tsuji, Kentaro; Yachida, Masahiko

2005-01-01

A route navigation method for a mobile robot with an omnidirectional image sensor is described. The route is memorized from a series of consecutive omnidirectional images of the horizon when the robot moves to its goal. While the robot is navigating to the goal point, input is matched against the memorized spatio-temporal route pattern by using dual active contour models and the exact robot position and orientation is estimated from the converged shape of the active contour models.

Avoiding Stair-Step Artifacts in Image Registration for GOES-R Navigation and Registration Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Grycewicz, Thomas J.; Tan, Bin; Isaacson, Peter J.; De Luccia, Frank J.; Dellomo, John

2016-01-01

In developing software for independent verification and validation (IVV) of the Image Navigation and Registration (INR) capability for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R Series (GOES-R) Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), we have encountered an image registration artifact which limits the accuracy of image offset estimation at the subpixel scale using image correlation. Where the two images to be registered have the same pixel size, subpixel image registration preferentially selects registration values where the image pixel boundaries are close to lined up. Because of the shape of a curve plotting input displacement to estimated offset, we call this a stair-step artifact. When one image is at a higher resolution than the other, the stair-step artifact is minimized by correlating at the higher resolution. For validating ABI image navigation, GOES-R images are correlated with Landsat-based ground truth maps. To create the ground truth map, the Landsat image is first transformed to the perspective seen from the GOES-R satellite, and then is scaled to an appropriate pixel size. Minimizing processing time motivates choosing the map pixels to be the same size as the GOES-R pixels. At this pixel size image processing of the shift estimate is efficient, but the stair-step artifact is present. If the map pixel is very small, stair-step is not a problem, but image correlation is computation-intensive. This paper describes simulation-based selection of the scale for truth maps for registering GOES-R ABI images.

Microwave systems applications in deep space telecommunications and navigation - Space Exploration Initiative architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.; Bell, David J.

1992-06-01

The general support requirements of a typical SEI mission set, along with the mission operations objectives and related telecommunications, navigation, and information management (TNIM) support infrastructure options are described. Responsive system architectures and designs are proposed, including a Mars orbiting communications relay satellite system and a Mars-centered navigation capability for servicing all Mars missions. With the TNIM architecture as a basis, key elements of the microwave link design are proposed. The needed new technologies which enable these designs are identified, and current maturity is assessed.

Satellite-aided coastal zone monitoring and vessel traffic system

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, J. L.

1981-01-01

The development and demonstration of a coastal zone monitoring and vessel traffic system is described. This technique uses a LORAN-C navigational system and relays signals via the ATS-3 satellite to a computer driven color video display for real time control. Multi-use applications of the system to search and rescue operations, coastal zone management and marine safety are described. It is emphasized that among the advantages of the system are: its unlimited range; compatibility with existing navigation systems; and relatively inexpensive cost.

Real-time clock and orbit calculation of the GPS satellite constellation based on observation data of RTIGS-station network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaler, G.

2011-01-01

Due to the development of faster communication networks and improving computer technology beside postprocessing techniques real-time applications and services are more and more created and used in the eld of precise positioning and navigation using global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) like GPS. Data formats like RTCM (NTRIP) or RTIGS serve in this manner as basic tool to transmit real-time GNSS observation data to a eld of users. To handle this trend to real-time, the International GNSS Service (IGS) or more precisely the Real-Time Working Group (RTWG) of the IGS started to establish a global GNSS station network several years ago. These reference stations (RTIGS stations) transmit their observation data in real-time via the open internet to registerd users to support the development of potential new real-time products and services. One example for such a new real-time application based on the observations of the RTIGS network is the software RTIGU-Control developed within this PHD thesis. RTIGU-Control fulls 2 main tasks. The rst task is the monitoring (integrity) of the predicted IGS orbit and clock products (IGU products) using real-time observations from the station network. The second task deals with calculating more precise satellite and station clock corrections compared to the predicted values of the IGU solutions based on the already very precise IGU orbit solutions. In a rst step RTIGU-Control calculates based on the IGU orbit predictions together with code-smoothed station observations precise values for the satellite and station clock corrections.The code-smoothed observations are additionally corrected for several corrections eecting the GNSS observations (for example the delay of the signal propagation time due to the atmosphere, relativistic eects, etc.). The second calculation step deals with monitoring the IGU predicted orbits using the calculated clock solution in the calculation step before and again the corrected real-time observations

Satellite systems for personal applications concepts and technology

CERN Document Server

Richharia, Madhavendra

2010-01-01

Presents the concepts, technology, and role of satellite systems in support of personal applications, such as mobile and broadband communications, navigation, television, radio and multimedia broadcasting, safety of life services, etc. This book presents a novel perspective on satellite systems, reflecting the modern personal technology context, and hence a focus on the individual as end-user. The book begins by outlining key generic concepts before discussing techniques adopted in particular application areas; next, it exemplifies these techniques through discussion of state-of-art c

Automated Functional Testing based on the Navigation of Web Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boni García

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Web applications are becoming more and more complex. Testing such applications is an intricate hard and time-consuming activity. Therefore, testing is often poorly performed or skipped by practitioners. Test automation can help to avoid this situation. Hence, this paper presents a novel approach to perform automated software testing for web applications based on its navigation. On the one hand, web navigation is the process of traversing a web application using a browser. On the other hand, functional requirements are actions that an application must do. Therefore, the evaluation of the correct navigation of web applications results in the assessment of the specified functional requirements. The proposed method to perform the automation is done in four levels: test case generation, test data derivation, test case execution, and test case reporting. This method is driven by three kinds of inputs: i UML models; ii Selenium scripts; iii XML files. We have implemented our approach in an open-source testing framework named Automatic Testing Platform. The validation of this work has been carried out by means of a case study, in which the target is a real invoice management system developed using a model-driven approach.

An SDR based AIS receiver for satellites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Mortensen, Hans Peter; Nielsen, Jens Frederik Dalsgaard

2011-01-01

For a few years now, there has been a high interest in monitoring the global ship traffic from space. A few satellite, capable of listening for ship borne AIS transponders have already been launched, and soon the AAUSAT3, carrying two different types of AIS receivers will also be launched. One...... of the AIS receivers onboard AAUSAT3 is an SDR based AIS receiver. This paper serves to describe the background of the AIS system, and how the SDR based receiver has been integrated into the AAUSAT3 satellite. Amongst some of the benefits of using an SDR based receiver is, that due to its versatility, new...... detection algorithms are easily deployed, and it is easily adapted the new proposed AIS transmission channels....

Solar-based navigation for robotic explorers

Science.gov (United States)

Shillcutt, Kimberly Jo

2000-12-01

This thesis introduces the application of solar position and shadowing information to robotic exploration. Power is a critical resource for robots with remote, long-term missions, so this research focuses on the power generation capabilities of robotic explorers during navigational tasks, in addition to power consumption. Solar power is primarily considered, with the possibility of wind power also contemplated. Information about the environment, including the solar ephemeris, terrain features, time of day, and surface location, is incorporated into a planning structure, allowing robots to accurately predict shadowing and thus potential costs and gains during navigational tasks. By evaluating its potential to generate and expend power, a robot can extend its lifetime and accomplishments. The primary tasks studied are coverage patterns, with a variety of plans developed for this research. The use of sun, terrain and temporal information also enables new capabilities of identifying and following sun-synchronous and sun-seeking paths. Digital elevation maps are combined with an ephemeris algorithm to calculate the altitude and azimuth of the sun from surface locations, and to identify and map shadows. Solar navigation path simulators use this information to perform searches through two-dimensional space, while considering temporal changes. Step by step simulations of coverage patterns also incorporate time in addition to location. Evaluations of solar and wind power generation, power consumption, area coverage, area overlap, and time are generated for sets of coverage patterns, with on-board environmental information linked to the simulations. This research is implemented on the Nomad robot for the Robotic Antarctic Meteorite Search. Simulators have been developed for coverage pattern tests, as well as for sun-synchronous and sun-seeking path searches. Results of field work and simulations are reported and analyzed, with demonstrated improvements in efficiency

Formal safety assessment based on relative risks model in ship navigation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu Shenping [Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, 1550, Pudong Dadao, Shanghai 200135 (China)]. E-mail: sphu@mmc.shmtu.edu.cn; Fang Quangen [Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, 1550, Pudong Dadao, Shanghai 200135 (China)]. E-mail: qgfang@mmc.shmtu.edu.cn; Xia Haibo [Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, 1550, Pudong Dadao, Shanghai 200135 (China)]. E-mail: hbxia@mmc.shmtu.edu.cn; Xi Yongtao [Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, 1550, Pudong Dadao, Shanghai 200135 (China)]. E-mail: xiyt@mmc.shmtu.edu.cn

2007-03-15

Formal safety assessment (FSA) is a structured and systematic methodology aiming at enhancing maritime safety. It has been gradually and broadly used in the shipping industry nowadays around the world. On the basis of analysis and conclusion of FSA approach, this paper discusses quantitative risk assessment and generic risk model in FSA, especially frequency and severity criteria in ship navigation. Then it puts forward a new model based on relative risk assessment (MRRA). The model presents a risk-assessment approach based on fuzzy functions and takes five factors into account, including detailed information about accident characteristics. It has already been used for the assessment of pilotage safety in Shanghai harbor, China. Consequently, it can be proved that MRRA is a useful method to solve the problems in the risk assessment of ship navigation safety in practice.

Formal safety assessment based on relative risks model in ship navigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Shenping; Fang Quangen; Xia Haibo; Xi Yongtao

2007-01-01

Formal safety assessment (FSA) is a structured and systematic methodology aiming at enhancing maritime safety. It has been gradually and broadly used in the shipping industry nowadays around the world. On the basis of analysis and conclusion of FSA approach, this paper discusses quantitative risk assessment and generic risk model in FSA, especially frequency and severity criteria in ship navigation. Then it puts forward a new model based on relative risk assessment (MRRA). The model presents a risk-assessment approach based on fuzzy functions and takes five factors into account, including detailed information about accident characteristics. It has already been used for the assessment of pilotage safety in Shanghai harbor, China. Consequently, it can be proved that MRRA is a useful method to solve the problems in the risk assessment of ship navigation safety in practice

Response of Global Navigation Satellite System receivers to known shaking between 0.2 and 20 Hertz

Science.gov (United States)

Langbein, John; Evans, John R.; Blume, Fredrick; Johanson, Ingrid

2014-01-01

Over the past decade, several technological advances have allowed Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers to have the capability to record displacements at high frequencies, with sampling rates approaching 100 samples per second (sps). In addition, communication and computer hardware and software have allowed various institutions, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to retrieve, process, and display position changes recorded by a network of GNSS sites with small, less than 1-s delays between the time that the GNSS receiver records signals from a constellation of satellites and the time that the position is estimated (a method known as “real-time”). These improvements in hardware and software have allowed the USGS to process GNSS (or a subset of the GNSS, the Global Positioning System, GPS) data in real-time at 1 sps with the goal of determining displacements from earthquakes and volcanoes in real-time. However, the current set of GNSS equipment can record at rates of 100 sps, which allows the possibility of using this equipment to record earthquake displacements over the full range of frequencies that typically are recorded by acceleration and velocity transducers. The advantage of using GNSS to record earthquakes is that the displacement, rather than acceleration or velocity, is recorded, and for large earthquakes, the GNSS sensor stays on scale and will not distort the observations due to clipping of the signal at its highest amplitude. The direct observation of displacement is advantageous in estimating the size and spatial extent of the earthquake rupture. Otherwise, when using velocity or acceleration sensors, the displacements are determined by numerical integration of the observations, which can introduce significant uncertainty in the estimated displacements. However, GNSS technology can, at best, resolve displacements of a few millimeters, and for most earthquakes, their displacements are less than 1 mm. Consequently, to be useful

A Secure and Privacy-Preserving Navigation Scheme Using Spatial Crowdsourcing in Fog-Based VANETs

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lingling; Liu, Guozhu; Sun, Lijun

2017-01-01

Fog-based VANETs (Vehicular ad hoc networks) is a new paradigm of vehicular ad hoc networks with the advantages of both vehicular cloud and fog computing. Real-time navigation schemes based on fog-based VANETs can promote the scheme performance efficiently. In this paper, we propose a secure and privacy-preserving navigation scheme by using vehicular spatial crowdsourcing based on fog-based VANETs. Fog nodes are used to generate and release the crowdsourcing tasks, and cooperatively find the optimal route according to the real-time traffic information collected by vehicles in their coverage areas. Meanwhile, the vehicle performing the crowdsourcing task can get a reasonable reward. The querying vehicle can retrieve the navigation results from each fog node successively when entering its coverage area, and follow the optimal route to the next fog node until it reaches the desired destination. Our scheme fulfills the security and privacy requirements of authentication, confidentiality and conditional privacy preservation. Some cryptographic primitives, including the Elgamal encryption algorithm, AES, randomized anonymous credentials and group signatures, are adopted to achieve this goal. Finally, we analyze the security and the efficiency of the proposed scheme. PMID:28338620

A Secure and Privacy-Preserving Navigation Scheme Using Spatial Crowdsourcing in Fog-Based VANETs.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lingling; Liu, Guozhu; Sun, Lijun

2017-03-24

Fog-based VANETs (Vehicular ad hoc networks) is a new paradigm of vehicular ad hoc networks with the advantages of both vehicular cloud and fog computing. Real-time navigation schemes based on fog-based VANETs can promote the scheme performance efficiently. In this paper, we propose a secure and privacy-preserving navigation scheme by using vehicular spatial crowdsourcing based on fog-based VANETs. Fog nodes are used to generate and release the crowdsourcing tasks, and cooperatively find the optimal route according to the real-time traffic information collected by vehicles in their coverage areas. Meanwhile, the vehicle performing the crowdsourcing task can get a reasonable reward. The querying vehicle can retrieve the navigation results from each fog node successively when entering its coverage area, and follow the optimal route to the next fog node until it reaches the desired destination. Our scheme fulfills the security and privacy requirements of authentication, confidentiality and conditional privacy preservation. Some cryptographic primitives, including the Elgamal encryption algorithm, AES, randomized anonymous credentials and group signatures, are adopted to achieve this goal. Finally, we analyze the security and the efficiency of the proposed scheme.

GPS-based satellite tracking system for precise positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Yunck, T. P.; Melbourne, W. G.; Thornton, C. L.

1985-01-01

NASA is developing a Global Positioning System (GPS) based measurement system to provide precise determination of earth satellite orbits, geodetic baselines, ionospheric electron content, and clock offsets between worldwide tracking sites. The system will employ variations on the differential GPS observing technique and will use a network of nine fixed ground terminals. Satellite applications will require either a GPS flight receiver or an on-board GPS beacon. Operation of the system for all but satellite tracking will begin by 1988. The first major satellite application will be a demonstration of decimeter accuracy in determining the altitude of TOPEX in the early 1990's. By then the system is expected to yield long-baseline accuracies of a few centimeters and instantaneous time synchronization to 1 ns.

Comparison of three filters in asteroid-based autonomous navigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Wen; Zhu Kai-Jian

2014-01-01

At present, optical autonomous navigation has become a key technology in deep space exploration programs. Recent studies focus on the problem of orbit determination using autonomous navigation, and the choice of filter is one of the main issues. To prepare for a possible exploration mission to Mars, the primary emphasis of this paper is to evaluate the capability of three filters, the extended Kalman filter (EKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and weighted least-squares (WLS) algorithm, which have different initial states during the cruise phase. One initial state is assumed to have high accuracy with the support of ground tracking when autonomous navigation is operating; for the other state, errors are set to be large without this support. In addition, the method of selecting asteroids that can be used for navigation from known lists of asteroids to form a sequence is also presented in this study. The simulation results show that WLS and UKF should be the first choice for optical autonomous navigation during the cruise phase to Mars

Analysis of Multipath Mitigation Techniques with Land Mobile Satellite Channel Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Z. H. Bhuiyan J. Zhang

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Multipath is undesirable for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS receivers, since the reception of multipath can create a significant distortion to the shape of the correlation function leading to an error in the receivers’ position estimate. Many multipath mitigation techniques exist in the literature to deal with the multipath propagation problem in the context of GNSS. The multipath studies in the literature are often based on optimistic assumptions, for example, assuming a static two-path channel or a fading channel with a Rayleigh or a Nakagami distribution. But, in reality, there are a lot of channel modeling issues, for example, satellite-to-user geometry, variable number of paths, variable path delays and gains, Non Line-Of-Sight (NLOS path condition, receiver movements, etc. that are kept out of consideration when analyzing the performance of these techniques. Therefore, this is of utmost importance to analyze the performance of different multipath mitigation techniques in some realistic measurement-based channel models, for example, the Land Multipath is undesirable for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS receivers, since the reception of multipath can create a significant distortion to the shape of the correlation function leading to an error in the receivers’ position estimate. Many multipath mitigation techniques exist in the literature to deal with the multipath propagation problem in the context of GNSS. The multipath studies in the literature are often based on optimistic assumptions, for example, assuming a static two-path channel or a fading channel with a Rayleigh or a Nakagami distribution. But, in reality, there are a lot of channel modeling issues, for example, satellite-to-user geometry, variable number of paths, variable path delays and gains, Non Line-Of-Sight (NLOS path condition, receiver movements, etc. that are kept out of consideration when analyzing the performance of these techniques. Therefore, this

A Leapfrog Navigation System

Science.gov (United States)

Opshaug, Guttorm Ringstad

There are times and places where conventional navigation systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), are unavailable due to anything from temporary signal occultations to lack of navigation system infrastructure altogether. The goal of the Leapfrog Navigation System (LNS) is to provide localized positioning services for such cases. The concept behind leapfrog navigation is to advance a group of navigation units teamwise into an area of interest. In a practical 2-D case, leapfrogging assumes known initial positions of at least two currently stationary navigation units. Two or more mobile units can then start to advance into the area of interest. The positions of the mobiles are constantly being calculated based on cross-range distance measurements to the stationary units, as well as cross-ranges among the mobiles themselves. At some point the mobile units stop, and the stationary units are released to move. This second team of units (now mobile) can then overtake the first team (now stationary) and travel even further towards the common goal of the group. Since there always is one stationary team, the position of any unit can be referenced back to the initial positions. Thus, LNS provides absolute positioning. I developed navigation algorithms needed to solve leapfrog positions based on cross-range measurements. I used statistical tools to predict how position errors would grow as a function of navigation unit geometry, cross-range measurement accuracy and previous position errors. Using this knowledge I predicted that a 4-unit Leapfrog Navigation System using 100 m baselines and 200 m leap distances could travel almost 15 km before accumulating absolute position errors of 10 m (1sigma). Finally, I built a prototype leapfrog navigation system using 4 GPS transceiver ranging units. I placed the 4 units in the vertices a 10m x 10m square, and leapfrogged the group 20 meters forwards, and then back again (40 m total travel). Average horizontal RMS position

Assessment of satellite-based precipitation estimates over Paraguay

Science.gov (United States)

Oreggioni Weiberlen, Fiorella; Báez Benítez, Julián

2018-04-01

Satellite-based precipitation estimates represent a potential alternative source of input data in a plethora of meteorological and hydrological applications, especially in regions characterized by a low density of rain gauge stations. Paraguay provides a good example of a case where the use of satellite-based precipitation could be advantageous. This study aims to evaluate the version 7 of the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA V7; 3B42 V7) and the version 1.0 of the purely satellite-based product of the Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMORPH RAW) through their comparison with daily in situ precipitation measurements from 1998 to 2012 over Paraguay. The statistical assessment is conducted with several commonly used indexes. Specifically, to evaluate the accuracy of daily precipitation amounts, mean error (ME), root mean square error (RMSE), BIAS, and coefficient of determination (R 2) are used, and to analyze the capability to correctly detect different precipitation intensities, false alarm ratio (FAR), frequency bias index (FBI), and probability of detection (POD) are applied to various rainfall rates (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80 mm/day). Results indicate that TMPA V7 has a better performance than CMORPH RAW over Paraguay. TMPA V7 has higher accuracy in the estimation of daily rainfall volumes and greater precision in the detection of wet days (> 0 mm/day). However, both satellite products show a lower ability to appropriately detect high intensity precipitation events.

Fiscal 2000 survey report. Survey and study of constellation satellites technology; 2000 nendo chosa hokokusho. Konsutereshon eisei gijutsu ni kansuru chosa kenkyu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

Demands for constellation satellites were surveyed and satellite systems were studied for extracting basic technical tasks relative to constellation satellite systems and for drafting space verification plans. For a constellation satellite system to accomplish its missions, two or more satellites have to be simultaneously navigated. It is assumed that its field of application will cover earth observation, information communication, risk management, disaster prevention, and the like. With such applications taken into consideration, surveys and studies were conducted about the need and marketability of constellation satellites, need of state-level involvement, and requests for missions to be imposed on a constellation system. For plural satellites to satisfy mission requests by coordinating with each other, it will be necessary to develop basic technologies, such as navigational guidance, communications control, system autonomous management, and operation on the ground. Functions and performance that a constellation satellite system are requested to have and basic technologies to be studied and developed were extracted, and space verification plans were drafted. (NEDO)

The Impact of Eclipsing GNSS Satellites on the Precise Point Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinyun Cao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available When satellites enter into the noon maneuver or the shadow crossing regimes, the actual attitudes will depart from their nominal values. If improper attitude models are used, the induced-errors due to the wind-up effect and satellite antenna PCO (Phase Center Offset will deteriorate the positioning accuracy. Because different generations of satellites adopt different attitude control models, the influences on the positioning performances deserve further study. Consequently, the impact of three eclipsing strategies on the single-system and multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System Precise Point Positioning (PPP are analyzed. According to the results of the eclipsing monitor, 65 globally distributed MGEX (Multi-GNSS EXperiment stations for 31-day period in July 2017 are selected to perform G/R/E/C/GR/GREC PPP in both static and kinematic modes. The results show that the influences of non-nominal attitudes are related to the magnitude of the PCO values, maximum yaw angle differences, the duration of maneuver, the value of the sun angle and the satellite geometric strength. For single-system, using modeled attitudes rather than the nominal ones will greatly improve the positioning accuracy of GLONASS-only and BDS-only PPP while slightly contributions to the GPS-only and GALILEO-only PPP. Deleting the eclipsing satellites may sometimes induce a longer convergence time and a worse solution due to the poor satellite geometry, especially for GLONASS kinematic PPP when stations are located in the low latitude and BDS kinematic PPP. When multi-GNSS data are available, especially four navigation systems, the accuracy improvements of using the modeled attitudes or deleting eclipsing satellites are non-significant.

Design and testing of a multi-sensor pedestrian location and navigation platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Aiden; Renaudin, Valérie; Bancroft, Jared B; Lachapelle, Gérard

2012-01-01

Navigation and location technologies are continually advancing, allowing ever higher accuracies and operation under ever more challenging conditions. The development of such technologies requires the rapid evaluation of a large number of sensors and related utilization strategies. The integration of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) with accelerometers, gyros, barometers, magnetometers and other sensors is allowing for novel applications, but is hindered by the difficulties to test and compare integrated solutions using multiple sensor sets. In order to achieve compatibility and flexibility in terms of multiple sensors, an advanced adaptable platform is required. This paper describes the design and testing of the NavCube, a multi-sensor navigation, location and timing platform. The system provides a research tool for pedestrian navigation, location and body motion analysis in an unobtrusive form factor that enables in situ data collections with minimal gait and posture impact. Testing and examples of applications of the NavCube are provided.

A New PDR Navigation Device for Challenging Urban Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Ortiz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The motivations, the design, and some applications of the new Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR navigation device, ULISS (Ubiquitous Localization with Inertial Sensors and Satellites, are presented in this paper. It is an original device conceived to follow the European recommendation of privacy by design to protect location data which opens new research toward self-contained pedestrian navigation approaches. Its application is presented with an enhanced PDR algorithm to estimate pedestrian’s footpaths in an autonomous manner irrespective of the handheld device carrying mode: texting or swinging. An analysis of real-time coding issues toward a demonstrator is also conducted. Indoor experiments, conducted with 3 persons, give a 5.8% mean positioning error over the 3 km travelled distances.

Navigating Evidence-Based Practice Projects: The Faculty Role.

Science.gov (United States)

Moch, Susan D; Quinn-Lee, Lisa; Gallegos, Cara; Sortedahl, Charlotte K

: An innovative way to facilitate evidence-based practice (EBP) learning and to get evidence into practice is through academic-clinical agency projects involving faculty, undergraduate students, and agency staff. The central role of the faculty is key to successful academic-clinical agency partnerships. Faculty navigate the often difficult process of focusing students and engaging busy staff through initiating, maintaining, and evaluating projects. Students learn valuable EBP skills, staff become engaged in EBP, and the projects are rated highly by agency administrators.

Optimal motion planning using navigation measure

Science.gov (United States)

Vaidya, Umesh

2018-05-01

We introduce navigation measure as a new tool to solve the motion planning problem in the presence of static obstacles. Existence of navigation measure guarantees collision-free convergence at the final destination set beginning with almost every initial condition with respect to the Lebesgue measure. Navigation measure can be viewed as a dual to the navigation function. While the navigation function has its minimum at the final destination set and peaks at the obstacle set, navigation measure takes the maximum value at the destination set and is zero at the obstacle set. A linear programming formalism is proposed for the construction of navigation measure. Set-oriented numerical methods are utilised to obtain finite dimensional approximation of this navigation measure. Application of the proposed navigation measure-based theoretical and computational framework is demonstrated for a motion planning problem in a complex fluid flow.

Usability Testing of Two Ambulatory EHR Navigators.

Science.gov (United States)

Hultman, Gretchen; Marquard, Jenna; Arsoniadis, Elliot; Mink, Pamela; Rizvi, Rubina; Ramer, Tim; Khairat, Saif; Fickau, Keri; Melton, Genevieve B

2016-01-01

Despite widespread electronic health record (EHR) adoption, poor EHR system usability continues to be a significant barrier to effective system use for end users. One key to addressing usability problems is to employ user testing and user-centered design. To understand if redesigning an EHR-based navigation tool with clinician input improved user performance and satisfaction. A usability evaluation was conducted to compare two versions of a redesigned ambulatory navigator. Participants completed tasks for five patient cases using the navigators, while employing a think-aloud protocol. The tasks were based on Meaningful Use (MU) requirements. The version of navigator did not affect perceived workload, and time to complete tasks was longer in the redesigned navigator. A relatively small portion of navigator content was used to complete the MU-related tasks, though navigation patterns were highly variable across participants for both navigators. Preferences for EHR navigation structures appeared to be individualized. This study demonstrates the importance of EHR usability assessments to evaluate group and individual performance of different interfaces and preferences for each design.

DEVELOPMENT OF A PEDESTRIAN INDOOR NAVIGATION SYSTEM BASED ON MULTI-SENSOR FUSION AND FUZZY LOGIC ESTIMATION ALGORITHMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. C. Lai

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a pedestrian indoor navigation system based on the multi-sensor fusion and fuzzy logic estimation algorithms. The proposed navigation system is a self-contained dead reckoning navigation that means no other outside signal is demanded. In order to achieve the self-contained capability, a portable and wearable inertial measure unit (IMU has been developed. Its adopted sensors are the low-cost inertial sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope, based on the micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS. There are two types of the IMU modules, handheld and waist-mounted. The low-cost MEMS sensors suffer from various errors due to the results of manufacturing imperfections and other effects. Therefore, a sensor calibration procedure based on the scalar calibration and the least squares methods has been induced in this study to improve the accuracy of the inertial sensors. With the calibrated data acquired from the inertial sensors, the step length and strength of the pedestrian are estimated by multi-sensor fusion and fuzzy logic estimation algorithms. The developed multi-sensor fusion algorithm provides the amount of the walking steps and the strength of each steps in real-time. Consequently, the estimated walking amount and strength per step are taken into the proposed fuzzy logic estimation algorithm to estimates the step lengths of the user. Since the walking length and direction are both the required information of the dead reckoning navigation, the walking direction is calculated by integrating the angular rate acquired by the gyroscope of the developed IMU module. Both the walking length and direction are calculated on the IMU module and transmit to a smartphone with Bluetooth to perform the dead reckoning navigation which is run on a self-developed APP. Due to the error accumulating of dead reckoning navigation, a particle filter and a pre-loaded map of indoor environment have been applied to the APP of the proposed navigation system

Development of a Pedestrian Indoor Navigation System Based on Multi-Sensor Fusion and Fuzzy Logic Estimation Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Y. C.; Chang, C. C.; Tsai, C. M.; Lin, S. Y.; Huang, S. C.

2015-05-01

This paper presents a pedestrian indoor navigation system based on the multi-sensor fusion and fuzzy logic estimation algorithms. The proposed navigation system is a self-contained dead reckoning navigation that means no other outside signal is demanded. In order to achieve the self-contained capability, a portable and wearable inertial measure unit (IMU) has been developed. Its adopted sensors are the low-cost inertial sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope, based on the micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS). There are two types of the IMU modules, handheld and waist-mounted. The low-cost MEMS sensors suffer from various errors due to the results of manufacturing imperfections and other effects. Therefore, a sensor calibration procedure based on the scalar calibration and the least squares methods has been induced in this study to improve the accuracy of the inertial sensors. With the calibrated data acquired from the inertial sensors, the step length and strength of the pedestrian are estimated by multi-sensor fusion and fuzzy logic estimation algorithms. The developed multi-sensor fusion algorithm provides the amount of the walking steps and the strength of each steps in real-time. Consequently, the estimated walking amount and strength per step are taken into the proposed fuzzy logic estimation algorithm to estimates the step lengths of the user. Since the walking length and direction are both the required information of the dead reckoning navigation, the walking direction is calculated by integrating the angular rate acquired by the gyroscope of the developed IMU module. Both the walking length and direction are calculated on the IMU module and transmit to a smartphone with Bluetooth to perform the dead reckoning navigation which is run on a self-developed APP. Due to the error accumulating of dead reckoning navigation, a particle filter and a pre-loaded map of indoor environment have been applied to the APP of the proposed navigation system to extend its

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledge base

Science.gov (United States)

Minor, Jody L.; Kauffman, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Satellite contamination continues to be a design problem that engineers must take into account when developing new satellites. To help with this issue, NASA's Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program funded the development of the Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledge base. This engineering tool brings together in one location information about the outgassing properties of aerospace materials based upon ground-testing data, the effects of outgassing that has been observed during flight and measurements of the contamination environment by on-orbit instruments. The knowledge base contains information using the ASTM Standard E- 1559 and also consolidates data from missions using quartz-crystal microbalances (QCM's). The data contained in the knowledge base was shared with NASA by government agencies and industry in the US and international space agencies as well. The term 'knowledgebase' was used because so much information and capability was brought together in one comprehensive engineering design tool. It is the SEE Program's intent to continually add additional material contamination data as it becomes available - creating a dynamic tool whose value to the user is ever increasing. The SEE Program firmly believes that NASA, and ultimately the entire contamination user community, will greatly benefit from this new engineering tool and highly encourages the community to not only use the tool but add data to it as well.

An Analysis of CONUS Based Deployment of Pseudolites for Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-17

incorporate a master “ time - keeper ” or reference transmitter that other receiver/transmitters can synchronize with. Currently, GPS provides about 1 m...AN ANALYSIS OF CONUS BASED DEPLOYMENT OF PSEUDOLITES FOR POSITIONING, NAVIGATION AND TIMING (PNT...NAVIGATION AND TIMING (PNT) SYSTEMS THESIS Presented to the Faculty Department of Systems Engineering and Management Graduate School of

The attack navigator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Probst, Christian W.; Willemson, Jan; Pieters, Wolter

2016-01-01

The need to assess security and take protection decisions is at least as old as our civilisation. However, the complexity and development speed of our interconnected technical systems have surpassed our capacity to imagine and evaluate risk scenarios. This holds in particular for risks...... that are caused by the strategic behaviour of adversaries. Therefore, technology-supported methods are needed to help us identify and manage these risks. In this paper, we describe the attack navigator: a graph-based approach to security risk assessment inspired by navigation systems. Based on maps of a socio...

Tightly-Coupled GNSS/Vision Using a Sky-Pointing Camera for Vehicle Navigation in Urban Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Gakne, Paul Verlaine; O'Keefe, Kyle

2018-04-17

This paper presents a method of fusing the ego-motion of a robot or a land vehicle estimated from an upward-facing camera with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals for navigation purposes in urban environments. A sky-pointing camera is mounted on the top of a car and synchronized with a GNSS receiver. The advantages of this configuration are two-fold: firstly, for the GNSS signals, the upward-facing camera will be used to classify the acquired images into sky and non-sky (also known as segmentation). A satellite falling into the non-sky areas (e.g., buildings, trees) will be rejected and not considered for the final position solution computation. Secondly, the sky-pointing camera (with a field of view of about 90 degrees) is helpful for urban area ego-motion estimation in the sense that it does not see most of the moving objects (e.g., pedestrians, cars) and thus is able to estimate the ego-motion with fewer outliers than is typical with a forward-facing camera. The GNSS and visual information systems are tightly-coupled in a Kalman filter for the final position solution. Experimental results demonstrate the ability of the system to provide satisfactory navigation solutions and better accuracy than the GNSS-only and the loosely-coupled GNSS/vision, 20 percent and 82 percent (in the worst case) respectively, in a deep urban canyon, even in conditions with fewer than four GNSS satellites.

Contribution of BeiDou satellite system for long baseline GNSS measurement in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Gumilar, I.; Bramanto, B.; Kuntjoro, W.; Abidin, H. Z.; Trihantoro, N. F.

2018-05-01

The demand for more precise positioning method using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) in Indonesia continue to rise. The accuracy of GNSS positioning depends on the length of baseline and the distribution of observed satellites. BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is a positioning system owned by China that operating in Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia. This research aims to find out the contribution of BDS in increasing the accuracy of long baseline static positioning in Indonesia. The contributions are assessed by comparing the accuracy of measurement using only GPS (Global Positioning System) and measurement using the combination of GPS and BDS. The data used is 5 days of GPS and BDS measurement data for baseline with 120 km in length. The software used is open-source RTKLIB and commercial software Compass Solution. This research will explain in detail the contribution of BDS to the accuracy of position in long baseline static GNSS measurement.

Enhanced Pedestrian Navigation Based on Course Angle Error Estimation Using Cascaded Kalman Filters.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jin Woo; Park, Chan Gook

2018-04-21

An enhanced pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) based navigation algorithm, which uses two cascaded Kalman filters (TCKF) for the estimation of course angle and navigation errors, is proposed. The proposed algorithm uses a foot-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU), waist-mounted magnetic sensors, and a zero velocity update (ZUPT) based inertial navigation technique with TCKF. The first stage filter estimates the course angle error of a human, which is closely related to the heading error of the IMU. In order to obtain the course measurements, the filter uses magnetic sensors and a position-trace based course angle. For preventing magnetic disturbance from contaminating the estimation, the magnetic sensors are attached to the waistband. Because the course angle error is mainly due to the heading error of the IMU, and the characteristic error of the heading angle is highly dependent on that of the course angle, the estimated course angle error is used as a measurement for estimating the heading error in the second stage filter. At the second stage, an inertial navigation system-extended Kalman filter-ZUPT (INS-EKF-ZUPT) method is adopted. As the heading error is estimated directly by using course-angle error measurements, the estimation accuracy for the heading and yaw gyro bias can be enhanced, compared with the ZUPT-only case, which eventually enhances the position accuracy more efficiently. The performance enhancements are verified via experiments, and the way-point position error for the proposed method is compared with those for the ZUPT-only case and with other cases that use ZUPT and various types of magnetic heading measurements. The results show that the position errors are reduced by a maximum of 90% compared with the conventional ZUPT based PDR algorithms.

Design of all-weather celestial navigation system

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Hongchi; Mu, Rongjun; Du, Huajun; Wu, Peng

2018-03-01

In order to realize autonomous navigation in the atmosphere, an all-weather celestial navigation system is designed. The research of celestial navigation system include discrimination method of comentropy and the adaptive navigation algorithm based on the P value. The discrimination method of comentropy is studied to realize the independent switching of two celestial navigation modes, starlight and radio. Finally, an adaptive filtering algorithm based on P value is proposed, which can greatly improve the disturbance rejection capability of the system. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the three axis attitude is better than 10″, and it can work all weather. In perturbation environment, the position accuracy of the integrated navigation system can be increased 20% comparing with the traditional method. It basically meets the requirements of the all-weather celestial navigation system, and it has the ability of stability, reliability, high accuracy and strong anti-interference.

Juvenile Osprey Navigation during Trans-Oceanic Migration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Travis W Horton

Full Text Available To compensate for drift, an animal migrating through air or sea must be able to navigate. Although some species of bird, fish, insect, mammal, and reptile are capable of drift compensation, our understanding of the spatial reference frame, and associated coordinate space, in which these navigational behaviors occur remains limited. Using high resolution satellite-monitored GPS track data, we show that juvenile ospreys (Pandion haliaetus are capable of non-stop constant course movements over open ocean spanning distances in excess of 1500 km despite the perturbing effects of winds and the lack of obvious landmarks. These results are best explained by extreme navigational precision in an exogenous spatio-temporal reference frame, such as positional orientation relative to Earth's magnetic field and pacing relative to an exogenous mechanism of keeping time. Given the age (<1 year-old of these birds and knowledge of their hatching site locations, we were able to transform Enhanced Magnetic Model coordinate locations such that the origin of the magnetic coordinate space corresponded with each bird's nest. Our analyses show that trans-oceanic juvenile osprey movements are consistent with bicoordinate positional orientation in transformed magnetic coordinate or geographic space. Through integration of movement and meteorological data, we propose a new theoretical framework, chord and clock navigation, capable of explaining the precise spatial orientation and temporal pacing performed by juvenile ospreys during their long-distance migrations over open ocean.

A Single RF Emitter-Based Indoor Navigation Method for Autonomous Service Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwin, Tyrone; Easte, Mikala; Chen, Andrew Tzer-Yeu; Wang, Kevin I-Kai; Dai, Wenbin

2018-02-14

Location-aware services are one of the key elements of modern intelligent applications. Numerous real-world applications such as factory automation, indoor delivery, and even search and rescue scenarios require autonomous robots to have the ability to navigate in an unknown environment and reach mobile targets with minimal or no prior infrastructure deployment. This research investigates and proposes a novel approach of dynamic target localisation using a single RF emitter, which will be used as the basis of allowing autonomous robots to navigate towards and reach a target. Through the use of multiple directional antennae, Received Signal Strength (RSS) is compared to determine the most probable direction of the targeted emitter, which is combined with the distance estimates to improve the localisation performance. The accuracy of the position estimate is further improved using a particle filter to mitigate the fluctuating nature of real-time RSS data. Based on the direction information, a motion control algorithm is proposed, using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) and A* path planning to enable navigation through unknown complex environments. A number of navigation scenarios were developed in the context of factory automation applications to demonstrate and evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed system.

A Single RF Emitter-Based Indoor Navigation Method for Autonomous Service Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tyrone Sherwin

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Location-aware services are one of the key elements of modern intelligent applications. Numerous real-world applications such as factory automation, indoor delivery, and even search and rescue scenarios require autonomous robots to have the ability to navigate in an unknown environment and reach mobile targets with minimal or no prior infrastructure deployment. This research investigates and proposes a novel approach of dynamic target localisation using a single RF emitter, which will be used as the basis of allowing autonomous robots to navigate towards and reach a target. Through the use of multiple directional antennae, Received Signal Strength (RSS is compared to determine the most probable direction of the targeted emitter, which is combined with the distance estimates to improve the localisation performance. The accuracy of the position estimate is further improved using a particle filter to mitigate the fluctuating nature of real-time RSS data. Based on the direction information, a motion control algorithm is proposed, using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM and A* path planning to enable navigation through unknown complex environments. A number of navigation scenarios were developed in the context of factory automation applications to demonstrate and evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed system.

Storm Time Global Observations of Large-Scale TIDs From Ground-Based and In Situ Satellite Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Habarulema, John Bosco; Yizengaw, Endawoke; Katamzi-Joseph, Zama T.; Moldwin, Mark B.; Buchert, Stephan

2018-01-01

This paper discusses the ionosphere's response to the largest storm of solar cycle 24 during 16-18 March 2015. We have used the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) total electron content data to study large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) over the American, African, and Asian regions. Equatorward large-scale TIDs propagated and crossed the equator to the other side of the hemisphere especially over the American and Asian sectors. Poleward TIDs with velocities in the range ≈400-700 m/s have been observed during local daytime over the American and African sectors with origin from around the geomagnetic equator. Our investigation over the American sector shows that poleward TIDs may have been launched by increased Lorentz coupling as a result of penetrating electric field during the southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field, Bz. We have observed increase in SWARM satellite electron density (Ne) at the same time when equatorward large-scale TIDs are visible over the European-African sector. The altitude Ne profiles from ionosonde observations show a possible link that storm-induced TIDs may have influenced the plasma distribution in the topside ionosphere at SWARM satellite altitude.

Combined CT-based and image-free navigation systems in TKA reduces postoperative outliers of rotational alignment of the tibial component.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitsuhashi, Shota; Akamatsu, Yasushi; Kobayashi, Hideo; Kusayama, Yoshihiro; Kumagai, Ken; Saito, Tomoyuki

2018-02-01

Rotational malpositioning of the tibial component can lead to poor functional outcome in TKA. Although various surgical techniques have been proposed, precise rotational placement of the tibial component was difficult to accomplish even with the use of a navigation system. The purpose of this study is to assess whether combined CT-based and image-free navigation systems replicate accurately the rotational alignment of tibial component that was preoperatively planned on CT, compared with the conventional method. We compared the number of outliers for rotational alignment of the tibial component using combined CT-based and image-free navigation systems (navigated group) with those of conventional method (conventional group). Seventy-two TKAs were performed between May 2012 and December 2014. In the navigated group, the anteroposterior axis was prepared using CT-based navigation system and the tibial component was positioned under control of the navigation. In the conventional group, the tibial component was placed with reference to the Akagi line that was determined visually. Fisher's exact probability test was performed to evaluate the results. There was a significant difference between the two groups with regard to the number of outliers: 3 outliers in the navigated group compared with 12 outliers in the conventional group (P image-free navigation systems decreased the number of rotational outliers of tibial component, and was helpful for the replication of the accurate rotational alignment of the tibial component that was preoperatively planned.

Introducing Multisensor Satellite Radiance-Based Evaluation for Regional Earth System Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Matsui, T.; Santanello, J.; Shi, J. J.; Tao, W.-K.; Wu, D.; Peters-Lidard, C.; Kemp, E.; Chin, M.; Starr, D.; Sekiguchi, M.;

Behaviour based Mobile Robot Navigation Technique using AI System: Experimental Investigation on Active Media Pioneer Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Parasuraman, V.Ganapathy

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A key issue in the research of an autonomous robot is the design and development of the navigation technique that enables the robot to navigate in a real world environment. In this research, the issues investigated and methodologies established include (a Designing of the individual behavior and behavior rule selection using Alpha level fuzzy logic system  (b Designing of the controller, which maps the sensors input to the motor output through model based Fuzzy Logic Inference System and (c Formulation of the decision-making process by using Alpha-level fuzzy logic system. The proposed method is applied to Active Media Pioneer Robot and the results are discussed and compared with most accepted methods. This approach provides a formal methodology for representing and implementing the human expert heuristic knowledge and perception-based action in mobile robot navigation. In this approach, the operational strategies of the human expert driver are transferred via fuzzy logic to the robot navigation in the form of a set of simple conditional statements composed of linguistic variables.Keywards: Mobile robot, behavior based control, fuzzy logic, alpha level fuzzy logic, obstacle avoidance behavior and goal seek behavior

FROM ORDER TO CHAOS IN EARTH SATELLITE ORBITS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gkolias, Ioannis; Gachet, Fabien [Department of Mathematics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome (Italy); Daquin, Jérôme [IMCCE/Observatoire de Paris, Université Lille1, F-59000 Lille (France); Rosengren, Aaron J., E-mail: gkolias@mat.uniroma2.it [IFAC-CNR, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence (Italy)

2016-11-01

We consider Earth satellite orbits in the range of semimajor axes where the perturbing effects of Earth’s oblateness and lunisolar gravity are of comparable order. This range covers the medium-Earth orbits (MEO) of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems and the geosynchronous orbits (GEO) of the communication satellites. We recall a secular and quadrupolar model, based on the Milankovitch vector formulation of perturbation theory, which governs the long-term orbital evolution subject to the predominant gravitational interactions. We study the global dynamics of this two-and-a-half degrees-of-freedom Hamiltonian system by means of the fast Lyapunov indicator (FLI), used in a statistical sense. Specifically, we characterize the degree of chaoticity of the action space using angle-averaged normalized FLI maps, thereby overcoming the angle dependencies of the conventional stability maps. Emphasis is placed upon the phase-space structures near secular resonances, which are of primary importance to the space debris community. We confirm and quantify the transition from order to chaos in MEO, stemming from the critical inclinations and find that highly inclined GEO orbits are particularly unstable. Despite their reputed normality, Earth satellite orbits can possess an extraordinarily rich spectrum of dynamical behaviors and, from a mathematical perspective, have all the complications that make them very interesting candidates for testing the modern tools of chaos theory.

76 FR 31252 - Fixed and Mobile Services in the Mobile Satellite Service Bands at 1525-1559 MHz and 1626.5-1660...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-31

... operations in the L-band on GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. 24. The... and NTIA about LightSquared's operations in the MSS L-band, LightSquared is working with the GPS... from its base station operations in the MSS L-band spectrum to GPS receivers in the adjacent 1559-1610...

PAU/GNSS-R: Implementation, Performance and First Results of a Real-Time Delay-Doppler Map Reflectometer Using Global Navigation Satellite System Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enric Valencia

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS were originally conceived for position and speed determination, but they can be used as signals of opportunity as well. The reflection process over a given surface modifies the properties of the scattered signal, and therefore, by processing the reflected signal, relevant geophysical data regarding the surface under study (land, sea, ice… can be retrieved. In essence, a GNSS-R receiver is a multi-channel GNSS receiver that computes the received power from a given satellite at a number of different delay and Doppler bins of the incoming signal. The first approaches to build such a receiver consisted of sampling and storing the scattered signal for later post-processing. However, a real-time approach to the problem is desirable to obtain immediately useful geophysical variables and reduce the amount of data. The use of FPGA technology makes this possible, while at the same time the system can be easily reconfigured. The signal tracking and processing constraints made necessary to fully design several new blocks. The uniqueness of the implemented system described in this work is the capability to compute in real-time Delay-Doppler maps (DDMs either for four simultaneous satellites or just one, but with a larger number of bins. The first tests have been conducted from a cliff over the sea and demonstrate the successful performance of the instrument to compute DDMs in real-time from the measured reflected GNSS/R signals. The processing of these measurements shall yield quantitative relationships between the sea state (mainly driven by the surface wind and the swell and the overall DDM shape. The ultimate goal is to use the DDM shape to correct the sea state influence on the L-band brightness temperature to improve the retrieval of the sea surface salinity (SSS.

Multi-spectral band selection for satellite-based systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clodius, W.B.; Weber, P.G.; Borel, C.C.; Smith, B.W.

1998-01-01

The design of satellite based multispectral imaging systems requires the consideration of a number of tradeoffs between cost and performance. The authors have recently been involved in the design and evaluation of a satellite based multispectral sensor operating from the visible through the long wavelength IR. The criteria that led to some of the proposed designs and the modeling used to evaluate and fine tune the designs will both be discussed. These criteria emphasized the use of bands for surface temperature retrieval and the correction of atmospheric effects. The impact of cost estimate changes on the final design will also be discussed

Fully autonomous navigation for the NASA cargo transfer vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Wertz, James R.; Skulsky, E. David

1991-01-01

A great deal of attention has been paid to navigation during the close approach (less than or equal to 1 km) phase of spacecraft rendezvous. However, most spacecraft also require a navigation system which provides the necessary accuracy for placing both satellites within the range of the docking sensors. The Microcosm Autonomous Navigation System (MANS) is an on-board system which uses Earth-referenced attitude sensing hardware to provide precision orbit and attitude determination. The system is capable of functioning from LEO to GEO and beyond. Performance depends on the number of available sensors as well as mission geometry; however, extensive simulations have shown that MANS will provide 100 m to 400 m (3(sigma)) position accuracy and 0.03 to 0.07 deg (3(sigma)) attitude accuracy in low Earth orbit. The system is independent of any external source, including GPS. MANS is expected to have a significant impact on ground operations costs, mission definition and design, survivability, and the potential development of very low-cost, fully autonomous spacecraft.

Semiotic resources for navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Due, Brian Lystgaard; Lange, Simon Bierring

2018-01-01

This paper describes two typical semiotic resources blind people use when navigating in urban areas. Everyone makes use of a variety of interpretive semiotic resources and senses when navigating. For sighted individuals, this especially involves sight. Blind people, however, must rely on everything...... else than sight, thereby substituting sight with other modalities and distributing the navigational work to other semiotic resources. Based on a large corpus of fieldwork among blind people in Denmark, undertaking observations, interviews, and video recordings of their naturally occurring practices...... of walking and navigating, this paper shows how two prototypical types of semiotic resources function as helpful cognitive extensions: the guide dog and the white cane. This paper takes its theoretical and methodological perspective from EMCA multimodal interaction analysis....

A Damping Grid Strapdown Inertial Navigation System Based on a Kalman Filter for Ships in Polar Regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Weiquan; Fang, Tao; Luo, Li; Zhao, Lin; Che, Fengzhu

2017-07-03

The grid strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) used in polar navigation also includes three kinds of periodic oscillation errors as common SINS are based on a geographic coordinate system. Aiming ships which have the external information to conduct a system reset regularly, suppressing the Schuler periodic oscillation is an effective way to enhance navigation accuracy. The Kalman filter based on the grid SINS error model which applies to the ship is established in this paper. The errors of grid-level attitude angles can be accurately estimated when the external velocity contains constant error, and then correcting the errors of the grid-level attitude angles through feedback correction can effectively dampen the Schuler periodic oscillation. The simulation results show that with the aid of external reference velocity, the proposed external level damping algorithm based on the Kalman filter can suppress the Schuler periodic oscillation effectively. Compared with the traditional external level damping algorithm based on the damping network, the algorithm proposed in this paper can reduce the overshoot errors when the state of grid SINS is switched from the non-damping state to the damping state, and this effectively improves the navigation accuracy of the system.

The integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system for tracking marine megafauna

KAUST Repository

De la Torre, Pedro

2012-10-06

This document describes the integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system: an autonomous modular system for tracking the movements of large pelagic fish using acoustic telemetry and satellite communications. The sensor platform is described along with the propulsion and navigation systems. An application for tracking the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the Red Sea is included along with a discussion of the technical difficulties that such a system faces.

The integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system for tracking marine megafauna

KAUST Repository

De la Torre, Pedro; Berumen, Michael L.; Salama, Khaled N.; Smith, E. Lloyd

2012-01-01

This document describes the integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system: an autonomous modular system for tracking the movements of large pelagic fish using acoustic telemetry and satellite communications. The sensor platform is described along with the propulsion and navigation systems. An application for tracking the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the Red Sea is included along with a discussion of the technical difficulties that such a system faces.

INTEGRATION OF DISTRIBUTED INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS BUILT AROUND FIBER-OPTIC AND MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SENSORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Chernodarov

2017-01-01

built on the basis of microelectromechanical sensors (MEMSs. Such sensors have a wide insensitivity zone and low accuracy. Taking into account the above-mentioned features, SINS-MEMSs must rely on a base high-accuracy SINS which forms part of an Acft navigation complex. Moreover, the SINS-MEMSs cannot execute the initial alignment from attitude angles in the autonomous mode. Because of this, the initial alignment of such SINSs is realized from information obtained from the base system. Mutual support of integrated inertial systems which include satellite receivers is necessary not only for continuous updating of SINS-MEMSs coordinates but also for the refinement of attitude angles of the places where surveillance systems are mounted. It should be noted that the frequency of updating the coordinates that are determined by an SNS is several units of hertz, and that are determined by a SINS is several units of kilohertz. The features mentioned earlier were taken into account in a DSINS developed by the NaukaSoft Experimental Laboratory, Ltd. (Moscow and by the Bauman Moscow State Technical University in cooperation. A breadboard model of the MSINS includes the SINS-500NS system based on fiber-optic gyros developed jointly by the “NaukaSoft EMNS” and by the “Optolink” RPC (Zelenograd; micromechanical SINS-MEMSs built on the basis of the ADIS16488 measuring modules developed by the Analog Devices Co. The paper presents the results of fullscale experiments performed at the Ramenskoye Instrument-Making Plant.

Satellite based wind resource assessment over the South China Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Astrup, Poul; Hasager, Charlotte Bay

2014-01-01

variations are clearly visible across the domain; for instance sheltering effects caused by the land masses. The satellite based wind resource maps have two shortcomings. One is the lack of information at the higher vertical levels where wind turbines operate. The other is the limited number of overlapping...... years of WRF data – specifically the parameters heat flux, air temperature, and friction velocity – are used to calculate a long-term correction for atmospheric stability effects. The stability correction is applied to the satellite based wind resource maps together with a vertical wind profile...... from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are particularly suitable for offshore wind energy applications because they offer a spatial resolution up to 500 m and include coastal seas. In this presentation, satellite wind maps are used in combination with mast observations and numerical...

A Kalman filter-based short baseline RTK algorithm for single-frequency combination of GPS and BDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Sihao; Cui, Xiaowei; Guan, Feng; Lu, Mingquan

2014-08-20

The emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) offer more visible satellites for positioning users. To employ those new satellites in a real-time kinematic (RTK) algorithm to enhance positioning precision and availability, a data processing model for the dual constellation of GPS and BDS is proposed and analyzed. A Kalman filter-based algorithm is developed to estimate the float ambiguities for short baseline scenarios. The entire work process of the high-precision algorithm based on the proposed model is deeply investigated in detail. The model is validated with real GPS and BDS data recorded from one zero and two short baseline experiments. Results show that the proposed algorithm can generate fixed baseline output with the same precision level as that of either a single GPS or BDS RTK algorithm. The significantly improved fixed rate and time to first fix of the proposed method demonstrates a better availability and effectiveness on processing multi-GNSSs.

A Kalman Filter-Based Short Baseline RTK Algorithm for Single-Frequency Combination of GPS and BDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sihao Zhao

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS offer more visible satellites for positioning users. To employ those new satellites in a real-time kinematic (RTK algorithm to enhance positioning precision and availability, a data processing model for the dual constellation of GPS and BDS is proposed and analyzed. A Kalman filter-based algorithm is developed to estimate the float ambiguities for short baseline scenarios. The entire work process of the high-precision algorithm based on the proposed model is deeply investigated in detail. The model is validated with real GPS and BDS data recorded from one zero and two short baseline experiments. Results show that the proposed algorithm can generate fixed baseline output with the same precision level as that of either a single GPS or BDS RTK algorithm. The significantly improved fixed rate and time to first fix of the proposed method demonstrates a better availability and effectiveness on processing multi-GNSSs.

Integrated navigation method of a marine strapdown inertial navigation system using a star sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiuying; Diao, Ming; Gao, Wei; Zhu, Minghong; Xiao, Shu

2015-01-01

This paper presents an integrated navigation method of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) using a star sensor. According to the principle of SINS, its own navigation information contains an error that increases with time. Hence, the inertial attitude matrix from the star sensor is introduced as the reference information to correct the SINS increases error. For the integrated navigation method, the vehicle’s attitude can be obtained in two ways: one is calculated from SINS; the other, which we have called star sensor attitude, is obtained as the product between the SINS position and the inertial attitude matrix from the star sensor. Therefore, the SINS position error is introduced in the star sensor attitude error. Based on the characteristics of star sensor attitude error and the mathematical derivation, the SINS navigation errors can be obtained by the coupling calculation between the SINS attitude and the star sensor attitude. Unlike several current techniques, the navigation process of this method is non-radiating and invulnerable to jamming. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated by simulation and experimental study. The results show that this integrated navigation method can estimate the attitude error and the position error of SINS. Therefore, the SINS navigation accuracy is improved. (paper)

Handbook of satellite orbits from Kepler to GPS

CERN Document Server

Capderou, Michel

2014-01-01

Fifty years after Sputnik, artificial satellites have become indispensable monitors in many areas, such as economics, meteorology, telecommunications, navigation and remote sensing. The specific orbits are important for the proper functioning of the satellites. This book discusses the great variety of satellite orbits, both in shape (circular to highly elliptical) and properties (geostationary, Sun-synchronous, etc.). This volume starts with an introduction into geodesy. This is followed by a presentation of the fundamental equations of mechanics to explain and demonstrate the properties for all types of orbits. Numerous examples are included, obtained through IXION software developed by the author. The book also includes an exposition of the historical background that is necessary to help the reader understand the main stages of scientific thought from Kepler to GPS. This book is intended for researchers, teachers and students working in the field of satellite technology. Engineers, geographers and all those...

Refraction of Radio Waves on the Radio-Occultation Satellite-to-Satellite Paths as a Characteristic of the Atmospheric State

Science.gov (United States)

Matyugov, S. S.; Yakovlev, O. I.; Pavelyev, A. G.; Pavelyev, A. A.; Anufriev, V. A.

2017-10-01

We present the results of analyzing the radio-wave refractive characteristics measured on the radio-occultation paths between the GPS navigation satellites and the FORMOSAT-3 research satellites in the central region of the European territory of Russia in 2007-2013. The diurnal, seasonal, and annual variations in the refraction angle at altitudes of 2 to 25 km are discussed. It is shown that the refraction angle can be used as an independent characteristic of the atmospheric state and its long-term variation trends. Diurnal and nocturnal variations in the refraction angle in the winter and summer seasons are analyzed. Trends in the atmospheric refraction variations over seven years are discussed.

Satellites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, J.A.; Matthews, M.S.

1986-01-01

The present work is based on a conference: Natural Satellites, Colloquium 77 of the IAU, held at Cornell University from July 5 to 9, 1983. Attention is given to the background and origins of satellites, protosatellite swarms, the tectonics of icy satellites, the physical characteristics of satellite surfaces, and the interactions of planetary magnetospheres with icy satellite surfaces. Other topics include the surface composition of natural satellites, the cratering of planetary satellites, the moon, Io, and Europa. Consideration is also given to Ganymede and Callisto, the satellites of Saturn, small satellites, satellites of Uranus and Neptune, and the Pluto-Charon system

Teaching Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Community-Based Navigation Skills to Take Public Transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Richard; Marsh, Abbie J; Fisher, Marisa H

2018-03-01

Facilitating the use of public transportation enhances opportunities for independent living and competitive, community-based employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Four young adults with IDD were taught through total-task chaining to use the Google Maps application, a self-prompting, visual navigation system, to take the bus to locations around a college campus and the community. Three of four participants learned to use Google Maps to independently navigate public transportation. Google Maps may be helpful in supporting independent travel, highlighting the importance of future research in teaching navigation skills. Learning to independently use public transportation increases access to autonomous activities, such as opportunities to work and to attend postsecondary education programs on large college campuses.Individuals with IDD can be taught through chaining procedures to use the Google Maps application to navigate public transportation.Mobile map applications are an effective and functional modern tool that can be used to teach community navigation.

Landmark Agnosia: Evaluating the Definition of Landmark-based Navigation Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Ham, Ineke J M; Martens, Marieke A G; Claessen, Michiel H G; van den Berg, Esther

2017-06-01

Landmark agnosia is a rare type of navigation impairment, for which various definitions have been presented. From a clinical as well as theoretical perspective, consensus on the characteristics of landmark agnosia would be valuable. In the current study we review the literature concerning landmark agnosia and present a new case study. Existing literature highlights the importance of examining familiar as well as novel landmark processing and substantial variation in performance patterns of individual patients. We performed a case study with patient KS, a 53-year-old male, suffering from landmark agnosia, making use of elaborate neuropsychological screening and virtual reality-based tests of navigation ability. Our extensive examination of his impairment shows that landmark agnosia can be very narrow; in KS it is restricted to recognition of newly learned landmarks only. Also, he has no trouble recognizing familiar landmarks that are not part of a navigated route. The literature review shows that the right temporal lobe, and the right hippocampus in particular are the main lesion sites for landmark agnosia. Furthermore, our case study substantiates that this disorder can occur for both familiar and novel landmarks, and can affect novel landmarks in isolation from familiar landmarks. Moreover, it can occur in isolation from problems with processing route information. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Study of the Navigation Method for a Snake Robot Based on the Kinematics Model with MEMS IMU

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Lihua; Su, Zhong; Liu, Ning

2018-01-01

A snake robot is a type of highly redundant mobile robot that significantly differs from a tracked robot, wheeled robot and legged robot. To address the issue of a snake robot performing self-localization in the application environment without assistant orientation, an autonomous navigation method is proposed based on the snake robot’s motion characteristic constraints. The method realized the autonomous navigation of the snake robot with non-nodes and an external assistant using its own Micro-Electromechanical-Systems (MEMS) Inertial-Measurement-Unit (IMU). First, it studies the snake robot’s motion characteristics, builds the kinematics model, and then analyses the motion constraint characteristics and motion error propagation properties. Second, it explores the snake robot’s navigation layout, proposes a constraint criterion and the fixed relationship, and makes zero-state constraints based on the motion features and control modes of a snake robot. Finally, it realizes autonomous navigation positioning based on the Extended-Kalman-Filter (EKF) position estimation method under the constraints of its motion characteristics. With the self-developed snake robot, the test verifies the proposed method, and the position error is less than 5% of Total-Traveled-Distance (TDD). In a short-distance environment, this method is able to meet the requirements of a snake robot in order to perform autonomous navigation and positioning in traditional applications and can be extended to other familiar multi-link robots. PMID:29547515

Study of the Navigation Method for a Snake Robot Based on the Kinematics Model with MEMS IMU.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xu; Dou, Lihua; Su, Zhong; Liu, Ning

2018-03-16

A snake robot is a type of highly redundant mobile robot that significantly differs from a tracked robot, wheeled robot and legged robot. To address the issue of a snake robot performing self-localization in the application environment without assistant orientation, an autonomous navigation method is proposed based on the snake robot's motion characteristic constraints. The method realized the autonomous navigation of the snake robot with non-nodes and an external assistant using its own Micro-Electromechanical-Systems (MEMS) Inertial-Measurement-Unit (IMU). First, it studies the snake robot's motion characteristics, builds the kinematics model, and then analyses the motion constraint characteristics and motion error propagation properties. Second, it explores the snake robot's navigation layout, proposes a constraint criterion and the fixed relationship, and makes zero-state constraints based on the motion features and control modes of a snake robot. Finally, it realizes autonomous navigation positioning based on the Extended-Kalman-Filter (EKF) position estimation method under the constraints of its motion characteristics. With the self-developed snake robot, the test verifies the proposed method, and the position error is less than 5% of Total-Traveled-Distance (TDD). In a short-distance environment, this method is able to meet the requirements of a snake robot in order to perform autonomous navigation and positioning in traditional applications and can be extended to other familiar multi-link robots.

FPGA-based real-time embedded system for RISS/GPS integrated navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelfatah, Walid Farid; Georgy, Jacques; Iqbal, Umar; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2012-01-01

Navigation algorithms integrating measurements from multi-sensor systems overcome the problems that arise from using GPS navigation systems in standalone mode. Algorithms which integrate the data from 2D low-cost reduced inertial sensor system (RISS), consisting of a gyroscope and an odometer or wheel encoders, along with a GPS receiver via a Kalman filter has proved to be worthy in providing a consistent and more reliable navigation solution compared to standalone GPS receivers. It has been also shown to be beneficial, especially in GPS-denied environments such as urban canyons and tunnels. The main objective of this paper is to narrow the idea-to-implementation gap that follows the algorithm development by realizing a low-cost real-time embedded navigation system capable of computing the data-fused positioning solution. The role of the developed system is to synchronize the measurements from the three sensors, relative to the pulse per second signal generated from the GPS, after which the navigation algorithm is applied to the synchronized measurements to compute the navigation solution in real-time. Employing a customizable soft-core processor on an FPGA in the kernel of the navigation system, provided the flexibility for communicating with the various sensors and the computation capability required by the Kalman filter integration algorithm.

Visual navigation using edge curve matching for pinpoint planetary landing

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Pingyuan; Gao, Xizhen; Zhu, Shengying; Shao, Wei

2018-05-01

Pinpoint landing is challenging for future Mars and asteroid exploration missions. Vision-based navigation scheme based on feature detection and matching is practical and can achieve the required precision. However, existing algorithms are computationally prohibitive and utilize poor-performance measurements, which pose great challenges for the application of visual navigation. This paper proposes an innovative visual navigation scheme using crater edge curves during descent and landing phase. In the algorithm, the edge curves of the craters tracked from two sequential images are utilized to determine the relative attitude and position of the lander through a normalized method. Then, considering error accumulation of relative navigation, a method is developed. That is to integrate the crater-based relative navigation method with crater-based absolute navigation method that identifies craters using a georeferenced database for continuous estimation of absolute states. In addition, expressions of the relative state estimate bias are derived. Novel necessary and sufficient observability criteria based on error analysis are provided to improve the navigation performance, which hold true for similar navigation systems. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and high accuracy of the proposed navigation method.

Inertial navigation without accelerometers

Science.gov (United States)

Boehm, M.

The Kennedy-Thorndike (1932) experiment points to the feasibility of fiber-optic inertial velocimeters, to which state-of-the-art technology could furnish substantial sensitivity and accuracy improvements. Velocimeters of this type would obviate the use of both gyros and accelerometers, and allow inertial navigation to be conducted together with vehicle attitude control, through the derivation of rotation rates from the ratios of the three possible velocimeter pairs. An inertial navigator and reference system based on this approach would probably have both fewer components and simpler algorithms, due to the obviation of the first level of integration in classic inertial navigators.

Toward perception-based navigation using EgoSphere

Science.gov (United States)

Kawamura, Kazuhiko; Peters, R. Alan; Wilkes, Don M.; Koku, Ahmet B.; Sekman, Ali

2002-02-01

A method for perception-based egocentric navigation of mobile robots is described. Each robot has a local short-term memory structure called the Sensory EgoSphere (SES), which is indexed by azimuth, elevation, and time. Directional sensory processing modules write information on the SES at the location corresponding to the source direction. Each robot has a partial map of its operational area that it has received a priori. The map is populated with landmarks and is not necessarily metrically accurate. Each robot is given a goal location and a route plan. The route plan is a set of via-points that are not used directly. Instead, a robot uses each point to construct a Landmark EgoSphere (LES) a circular projection of the landmarks from the map onto an EgoSphere centered at the via-point. Under normal circumstances, the LES will be mostly unaffected by slight variations in the via-point location. Thus, the route plan is transformed into a set of via-regions each described by an LES. A robot navigates by comparing the next LES in its route plan to the current contents of its SES. It heads toward the indicated landmarks until its SES matches the LES sufficiently to indicate that the robot is near the suggested via-point. The proposed method is particularly useful for enabling the exchange of robust route informa-tion between robots under low data rate communications constraints. An example of such an exchange is given.

Volumetrically-Derived Global Navigation Satellite System Performance Assessment from the Earths Surface through the Terrestrial Service Volume and the Space Service Volume

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Bryan W.

2016-01-01

NASA is participating in the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) (ICG)'s efforts towards demonstrating the benefits to the space user from the Earth's surface through the Terrestrial Service Volume (TSV) to the edge of the Space Service Volume (SSV), when a multi-GNSS solution space approach is utilized. The ICG Working Group: Enhancement of GNSS Performance, New Services and Capabilities has started a three phase analysis initiative as an outcome of recommendations at the ICG-10 meeting, in preparation for the ICG-11 meeting. The first phase of that increasing complexity and fidelity analysis initiative was recently expanded to compare nadir-facing and zenith-facing user hemispherical antenna coverage with omnidirectional antenna coverage at different distances of 8,000 km altitude and 36,000 km altitude. This report summarizes the performance using these antenna coverage techniques at distances ranging from 100 km altitude to 36,000 km to be all encompassing, as well as the volumetrically-derived system availability metrics.

An airborne meteorological data collection system using satellite relay /ASDAR/

Science.gov (United States)

Bagwell, J. W.; Lindow, B. G.

1978-01-01

The paper describes the aircraft to satellite data relay (ASDAR) project which processes information collected by the navigation and data systems of widebody jet aircraft which cross data-sparse areas of the tropics and southern hemisphere. The ASDAR system consists of a data acquisition and control unit to acquire, store, and format latitude, longitude, altitude, wind speed, wind direction, and outside air temperature data; a transmitter to relay the formatted data via satellite to the ground; and a clock to time the data sampling and transmission periods.

Development of performance measures based on visibility for effective placement of aids to navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Tae Hyun; Kim, Yeon-Gyu; Gong, In-Young; Park, Sekil; Kim, Ah-Young

2015-09-01

In order to develop the challenging process of placing Aids to Navigation (AtoN), we propose performance measures which quantifies the effect of such placement. The best placement of AtoNs is that from which the navigator can best recognize the information provided by an AtoN. The visibility of AtoNs depends mostly on light sources, the weather condition and the position of the navigator. Visual recognition is enabled by achieving adequate contrast between the AtoN light source and background light. Therefore, the performance measures can be formulated through the amount of differences between these two lights. For simplification, this approach is based on the values of the human factor suggested by International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). Performance measures for AtoN placement can be evaluated through AtoN Simulator, which has been being developed by KIOST/KRISO in Korea and has been launched by Korea National Research Program. Simulations for evaluation are carried out at waterway in Busan port in Korea.

Development of performance measures based on visibility for effective placement of aids to navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae Hyun Fang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In order to develop the challenging process of placing Aids to Navigation (AtoN, we propose performance measures which quantifies the effect of such placement. The best placement of AtoNs is that from which the navigator can best recognize the information provided by an AtoN. The visibility of AtoNs depends mostly on light sources, the weather condition and the position of the navigator. Visual recognition is enabled by achieving adequate contrast between the AtoN light source and background light. Therefore, the performance measures can be formulated through the amount of differences between these two lights. For simplification, this approach is based on the values of the human factor suggested by International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA. Performance measures for AtoN placement can be evaluated through AtoN Simulator, which has been being developed by KIOST/KRISO in Korea and has been launched by Korea National Research Program. Simulations for evaluation are carried out at waterway in Busan port in Korea.

The skill of surface registration in CT-based navigation system for total hip arthroplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hananouchi, T.; Sugano, N.; Nishii, T.; Miki, H.; Sakai, T.; Yoshikawa, H.; Iwana, D.; Yamamura, M.; Nakamura, N.

2007-01-01

Surface registration of the CT-based navigation system, which is a matching between computational and real spatial spaces, is a key step to guarantee the accuracy of navigation. However, it has not been well described how the accuracy is affected by the registration skill of surgeon. Here, we reported the difference of the registration error between eight surgeons with the experience of navigation and six apprentice surgeons. A cadaveric pelvic model with an acetabular cup was made to measure the skill and learning curve of registration. After surface registration, two cup angles (inclination and anteversion) were recorded in the navigation system and the variance of these cup angles in ten trials were compared between the experienced surgeons and apprentices. In addition, we investigated whether the accuracy of registration by the apprentices was improved by visual information on how to take the surface points. The results showed that there was statistically significant difference in the accuracy of registration between the two groups. The accuracy of the second ten trials after getting the visual information showed great improvements. (orig.)

Utilization of modernized global navigation satellite systems for aircraft-based navigation integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Ene, Alexandru

The objective of this dissertation is to assess whether or not two particular biocomposite materials, made from hemp fabric and cellulose acetate or polyhydroxybutyrate matrices, are capable of being used for structural and/or construction purposes within in the construction and building industry. The objective of this dissertation was addressed by conducting research to meet the following three goals: (1) to measure the basic mechanical properties of hemp/cellulose acetate and hemp/PHB biocomposites and evaluate if they suitable for use in construction applications, (2) to determine how quickly moisture diffuses into the biocomposite materials and how the moisture affects the mechanical behavior, and (3) to determine how well simple models can predict behavior of structural scale laminates in tension and flexure using biocomposite ply behavior. Compression molding was used to manufacturing the biocomposites from hemp fabric and the themoplastic matrices: cellulose acetate and polyhydroxybutyrate. Four methods for determining the fiber volume fraction were evaluated, and the dissolution method, using different solvents for each matrix type, was used to determine the fiber volume fraction for each composite plate manufactured. Both types of biocomposite were tested in tension, compression, shear, and flexure and the measured properties were compared to wood and engineered wood products to assess whether the biocomposite properties are suitable for use in the construction industry. The biocomposites were conditioned in a humid environment to determine the rate of moisture diffusion into the materials. Then saturated specimens and specimens that were saturated and then dried were tested in tension to evaluate how moisture absorption affects the mechanical behavior of the biocomposites. Finally, simple models of laminate behavior based on laminate plate theory were evaluated to determine if ply level behavior could be used to predict structural scale laminate behavior

Pulsar Timing and Its Application for Navigation and Gravitational Wave Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Werner; Kramer, Michael; Sesana, Alberto

2018-02-01

Pulsars are natural cosmic clocks. On long timescales they rival the precision of terrestrial atomic clocks. Using a technique called pulsar timing, the exact measurement of pulse arrival times allows a number of applications, ranging from testing theories of gravity to detecting gravitational waves. Also an external reference system suitable for autonomous space navigation can be defined by pulsars, using them as natural navigation beacons, not unlike the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location (e.g. the solar system barycenter), the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. We describe the unique properties of pulsars that suggest that such a navigation system will certainly have its application in future astronautics. We also describe the on-going experiments to use the clock-like nature of pulsars to "construct" a galactic-sized gravitational wave detector for low-frequency (f_{GW}˜ 10^{-9} - 10^{-7} Hz) gravitational waves. We present the current status and provide an outlook for the future.

Building a satellite climate diagnostics data base for real-time climate monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ropelewski, C.F.

1991-01-01

The paper discusses the development of a data base, the Satellite Climate Diagnostic Data Base (SCDDB), for real time operational climate monitoring utilizing current satellite data. Special attention is given to the satellite-derived quantities useful for monitoring global climate changes, the requirements of SCDDB, and the use of conventional meteorological data and model assimilated data in developing the SCDDB. Examples of prototype SCDDB products are presented. 10 refs

A near real-time satellite-based global drought climate data record

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AghaKouchak, Amir; Nakhjiri, Navid

2012-01-01

Reliable drought monitoring requires long-term and continuous precipitation data. High resolution satellite measurements provide valuable precipitation information on a quasi-global scale. However, their short lengths of records limit their applications in drought monitoring. In addition to this limitation, long-term low resolution satellite-based gauge-adjusted data sets such as the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) one are not available in near real-time form for timely drought monitoring. This study bridges the gap between low resolution long-term satellite gauge-adjusted data and the emerging high resolution satellite precipitation data sets to create a long-term climate data record of droughts. To accomplish this, a Bayesian correction algorithm is used to combine GPCP data with real-time satellite precipitation data sets for drought monitoring and analysis. The results showed that the combined data sets after the Bayesian correction were a significant improvement compared to the uncorrected data. Furthermore, several recent major droughts such as the 2011 Texas, 2010 Amazon and 2010 Horn of Africa droughts were detected in the combined real-time and long-term satellite observations. This highlights the potential application of satellite precipitation data for regional to global drought monitoring. The final product is a real-time data-driven satellite-based standardized precipitation index that can be used for drought monitoring especially over remote and/or ungauged regions. (letter)

Autonomous Vehicles Navigation with Visual Target Tracking: Technical Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Jia

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper surveys the developments of last 10 years in the area of vision based target tracking for autonomous vehicles navigation. First, the motivations and applications of using vision based target tracking for autonomous vehicles navigation are presented in the introduction section. It can be concluded that it is very necessary to develop robust visual target tracking based navigation algorithms for the broad applications of autonomous vehicles. Then this paper reviews the recent techniques in three different categories: vision based target tracking for the applications of land, underwater and aerial vehicles navigation. Next, the increasing trends of using data fusion for visual target tracking based autonomous vehicles navigation are discussed. Through data fusion the tracking performance is improved and becomes more robust. Based on the review, the remaining research challenges are summarized and future research directions are investigated.

X-Ray Detection and Processing Models for Spacecraft Navigation and Timing

Science.gov (United States)

Sheikh, Suneel; Hanson, John

2013-01-01

The current primary method of deepspace navigation is the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). High-performance navigation is achieved using Delta Differential One-Way Range techniques that utilize simultaneous observations from multiple DSN sites, and incorporate observations of quasars near the line-of-sight to a spacecraft in order to improve the range and angle measurement accuracies. Over the past four decades, x-ray astronomers have identified a number of xray pulsars with pulsed emissions having stabilities comparable to atomic clocks. The x-ray pulsar-based navigation and time determination (XNAV) system uses phase measurements from these sources to establish autonomously the position of the detector, and thus the spacecraft, relative to a known reference frame, much as the Global Positioning System (GPS) uses phase measurements from radio signals from several satellites to establish the position of the user relative to an Earth-centered fixed frame of reference. While a GPS receiver uses an antenna to detect the radio signals, XNAV uses a detector array to capture the individual xray photons from the x-ray pulsars. The navigation solution relies on detailed xray source models, signal processing, navigation and timing algorithms, and analytical tools that form the basis of an autonomous XNAV system. Through previous XNAV development efforts, some techniques have been established to utilize a pulsar pulse time-of-arrival (TOA) measurement to correct a position estimate. One well-studied approach, based upon Kalman filter methods, optimally adjusts a dynamic orbit propagation solution based upon the offset in measured and predicted pulse TOA. In this delta position estimator scheme, previously estimated values of spacecraft position and velocity are utilized from an onboard orbit propagator. Using these estimated values, the detected arrival times at the spacecraft of pulses from a pulsar are compared to the predicted arrival times defined by the pulsar s pulse

Construct and face validity of a virtual reality-based camera navigation curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Shetty, Shohan; Panait, Lucian; Baranoski, Jacob; Dudrick, Stanley J; Bell, Robert L; Roberts, Kurt E; Duffy, Andrew J

2012-10-01

Camera handling and navigation are essential skills in laparoscopic surgery. Surgeons rely on camera operators, usually the least experienced members of the team, for visualization of the operative field. Essential skills for camera operators include maintaining orientation, an effective horizon, appropriate zoom control, and a clean lens. Virtual reality (VR) simulation may be a useful adjunct to developing camera skills in a novice population. No standardized VR-based camera navigation curriculum is currently available. We developed and implemented a novel curriculum on the LapSim VR simulator platform for our residents and students. We hypothesize that our curriculum will demonstrate construct and face validity in our trainee population, distinguishing levels of laparoscopic experience as part of a realistic training curriculum. Overall, 41 participants with various levels of laparoscopic training completed the curriculum. Participants included medical students, surgical residents (Postgraduate Years 1-5), fellows, and attendings. We stratified subjects into three groups (novice, intermediate, and advanced) based on previous laparoscopic experience. We assessed face validity with a questionnaire. The proficiency-based curriculum consists of three modules: camera navigation, coordination, and target visualization using 0° and 30° laparoscopes. Metrics include time, target misses, drift, path length, and tissue contact. We analyzed data using analysis of variance and Student's t-test. We noted significant differences in repetitions required to complete the curriculum: 41.8 for novices, 21.2 for intermediates, and 11.7 for the advanced group (P medical students during their surgery rotations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing satellite-based start-of-season trends in the US High Plains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, X; Sassenrath, G F; Hubbard, K G; Mahmood, R

2014-01-01

To adequately assess the effects of global warming it is necessary to address trends and impacts at the local level. This study examines phenological changes in the start-of-season (SOS) derived from satellite observations from 1982–2008 in the US High Plains region. The surface climate-based SOS was also evaluated. The averaged profiles of SOS from 37° to 49°N latitude by satellite- and climate-based methods were in reasonable agreement, especially for areas where croplands were masked out and an additional frost date threshold was adopted. The statistically significant trends of satellite-based SOS show a later spring arrival ranging from 0.1 to 4.9 days decade −1 over nine Level III ecoregions. We found the croplands generally exhibited larger trends (later arrival) than the non-croplands. The area-averaged satellite-based SOS for non-croplands (i.e. mostly grasslands) showed no significant trends. We examined the trends of temperatures, precipitation, and standardized precipitation index (SPI), as well as the strength of correlation between the satellite-based SOS and these climatic drivers. Our results indicate that satellite-based SOS trends are spatially and primarily related to annual maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, mostly in summertime) and/or annual minimum NDVI (mostly in wintertime) and these trends showed the best correlation with six-month SPI over the period 1982–2008 in the US High Plains region. (letter)

Model-based software engineering for an optical navigation system for spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Franz, T.; Lüdtke, D.; Maibaum, O.; Gerndt, A.

2018-06-01

The project Autonomous Terrain-based Optical Navigation (ATON) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing an optical navigation system for future landing missions on celestial bodies such as the moon or asteroids. Image data obtained by optical sensors can be used for autonomous determination of the spacecraft's position and attitude. Camera-in-the-loop experiments in the Testbed for Robotic Optical Navigation (TRON) laboratory and flight campaigns with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are performed to gather flight data for further development and to test the system in a closed-loop scenario. The software modules are executed in the C++ Tasking Framework that provides the means to concurrently run the modules in separated tasks, send messages between tasks, and schedule task execution based on events. Since the project is developed in collaboration with several institutes in different domains at DLR, clearly defined and well-documented interfaces are necessary. Preventing misconceptions caused by differences between various development philosophies and standards turned out to be challenging. After the first development cycles with manual Interface Control Documents (ICD) and manual implementation of the complex interactions between modules, we switched to a model-based approach. The ATON model covers a graphical description of the modules, their parameters and communication patterns. Type and consistency checks on this formal level help to reduce errors in the system. The model enables the generation of interfaces and unified data types as well as their documentation. Furthermore, the C++ code for the exchange of data between the modules and the scheduling of the software tasks is created automatically. With this approach, changing the data flow in the system or adding additional components (e.g., a second camera) have become trivial.

Model-based software engineering for an optical navigation system for spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Franz, T.; Lüdtke, D.; Maibaum, O.; Gerndt, A.

2017-09-01

The project Autonomous Terrain-based Optical Navigation (ATON) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing an optical navigation system for future landing missions on celestial bodies such as the moon or asteroids. Image data obtained by optical sensors can be used for autonomous determination of the spacecraft's position and attitude. Camera-in-the-loop experiments in the Testbed for Robotic Optical Navigation (TRON) laboratory and flight campaigns with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are performed to gather flight data for further development and to test the system in a closed-loop scenario. The software modules are executed in the C++ Tasking Framework that provides the means to concurrently run the modules in separated tasks, send messages between tasks, and schedule task execution based on events. Since the project is developed in collaboration with several institutes in different domains at DLR, clearly defined and well-documented interfaces are necessary. Preventing misconceptions caused by differences between various development philosophies and standards turned out to be challenging. After the first development cycles with manual Interface Control Documents (ICD) and manual implementation of the complex interactions between modules, we switched to a model-based approach. The ATON model covers a graphical description of the modules, their parameters and communication patterns. Type and consistency checks on this formal level help to reduce errors in the system. The model enables the generation of interfaces and unified data types as well as their documentation. Furthermore, the C++ code for the exchange of data between the modules and the scheduling of the software tasks is created automatically. With this approach, changing the data flow in the system or adding additional components (e.g., a second camera) have become trivial.

Comparative advantage between traditional and smart navigation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Jeongkyu; Kim, Pan-Jun; Kim, Seunghwan

2013-03-01

The smart navigation system that refers to real-time traffic data is believed to be superior to traditional navigation systems. To verify this belief, we created an agent-based traffic model and examined the effect of changing market share of the traditional shortest-travel-time algorithm based navigation and the smart navigation system. We tested our model on the grid and actual metropolitan road network structures. The result reveals that the traditional navigation system have better performance than the smart one as the market share of the smart navigation system exceeds a critical value, which is contrary to conventional expectation. We suggest that the superiority inversion between agent groups is strongly related to the traffic weight function form, and is general. We also found that the relationship of market share, traffic flow density and travel time is determined by the combination of congestion avoidance behavior of the smartly navigated agents and the inefficiency of shortest-travel-time based navigated agents. Our results can be interpreted with the minority game and extended to the diverse topics of opinion dynamics. This work was supported by the Original Technology Research Program for Brain Science through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(No. 2010-0018847).

Partially Decentralized Control Architectures for Satellite Formations

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, J. Russell; Bauer, Frank H.

2002-01-01

In a partially decentralized control architecture, more than one but less than all nodes have supervisory capability. This paper describes an approach to choosing the number of supervisors in such au architecture, based on a reliability vs. cost trade. It also considers the implications of these results for the design of navigation systems for satellite formations that could be controlled with a partially decentralized architecture. Using an assumed cost model, analytic and simulation-based results indicate that it may be cheaper to achieve a given overall system reliability with a partially decentralized architecture containing only a few supervisors, than with either fully decentralized or purely centralized architectures. Nominally, the subset of supervisors may act as centralized estimation and control nodes for corresponding subsets of the remaining subordinate nodes, and act as decentralized estimation and control peers with respect to each other. However, in the context of partially decentralized satellite formation control, the absolute positions and velocities of each spacecraft are unique, so that correlations which make estimates using only local information suboptimal only occur through common biases and process noise. Covariance and monte-carlo analysis of a simplified system show that this lack of correlation may allow simplification of the local estimators while preserving the global optimality of the maneuvers commanded by the supervisors.

Research on orbit prediction for solar-based calibration proper satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xuan; Qi, Wenwen; Xu, Peng

2018-03-01

Utilizing the mathematical model of the orbit mechanics, the orbit prediction is to forecast the space target's orbit information of a certain time based on the orbit of the initial moment. The proper satellite radiometric calibration and calibration orbit prediction process are introduced briefly. On the basis of the research of the calibration space position design method and the radiative transfer model, an orbit prediction method for proper satellite radiometric calibration is proposed to select the appropriate calibration arc for the remote sensor and to predict the orbit information of the proper satellite and the remote sensor. By analyzing the orbit constraint of the proper satellite calibration, the GF-1solar synchronous orbit is chose as the proper satellite orbit in order to simulate the calibration visible durance for different satellites to be calibrated. The results of simulation and analysis provide the basis for the improvement of the radiometric calibration accuracy of the satellite remote sensor, which lays the foundation for the high precision and high frequency radiometric calibration.

GLORI (GLObal navigation satellite system Reflectometry Instrument): A New Airborne GNSS-R receiver for land surface applications

Science.gov (United States)

Motte, Erwan; Zribi, Mehrez; Fanise, Pascal

2015-04-01

GLORI (GLObal navigation satellite system Reflectometry Instrument) is a new receiver dedicated to the airborne measurement of surface parameters such as soil moisture and biomass above ground and sea state (wave height and direction) above oceans. The instrument is based on the PARIS concept [Martin-Neira, 1993] using both the direct and surface-reflected L-band signals from the GPS constellation as a multistatic radar source. The receiver is based on one up-looking and one down-looking dual polarization hemispherical active antennas feeding a low-cost 4-channel SDR direct down-conversion receiver tuned to the GPS L1 frequency. The raw measurements are sampled at 16.368MHz and stored as 2-bit, IQ binary files. In post-processing, GPS acquisition and tracking are performed on the direct up-looking signal while the down-looking signal is processed blindly using tracking parameters from the direct signal. The obtained direct and reflected code-correlation waveforms are the basic observables for geophysical parameters inversion. The instrument was designed to be installed aboard the ATR42 experimental aircraft from the French SAFIRE fleet as a permanent payload. The long term goal of the project is to provide real-time continuous surface information for every flight performed. The aircraft records attitude information through its Inertial Measurement Unit and a commercial GPS receiver records additional information such as estimated doppler and code phase, receiver location, satellites azimuth and elevation. A series of test flights were performed over both the Toulouse and Gulf of Lion (Mediterranean Sea) regions during the period 17-21 Nov 2014 together with the KuROS radar [Hauser et al., 2014]. Using processing methods from the literature [Egido et al., 2014], preliminary results demonstrate the instrument sensitivity to both ground and ocean surface parameters estimation. A dedicated scientific flight campaign is planned at the end of second quarter 2015 with

Study of the Navigation Method for a Snake Robot Based on the Kinematics Model with MEMS IMU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Zhao

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A snake robot is a type of highly redundant mobile robot that significantly differs from a tracked robot, wheeled robot and legged robot. To address the issue of a snake robot performing self-localization in the application environment without assistant orientation, an autonomous navigation method is proposed based on the snake robot’s motion characteristic constraints. The method realized the autonomous navigation of the snake robot with non-nodes and an external assistant using its own Micro-Electromechanical-Systems (MEMS Inertial-Measurement-Unit (IMU. First, it studies the snake robot’s motion characteristics, builds the kinematics model, and then analyses the motion constraint characteristics and motion error propagation properties. Second, it explores the snake robot’s navigation layout, proposes a constraint criterion and the fixed relationship, and makes zero-state constraints based on the motion features and control modes of a snake robot. Finally, it realizes autonomous navigation positioning based on the Extended-Kalman-Filter (EKF position estimation method under the constraints of its motion characteristics. With the self-developed snake robot, the test verifies the proposed method, and the position error is less than 5% of Total-Traveled-Distance (TDD. In a short-distance environment, this method is able to meet the requirements of a snake robot in order to perform autonomous navigation and positioning in traditional applications and can be extended to other familiar multi-link robots.

HMM based automated wheelchair navigation using EOG traces in EEG

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Fayeem; Arof, Hamzah; Mokhtar, Norrima; Mubin, Marizan

2014-10-01

This paper presents a wheelchair navigation system based on a hidden Markov model (HMM), which we developed to assist those with restricted mobility. The semi-autonomous system is equipped with obstacle/collision avoidance sensors and it takes the electrooculography (EOG) signal traces from the user as commands to maneuver the wheelchair. The EOG traces originate from eyeball and eyelid movements and they are embedded in EEG signals collected from the scalp of the user at three different locations. Features extracted from the EOG traces are used to determine whether the eyes are open or closed, and whether the eyes are gazing to the right, center, or left. These features are utilized as inputs to a few support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, whose outputs are regarded as observations to an HMM. The HMM determines the state of the system and generates commands for navigating the wheelchair accordingly. The use of simple features and the implementation of a sliding window that captures important signatures in the EOG traces result in a fast execution time and high classification rates. The wheelchair is equipped with a proximity sensor and it can move forward and backward in three directions. The asynchronous system achieved an average classification rate of 98% when tested with online data while its average execution time was less than 1 s. It was also tested in a navigation experiment where all of the participants managed to complete the tasks successfully without collisions.

Tracking target objects orbiting earth using satellite-based telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

De Vries, Willem H; Olivier, Scot S; Pertica, Alexander J

2014-10-14

A system for tracking objects that are in earth orbit via a constellation or network of satellites having imaging devices is provided. An object tracking system includes a ground controller and, for each satellite in the constellation, an onboard controller. The ground controller receives ephemeris information for a target object and directs that ephemeris information be transmitted to the satellites. Each onboard controller receives ephemeris information for a target object, collects images of the target object based on the expected location of the target object at an expected time, identifies actual locations of the target object from the collected images, and identifies a next expected location at a next expected time based on the identified actual locations of the target object. The onboard controller processes the collected image to identify the actual location of the target object and transmits the actual location information to the ground controller.

Navigation Aiding by a Hybrid Laser-Camera Motion Estimator for Micro Aerial Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamal Atman

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs equipped with various sensors are able to carry out autonomous flights. However, the self-localization of autonomous agents is mostly dependent on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS. In order to provide an accurate navigation solution in absence of GNSS signals, this article presents a hybrid sensor. The hybrid sensor is a deep integration of a monocular camera and a 2D laser rangefinder so that the motion of the MAV is estimated. This realization is expected to be more flexible in terms of environments compared to laser-scan-matching approaches. The estimated ego-motion is then integrated in the MAV’s navigation system. However, first, the knowledge about the pose between both sensors is obtained by proposing an improved calibration method. For both calibration and ego-motion estimation, 3D-to-2D correspondences are used and the Perspective-3-Point (P3P problem is solved. Moreover, the covariance estimation of the relative motion is presented. The experiments show very accurate calibration and navigation results.

Navigation Aiding by a Hybrid Laser-Camera Motion Estimator for Micro Aerial Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Atman, Jamal; Popp, Manuel; Ruppelt, Jan; Trommer, Gert F

2016-09-16

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) equipped with various sensors are able to carry out autonomous flights. However, the self-localization of autonomous agents is mostly dependent on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). In order to provide an accurate navigation solution in absence of GNSS signals, this article presents a hybrid sensor. The hybrid sensor is a deep integration of a monocular camera and a 2D laser rangefinder so that the motion of the MAV is estimated. This realization is expected to be more flexible in terms of environments compared to laser-scan-matching approaches. The estimated ego-motion is then integrated in the MAV's navigation system. However, first, the knowledge about the pose between both sensors is obtained by proposing an improved calibration method. For both calibration and ego-motion estimation, 3D-to-2D correspondences are used and the Perspective-3-Point (P3P) problem is solved. Moreover, the covariance estimation of the relative motion is presented. The experiments show very accurate calibration and navigation results.

Scheduling algorithm for data relay satellite optical communication based on artificial intelligent optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Wei-hu; Zhao, Jing; Zhao, Shang-hong; Li, Yong-jun; Wang, Xiang; Dong, Yi; Dong, Chen

2013-08-01

Optical satellite communication with the advantages of broadband, large capacity and low power consuming broke the bottleneck of the traditional microwave satellite communication. The formation of the Space-based Information System with the technology of high performance optical inter-satellite communication and the realization of global seamless coverage and mobile terminal accessing are the necessary trend of the development of optical satellite communication. Considering the resources, missions and restraints of Data Relay Satellite Optical Communication System, a model of optical communication resources scheduling is established and a scheduling algorithm based on artificial intelligent optimization is put forwarded. According to the multi-relay-satellite, multi-user-satellite, multi-optical-antenna and multi-mission with several priority weights, the resources are scheduled reasonable by the operation: "Ascertain Current Mission Scheduling Time" and "Refresh Latter Mission Time-Window". The priority weight is considered as the parameter of the fitness function and the scheduling project is optimized by the Genetic Algorithm. The simulation scenarios including 3 relay satellites with 6 optical antennas, 12 user satellites and 30 missions, the simulation result reveals that the algorithm obtain satisfactory results in both efficiency and performance and resources scheduling model and the optimization algorithm are suitable in multi-relay-satellite, multi-user-satellite, and multi-optical-antenna recourses scheduling problem.

Fuzzy Behavior Modulation with Threshold Activation for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Tunstel, Edward

2000-01-01

This paper describes fuzzy logic techniques used in a hierarchical behavior-based architecture for robot navigation. An architectural feature for threshold activation of fuzzy-behaviors is emphasized, which is potentially useful for tuning navigation performance in real world applications. The target application is autonomous local navigation of a small planetary rover. Threshold activation of low-level navigation behaviors is the primary focus. A preliminary assessment of its impact on local navigation performance is provided based on computer simulations.

PeptideNavigator: An interactive tool for exploring large and complex data sets generated during peptide-based drug design projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Diller, Kyle I; Bayden, Alexander S; Audie, Joseph; Diller, David J

2018-01-01

There is growing interest in peptide-based drug design and discovery. Due to their relatively large size, polymeric nature, and chemical complexity, the design of peptide-based drugs presents an interesting "big data" challenge. Here, we describe an interactive computational environment, PeptideNavigator, for naturally exploring the tremendous amount of information generated during a peptide drug design project. The purpose of PeptideNavigator is the presentation of large and complex experimental and computational data sets, particularly 3D data, so as to enable multidisciplinary scientists to make optimal decisions during a peptide drug discovery project. PeptideNavigator provides users with numerous viewing options, such as scatter plots, sequence views, and sequence frequency diagrams. These views allow for the collective visualization and exploration of many peptides and their properties, ultimately enabling the user to focus on a small number of peptides of interest. To drill down into the details of individual peptides, PeptideNavigator provides users with a Ramachandran plot viewer and a fully featured 3D visualization tool. Each view is linked, allowing the user to seamlessly navigate from collective views of large peptide data sets to the details of individual peptides with promising property profiles. Two case studies, based on MHC-1A activating peptides and MDM2 scaffold design, are presented to demonstrate the utility of PeptideNavigator in the context of disparate peptide-design projects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the hydrological consistency of satellite based water cycle components

KAUST Repository

Lopez Valencia, Oliver Miguel

2016-06-15

Advances in multi-satellite based observations of the earth system have provided the capacity to retrieve information across a wide-range of land surface hydrological components and provided an opportunity to characterize terrestrial processes from a completely new perspective. Given the spatial advantage that space-based observations offer, several regional-to-global scale products have been developed, offering insights into the multi-scale behaviour and variability of hydrological states and fluxes. However, one of the key challenges in the use of satellite-based products is characterizing the degree to which they provide realistic and representative estimates of the underlying retrieval: that is, how accurate are the hydrological components derived from satellite observations? The challenge is intrinsically linked to issues of scale, since the availability of high-quality in-situ data is limited, and even where it does exist, is generally not commensurate to the resolution of the satellite observation. Basin-scale studies have shown considerable variability in achieving water budget closure with any degree of accuracy using satellite estimates of the water cycle. In order to assess the suitability of this type of approach for evaluating hydrological observations, it makes sense to first test it over environments with restricted hydrological inputs, before applying it to more hydrological complex basins. Here we explore the concept of hydrological consistency, i.e. the physical considerations that the water budget impose on the hydrologic fluxes and states to be temporally and spatially linked, to evaluate the reproduction of a set of large-scale evaporation (E) products by using a combination of satellite rainfall (P) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations of storage change, focusing on arid and semi-arid environments, where the hydrological flows can be more realistically described. Our results indicate no persistent hydrological

SOFT project: a new forecasting system based on satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Pascual, Ananda; Orfila, A.; Alvarez, Alberto; Hernandez, E.; Gomis, D.; Barth, Alexander; Tintore, Joaquim

2002-01-01

The aim of the SOFT project is to develop a new ocean forecasting system by using a combination of satellite dat, evolutionary programming and numerical ocean models. To achieve this objective two steps are proved: (1) to obtain an accurate ocean forecasting system using genetic algorithms based on satellite data; and (2) to integrate the above new system into existing deterministic numerical models. Evolutionary programming will be employed to build 'intelligent' systems that, learning form the past ocean variability and considering the present ocean state, will be able to infer near future ocean conditions. Validation of the forecast skill will be carried out by comparing the forecasts fields with satellite and in situ observations. Validation with satellite observations will provide the expected errors in the forecasting system. Validation with in situ data will indicate the capabilities of the satellite based forecast information to improve the performance of the numerical ocean models. This later validation will be accomplished considering in situ measurements in a specific oceanographic area at two different periods of time. The first set of observations will be employed to feed the hybrid systems while the second set will be used to validate the hybrid and traditional numerical model results.

78 FR 23598 - National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board; Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-19

..., Public Law 92-463, as amended, and the President's 2004 U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and...: The Melrose Hotel, 2430 Pennsylvania Ave NW., Washington, DC 20037. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT...

Sequential optimization of a terrestrial biosphere model constrained by multiple satellite based products

Science.gov (United States)

Ichii, K.; Kondo, M.; Wang, W.; Hashimoto, H.; Nemani, R. R.

2012-12-01

Various satellite-based spatial products such as evapotranspiration (ET) and gross primary productivity (GPP) are now produced by integration of ground and satellite observations. Effective use of these multiple satellite-based products in terrestrial biosphere models is an important step toward better understanding of terrestrial carbon and water cycles. However, due to the complexity of terrestrial biosphere models with large number of model parameters, the application of these spatial data sets in terrestrial biosphere models is difficult. In this study, we established an effective but simple framework to refine a terrestrial biosphere model, Biome-BGC, using multiple satellite-based products as constraints. We tested the framework in the monsoon Asia region covered by AsiaFlux observations. The framework is based on the hierarchical analysis (Wang et al. 2009) with model parameter optimization constrained by satellite-based spatial data. The Biome-BGC model is separated into several tiers to minimize the freedom of model parameter selections and maximize the independency from the whole model. For example, the snow sub-model is first optimized using MODIS snow cover product, followed by soil water sub-model optimized by satellite-based ET (estimated by an empirical upscaling method; Support Vector Regression (SVR) method; Yang et al. 2007), photosynthesis model optimized by satellite-based GPP (based on SVR method), and respiration and residual carbon cycle models optimized by biomass data. As a result of initial assessment, we found that most of default sub-models (e.g. snow, water cycle and carbon cycle) showed large deviations from remote sensing observations. However, these biases were removed by applying the proposed framework. For example, gross primary productivities were initially underestimated in boreal and temperate forest and overestimated in tropical forests. However, the parameter optimization scheme successfully reduced these biases. Our analysis

Proposed systems configurations for a satellite based ISDN

Science.gov (United States)

Capece, M.; Pavesi, B.; Tozzi, P.; Galligan, K. P.

This paper summarizes concepts developed during a study for the ESA in which the evolution of ISDN capability and the impact in the satellite land mobile area are examined. Following the progressive steps of the expected ISDN implementation and the potential market penetration, a space based system capable of satisfying particular user services classes has been investigated. The approach used is to establish a comparison between the requirements of potential mobile users and the services already envisaged by ISDN, identifying the service subclasses that might be adopted in a mobile environment through a satellite system. Two system alternatives, with different ISDN compatibility, have been identified. The first option allows a partial compatibility, by providing the central stations of the earth segment with suitable interface units. The second option permits a full integration, operating on the satellite on-board capabilities.

A MEMS-based Adaptive AHRS for Marine Satellite Tracking Antenna

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yunlong; Hussain, Dil Muhammed Akbar; Soltani, Mohsen

2015-01-01

Satellite tracking is a challenging task for marine applications. An attitude determination system should estimate the wave disturbances on the ship body accurately. To achieve this, an Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors, composed...... of three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer, is developed for Marine Satellite Tracking Antenna (MSTA). In this paper, the attitude determination algorithm is improved using an adaptive mechanism that tunes the attitude estimator parameters based on an estimation of ship motion frequency...

Satellite-based technique for nowcasting of thunderstorms over ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Suman Goyal

2017-08-31

Aug 31, 2017 ... Due to inadequate radar network, satellite plays the dominant role for nowcast of these thunderstorms. In this study, a nowcast based algorithm ForTracc developed by Vila ... of actual development of cumulonimbus clouds, ... MCS over Indian region using Infrared Channel ... (2016) based on case study of.

Approach to intraoperative electromagnetic navigation in orthognathic surgery: A phantom skull based trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Moritz; Kallus, Sebastian; Nova, Igor; Ristow, Oliver; Eisenmann, Urs; Dickhaus, Hartmut; Kuhle, Reinald; Hoffmann, Jürgen; Seeberger, Robin

2015-11-01

Intraoperative guidance using electromagnetic navigation is an upcoming method in maxillofacial surgery. However, due to their unwieldy structures, especially the line-of-sight problem, optical navigation devices are not used for daily orthognathic surgery. Therefore, orthognathic surgery was simulated on study phantom skulls, evaluating the accuracy and handling of a new electromagnetic tracking system. Le-Fort I osteotomies were performed on 10 plastic skulls. Orthognathic surgical planning was done in the conventional way using plaster models. Accuracy of the gold standard, splint-based model surgery versus an electromagnetic tracking system was evaluated by measuring the actual maxillary deviation using bimaxillary splints and preoperative and postoperative cone beam computer tomography imaging. The distance of five anatomical marker points were compared pre- and postoperatively. The electromagnetic tracking system was significantly more accurate in all measured parameters compared with the gold standard using bimaxillary splints (p orthognathic surgery to 0.3 mm on average. The data of this preliminary study shows a high level of accuracy in surgical orthognathic performance using electromagnetic navigation, and may offer greater precision than the conventional plaster model surgery with bimaxillary splints. This preliminary work shows great potential for the establishment of an intraoperative electromagnetic navigation system for maxillofacial surgery. Copyright © 2015 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 65006 - National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board; Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-30

..., Public Law 92-463, as amended, and the President's 2004 U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and.... ADDRESSES: The Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW., Washington, DC 20008. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

Low computation vision-based navigation for a Martian rover

Science.gov (United States)

Gavin, Andrew S.; Brooks, Rodney A.

1994-01-01

Construction and design details of the Mobot Vision System, a small, self-contained, mobile vision system, are presented. This system uses the view from the top of a small, roving, robotic vehicle to supply data that is processed in real-time to safely navigate the surface of Mars. A simple, low-computation algorithm for constructing a 3-D navigational map of the Martian environment to be used by the rover is discussed.

Orbit Propagation and Determination of Low Earth Orbit Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ho-Nien Shou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper represents orbit propagation and determination of low Earth orbit (LEO satellites. Satellite global positioning system (GPS configured receiver provides position and velocity measures by navigating filter to get the coordinates of the orbit propagation (OP. The main contradictions in real-time orbit which is determined by the problem are orbit positioning accuracy and the amount of calculating two indicators. This paper is dedicated to solving the problem of tradeoffs. To plan to use a nonlinear filtering method for immediate orbit tasks requires more precise satellite orbit state parameters in a short time. Although the traditional extended Kalman filter (EKF method is widely used, its linear approximation of the drawbacks in dealing with nonlinear problems was especially evident, without compromising Kalman filter (unscented Kalman Filter, UKF. As a new nonlinear estimation method, it is measured at the estimated measurements on more and more applications. This paper will be the first study on UKF microsatellites in LEO orbit in real time, trying to explore the real-time precision orbit determination techniques. Through the preliminary simulation results, they show that, based on orbit mission requirements and conditions using UKF, they can satisfy the positioning accuracy and compute two indicators.

Visual Semantic Navigation Based on Deep Learning for Indoor Mobile Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the environmental perception ability of mobile robots during semantic navigation, a three-layer perception framework based on transfer learning is proposed, including a place recognition model, a rotation region recognition model, and a “side” recognition model. The first model is used to recognize different regions in rooms and corridors, the second one is used to determine where the robot should be rotated, and the third one is used to decide the walking side of corridors or aisles in the room. Furthermore, the “side” recognition model can also correct the motion of robots in real time, according to which accurate arrival to the specific target is guaranteed. Moreover, semantic navigation is accomplished using only one sensor (a camera. Several experiments are conducted in a real indoor environment, demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed perception framework.

Measuring the Uncertainty of Probabilistic Maps Representing Human Motion for Indoor Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanna Kaiser

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Indoor navigation and mapping have recently become an important field of interest for researchers because global navigation satellite systems (GNSS are very often unavailable inside buildings. FootSLAM, a SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithm for pedestrians based on step measurements, addresses the indoor mapping and positioning problem and can provide accurate positioning in many structured indoor environments. In this paper, we investigate how to compare FootSLAM maps via two entropy metrics. Since collaborative FootSLAM requires the alignment and combination of several individual FootSLAM maps, we also investigate measures that help to align maps that partially overlap. We distinguish between the map entropy conditioned on the sequence of pedestrian’s poses, which is a measure of the uncertainty of the estimated map, and the entropy rate of the pedestrian’s steps conditioned on the history of poses and conditioned on the estimated map. Because FootSLAM maps are built on a hexagon grid, the entropy and relative entropy metrics are derived for the special case of hexagonal transition maps. The entropy gives us a new insight on the performance of FootSLAM’s map estimation process.

Risk Assessment of Nautical Navigational Environment Based on Grey Fixed Weight Cluster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanfei Tian

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In order to set up a mathematical model suitable for nautical navigational environment risk evaluation and systematically master the navigational environment risk characteristics of the Qiongzhou Strait in a quantitative way, a risk assessment model with approach steps is set up based on the grey fixed weight cluster (GFWC. The evaluation index system is structured scientifically through both literature review and expert investigation. The relative weight of each index is designed to be obtained via fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP; Index membership degree of every grey class is proposed to be achieved by fuzzy statistics (FS to avoid the difficulty of building whiten weight functions. By using the model, nautical navigational environment risk of the Qiongzhou Strait is determined at a “moderate” level according to the principle of maximum membership degree. The comprehensive risk evaluation of the Qiongzhou Strait nautical navigational environment can provide theoretical reference for implementing targeted risk control measures. It shows that the constructed GFWC risk assessment model as well as the presented steps are workable in case of incomplete information. The proposed strategy can excavate the collected experts’ knowledge mathematically, quantify the weight of each index and risk level, and finally lead to a comprehensive risk evaluation result. Besides, the adoptions of probability and statistic theory, fuzzy theory, aiming at solving the bottlenecks in case of uncertainty, will give the model a better adaptability and executability.

Mobile Robot Navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jens Christian

2007-01-01

the current position to a desired destination. This thesis presents and experimentally validates solutions for road classification, obstacle avoidance and mission execution. The road classification is based on laser scanner measurements and supported at longer ranges by vision. The road classification...... is sufficiently sensitive to separate the road from flat roadsides, and to distinguish asphalt roads from gravelled roads. The vision-based road detection uses a combination of chromaticity and edge detection to outline the traversable part of the road based on a laser scanner classified sample area....... The perception of these two sensors are utilised by a path planner to allow a number of drive modes, and especially the ability to follow road edges are investigated. The navigation mission is controlled by a script language. The navigation script controls route sequencing, junction detection, junction crossing...

Integrated orbit and attitude hardware-in-the-loop simulations for autonomous satellite formation flying

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Han-Earl; Park, Sang-Young; Kim, Sung-Woo; Park, Chandeok

2013-12-01

Development and experiment of an integrated orbit and attitude hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator for autonomous satellite formation flying are presented. The integrated simulator system consists of an orbit HIL simulator for orbit determination and control, and an attitude HIL simulator for attitude determination and control. The integrated simulator involves four processes (orbit determination, orbit control, attitude determination, and attitude control), which interact with each other in the same way as actual flight processes do. Orbit determination is conducted by a relative navigation algorithm using double-difference GPS measurements based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF). Orbit control is performed by a state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique that is utilized as a nonlinear controller for the formation control problem. Attitude is determined from an attitude heading reference system (AHRS) sensor, and a proportional-derivative (PD) feedback controller is used to control the attitude HIL simulator using three momentum wheel assemblies. Integrated orbit and attitude simulations are performed for a formation reconfiguration scenario. By performing the four processes adequately, the desired formation reconfiguration from a baseline of 500-1000 m was achieved with meter-level position error and millimeter-level relative position navigation. This HIL simulation demonstrates the performance of the integrated HIL simulator and the feasibility of the applied algorithms in a real-time environment. Furthermore, the integrated HIL simulator system developed in the current study can be used as a ground-based testing environment to reproduce possible actual satellite formation operations.

Implementation of a vector-based tracking loop receiver in a pseudolite navigation system.

Science.gov (United States)

So, Hyoungmin; Lee, Taikjin; Jeon, Sanghoon; Kim, Chongwon; Kee, Changdon; Kim, Taehee; Lee, Sanguk

2010-01-01

We propose a vector tracking loop (VTL) algorithm for an asynchronous pseudolite navigation system. It was implemented in a software receiver and experiments in an indoor navigation system were conducted. Test results show that the VTL successfully tracks signals against the near-far problem, one of the major limitations in pseudolite navigation systems, and could improve positioning availability by extending pseudolite navigation coverage.

NFC Internal: An Indoor Navigation System

Science.gov (United States)

Ozdenizci, Busra; Coskun, Vedat; Ok, Kerem

2015-01-01

Indoor navigation systems have recently become a popular research field due to the lack of GPS signals indoors. Several indoors navigation systems have already been proposed in order to eliminate deficiencies; however each of them has several technical and usability limitations. In this study, we propose NFC Internal, a Near Field Communication (NFC)-based indoor navigation system, which enables users to navigate through a building or a complex by enabling a simple location update, simply by touching NFC tags those are spread around and orient users to the destination. In this paper, we initially present the system requirements, give the design details and study the viability of NFC Internal with a prototype application and a case study. Moreover, we evaluate the performance of the system and compare it with existing indoor navigation systems. It is seen that NFC Internal has considerable advantages and significant contributions to existing indoor navigation systems in terms of security and privacy, cost, performance, robustness, complexity, user preference and commercial availability. PMID:25825976

Error Analysis System for Spacecraft Navigation Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, S. H.; Hart, R. C.; Hartman, K. R.; Tomcsik, T. L.; Searl, J. E.; Bernstein, A.

1997-01-01

The Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is currently developing improved space-navigation filtering algorithms to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) for autonomous real-time onboard orbit determination. In connection with a GPS technology demonstration on the Small Satellite Technology Initiative (SSTI)/Lewis spacecraft, FDD analysts and programmers have teamed with the GSFC Guidance, Navigation, and Control Branch to develop the GPS Enhanced Orbit Determination Experiment (GEODE) system. The GEODE system consists of a Kalman filter operating as a navigation tool for estimating the position, velocity, and additional states required to accurately navigate the orbiting Lewis spacecraft by using astrodynamic modeling and GPS measurements from the receiver. A parallel effort at the FDD is the development of a GPS Error Analysis System (GEAS) that will be used to analyze and improve navigation filtering algorithms during development phases and during in-flight calibration. For GEAS, the Kalman filter theory is extended to estimate the errors in position, velocity, and other error states of interest. The estimation of errors in physical variables at regular intervals will allow the time, cause, and effect of navigation system weaknesses to be identified. In addition, by modeling a sufficient set of navigation system errors, a system failure that causes an observed error anomaly can be traced and accounted for. The GEAS software is formulated using Object Oriented Design (OOD) techniques implemented in the C++ programming language on a Sun SPARC workstation. The Phase 1 of this effort is the development of a basic system to be used to evaluate navigation algorithms implemented in the GEODE system. This paper presents the GEAS mathematical methodology, systems and operations concepts, and software design and implementation. Results from the use of the basic system to evaluate

The Utilisation of Pisang Island as a Platform to Support the Current Safety and Security Needs of Marine Navigation in the Straits of Malacca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fuad

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Current marine navigational practice relies less on long-range visual marine signals such as lighthouses for reference purposes. This is due to the availability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, which are integrated with other navigational aids on ships. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the function of Pisang Island lighthouse and to propose the most relevant use of Pisang Island for current navigational needs. The function of the lighthouse was reviewed according to the IALA Navigational Guide and the AIS data image. The result showed that the most suitable navigational use of the lighthouse is to act as a reference for Line of Position (LOP. The AIS data image indicated that mariners are not using Pisang Island lighthouse for LOP. The trend in the Straits of Malacca (SoM was compared with the trend in the Straits of Dover, UK. The selected experts verified that LOP was not practised there. As a specific example, a tanker ship route in the South China Sea was used to further support that LOP was not practised. This evidence supported the view that Pisang Island lighthouse is less relevant for current navigational practice and does not directly support the coastal state VTS operation and the establishment of the marine electronic highway. Furthermore, the existing shore-based VTS radar has limitations on range and the detection of targets near Pisang Island. Therefore, this study proposes the establishment of a new radar station on Pisang Island at the existing site of the lighthouse. The proposed new radar station on Pisang Island will add to the existing coverage of the VTS radar, bridging the coverage gaps to overcome the weakness of the existing shore-based radar and improve the safety and security of marine navigation in the SoM.

Composite Broadcasting and Ranging via a Satellite Dual-Frequency MPPSK System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Yao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Since digital video broadcasting via satellite (DVB-S signals are “inefficient”, regarding the amount of information they convey on the bandwidth they occupy, a joint broadcasting and ranging system would constitute a unique platform for future digital video broadcasting satellite services effecting the essential tasks of satellite navigation system and direct to home (DTH services, in terms of both spectrum efficiency and cost effectiveness. In this paper, the design of dual frequency M-ary position phase shift keying (MPPSK system which is suitable for, respectively, performing both data transmission and range measurement is proposed. The approach is based on MPPSK modulation waveforms utilized in digital video broadcasting. In particular, requirements that allow for employing such signals for range measurements with high accuracy and high range are investigated. Also, the relationship between the frequency difference of dual frequency MPPSK system and range accuracy is discussed. Moreover, the selection of MPPSK modulation parameter for data rate and ranging is considered. In addition to theoretical considerations, the paper presents system simulations and measurement results of new systems, demonstrating the high spectral utilization of integrated broadcasting and ranging applications.

Autonomous celestial navigation based on Earth ultraviolet radiance and fast gradient statistic feature extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Shan; Zhang, Hanmo

2016-01-01

To meet the requirement of autonomous orbit determination, this paper proposes a fast curve fitting method based on earth ultraviolet features to obtain accurate earth vector direction, in order to achieve the high precision autonomous navigation. Firstly, combining the stable characters of earth ultraviolet radiance and the use of transmission model software of atmospheric radiation, the paper simulates earth ultraviolet radiation model on different time and chooses the proper observation band. Then the fast improved edge extracting method combined Sobel operator and local binary pattern (LBP) is utilized, which can both eliminate noises efficiently and extract earth ultraviolet limb features accurately. And earth's centroid locations on simulated images are estimated via the least square fitting method using part of the limb edges. Taken advantage of the estimated earth vector direction and earth distance, Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to realize the autonomous navigation finally. Experiment results indicate the proposed method can achieve a sub-pixel earth centroid location estimation and extremely enhance autonomous celestial navigation precision.

Statistical Multipath Model Based on Experimental GNSS Data in Static Urban Canyon Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuze Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A deep understanding of multipath characteristics is essential to design signal simulators and receivers in global navigation satellite system applications. As a new constellation is deployed and more applications occur in the urban environment, the statistical multipath models of navigation signal need further study. In this paper, we present statistical distribution models of multipath time delay, multipath power attenuation, and multipath fading frequency based on the experimental data in the urban canyon environment. The raw data of multipath characteristics are obtained by processing real navigation signal to study the statistical distribution. By fitting the statistical data, it shows that the probability distribution of time delay follows a gamma distribution which is related to the waiting time of Poisson distributed events. The fading frequency follows an exponential distribution, and the mean of multipath power attenuation decreases linearly with an increasing time delay. In addition, the detailed statistical characteristics for different elevations and orbits satellites is studied, and the parameters of each distribution are quite different. The research results give useful guidance for navigation simulator and receiver designers.

Overview of Boundary Layer Clouds Using Satellite and Ground-Based Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, B.; Dong, X.; Wu, P.; Qiu, S.

2017-12-01

A comprehensive summary of boundary layer clouds properties based on our few recently studies will be presented. The analyses include the global cloud fractions and cloud macro/micro- physical properties based on satellite measurements using both CERES-MODIS and CloudSat/Caliposo data products,; the annual/seasonal/diurnal variations of stratocumulus clouds over different climate regions (mid-latitude land, mid-latitude ocean, and Arctic region) using DOE ARM ground-based measurements over Southern great plain (SGP), Azores (GRW), and North slope of Alaska (NSA) sites; the impact of environmental conditions to the formation and dissipation process of marine boundary layer clouds over Azores site; characterizing Arctice mixed-phase cloud structure and favorable environmental conditions for the formation/maintainess of mixed-phase clouds over NSA site. Though the presentation has widely spread topics, we will focus on the representation of the ground-based measurements over different climate regions; evaluation of satellite retrieved cloud properties using these ground-based measurements, and understanding the uncertainties of both satellite and ground-based retrievals and measurements.

GNSS-SLR satellite co-location for the estimate of local ties

Science.gov (United States)

Bruni, Sara; Zerbini, Susanna; Errico, Maddalena; Santi, Efisio

2013-04-01

The current realization of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) is based on four different space-geodetic techniques, so that the benefits brought by each observing system to the definition of the frame can compensate for the drawbacks of the others and technique-specific systematic errors might be identified. The strategy used to combine the observations from the different techniques is then of prominent importance for the realization of a precise and stable reference frame. This study concentrates, in particular, on the combination of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations by exploiting satellite co-locations. This innovative approach is based on the fact that laser tracking of GNSS satellites, carrying on board laser reflector arrays, allows for the combination of optical and microwave signals in the determination of the spacecraft orbit. Besides, the use of satellite co-locations differs quite significantly from the traditional combination method in which each single technique solution is carried out autonomously and is interrelated in a second step. One of the benefits of the approach adopted in this study is that it allows for an independent validation of the local tie, i.e. of the vector connecting the SLR and GNSS reference points in a multi-techniques station. Typically, local ties are expressed by a single value, measured with ground-based geodetic techniques and taken as constant. In principle, however, local ties might show time variations likely caused by the different monumentation characteristics of the GNSS antennas with respect to those of a SLR system. This study evaluates the possibility of using the satellite co-location approach to generate local-ties time series by means of observations available for a selected network of ILRS stations. The data analyzed in this study were acquired as part of the NASA's Earth Science Data Systems and are archived and distributed by the Crustal

Fusion Based on Visible Light Positioning and Inertial Navigation Using Extended Kalman Filters.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhitian; Feng, Lihui; Yang, Aiying

2017-05-11

With the rapid development of smart technology, the need for location-based services (LBS) increases every day. Since classical positioning technology such as GPS cannot satisfy the needs of indoor positioning, new indoor positioning technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Visible light communication (VLC), have already cut a figure. VLC positioning has been proposed because it has higher accuracy, costs less, and is easier to accomplish in comparison to the other indoor positioning technologies. However, the practicality of VLC positioning is limited since it is easily affected by multipath effects and the layout of LEDs. Thus, we propose a fusion positioning system based on extended Kalman filters, which can fuse the VLC position and the inertial navigation data. The accuracy of the fusion positioning system is in centimeters, which is better compared to the VLC-based positioning or inertial navigation alone. Furthermore, the fusion positioning system has high accuracy, saves energy, costs little, and is easy to install, making it a promising candidate for future indoor positioning applications.

Hausdorff-Based RC and IESIL Combined Positioning Algorithm for Underwater Geomagnetic Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Yi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a primitive solution with novel scheme and algorithm for Underwater geoMagnetic Navigation (UMN, which now occurs as the hot-point in the research field of navigation. UMN as an independent or supplementary technique can theoretically supply accurate locations for marine vehicles, but in practice there are plenty of restrictions for UMN's application (e.g., geomagnetic daily variation. After analysis of the theoretical model of geomagnetic positioning in the correlation-matching mode from the viewpoint of pattern recognition, this paper proposed an appropriate matching scenario and a combined positioning algorithm for UMN. The subalgorithm of Hausdorff-based Relative Correlation (RC corresponding to the pattern classification module implements the coarse positioning, and the subalgorithm of Isograms Equidistance-Segmenting theIntersection Lines (IESILs associated with the module of feature extraction continues the fine positioning. The experiments based on the simulation platform and the real-surveyed data both validate the new algorithm, and its efficiency and accuracy are also discussed. It can be concluded that the work introduced in this paper gives an initial and real validation of UMN's potentiality.

Survey of computer vision technology for UVA navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Bo; Fan, Xiang; Li, Sijian

2017-11-01

Navigation based on computer version technology, which has the characteristics of strong independence, high precision and is not susceptible to electrical interference, has attracted more and more attention in the filed of UAV navigation research. Early navigation project based on computer version technology mainly applied to autonomous ground robot. In recent years, the visual navigation system is widely applied to unmanned machine, deep space detector and underwater robot. That further stimulate the research of integrated navigation algorithm based on computer version technology. In China, with many types of UAV development and two lunar exploration, the three phase of the project started, there has been significant progress in the study of visual navigation. The paper expounds the development of navigation based on computer version technology in the filed of UAV navigation research and draw a conclusion that visual navigation is mainly applied to three aspects as follows.(1) Acquisition of UAV navigation parameters. The parameters, including UAV attitude, position and velocity information could be got according to the relationship between the images from sensors and carrier's attitude, the relationship between instant matching images and the reference images and the relationship between carrier's velocity and characteristics of sequential images.(2) Autonomous obstacle avoidance. There are many ways to achieve obstacle avoidance in UAV navigation. The methods based on computer version technology ,including feature matching, template matching, image frames and so on, are mainly introduced. (3) The target tracking, positioning. Using the obtained images, UAV position is calculated by using optical flow method, MeanShift algorithm, CamShift algorithm, Kalman filtering and particle filter algotithm. The paper expounds three kinds of mainstream visual system. (1) High speed visual system. It uses parallel structure, with which image detection and processing are

INDOOR POSITIONING AND NAVIGATION BASED ON CONTROL SPHERECAL PANORAMIC IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.-C. Huang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Continuous indoor and outdoor positioning and navigation is the goal to achieve in the field of mobile mapping technology. However, accuracy of positioning and navigation will be largely degraded in indoor or occluded areas, due to receiving weak or less GNSS signals. Targeting the need of high accuracy indoor and outdoor positioning and navigation for mobile mapping applications, the objective of this study is to develop a novel method of indoor positioning and navigation with the use of spherical panoramic image (SPI. Two steps are planned in the technology roadmap. First, establishing a control SPI database that contains a good number of well-distributed control SPIs pre-acquired in the target space. A control SPI means an SPI with known exterior orientation parameters, which can be solved with a network bundle adjustment of SPIs. Having a control SPI database, the target space will be ready to provide the service of positioning and navigation. Secondly, the position and orientation of a newly taken SPI can be solved by using overlapped SPIs searched from the control SPI database. The method of matching SPIs and finding conjugate image features will be developed and tested. Two experiments will be planned and conducted in this paper to test the feasibility and validate the test results of the proposed methods. Analysis of appropriate number and distribution of needed control SPIs will also be included in the experiments with respect to different test cases.

An Overview of Scientific and Space Weather Results from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaff, R.; de la Beaujardiere, O.; Hunton, D.; Heelis, R.; Earle, G.; Strauss, P.; Bernhardt, P.

2012-01-01

The Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) Mission of the Air Force Research Laboratory is described. C/NOFS science objectives may be organized into three categories: (1) to understand physical processes active in the background ionosphere and thermosphere in which plasma instabilities grow; (2) to identify mechanisms that trigger or quench the plasma irregularities responsible for signal degradation; and (3) to determine how the plasma irregularities affect the propagation of electromagnetic waves. The satellite was launched in April, 2008 into a low inclination (13 deg), elliptical (400 x 850 km) orbit. The satellite sensors measure the following parameters in situ: ambient and fluctuating electron densities, AC and DC electric and magnetic fields, ion drifts and large scale ion composition, ion and electron temperatures, and neutral winds. C/NOFS is also equipped with a GPS occultation receiver and a radio beacon. In addition to the satellite sensors, complementary ground-based measurements, theory, and advanced modeling techniques are also important parts of the mission. We report scientific and space weather highlights of the mission after nearly four years in orbit

Satellite-based Tropical Cyclone Monitoring Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, J.; Richardson, K.; Surratt, M.; Yang, S.; Lee, T. F.; Sampson, C. R.; Solbrig, J.; Kuciauskas, A. P.; Miller, S. D.; Kent, J.

2012-12-01

Satellite remote sensing capabilities to monitor tropical cyclone (TC) location, structure, and intensity have evolved by utilizing a combination of operational and research and development (R&D) sensors. The microwave imagers from the operational Defense Meteorological Satellite Program [Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS)] form the "base" for structure observations due to their ability to view through upper-level clouds, modest size swaths and ability to capture most storm structure features. The NASA TRMM microwave imager and precipitation radar continue their 15+ yearlong missions in serving the TC warning and research communities. The cessation of NASA's QuikSCAT satellite after more than a decade of service is sorely missed, but India's OceanSat-2 scatterometer is now providing crucial ocean surface wind vectors in addition to the Navy's WindSat ocean surface wind vector retrievals. Another Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) onboard EUMETSAT's MetOp-2 satellite is slated for launch soon. Passive microwave imagery has received a much needed boost with the launch of the French/Indian Megha Tropiques imager in September 2011, basically greatly supplementing the very successful NASA TRMM pathfinder with a larger swath and more frequent temporal sampling. While initial data issues have delayed data utilization, current news indicates this data will be available in 2013. Future NASA Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) sensors starting in 2014 will provide enhanced capabilities. Also, the inclusion of the new microwave sounder data from the NPP ATMS (Oct 2011) will assist in mapping TC convective structures. The National Polar orbiting Partnership (NPP) program's VIIRS sensor includes a day night band (DNB) with the capability to view TC cloud structure at night when sufficient lunar illumination exits. Examples highlighting this new capability will be discussed in concert with additional data fusion efforts.

Factors affecting femoral rotational angle based on the posterior condylar axis in gap-based navigation-assisted total knee arthroplasty for valgus knee.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sung-Sahn; Lee, Yong-In; Kim, Dong-Uk; Lee, Dae-Hee; Moon, Young-Wan

2018-01-01

Achieving proper rotational alignment of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for valgus knee is challenging because of lateral condylar hypoplasia and lateral cartilage erosion. Gap-based navigation-assisted TKA enables surgeons to determine the angle of femoral component rotation (FCR) based on the posterior condylar axis. This study evaluated the possible factors that affect the rotational alignment of the femoral component based on the posterior condylar axis. Between 2008 and 2016, 28 knees were enrolled. The dependent variable for this study was FCR based on the posterior condylar axis, which was obtained from the navigation system archives. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify factors that might predict FCR, including body mass index (BMI), Kellgren-Lawrence grade (K-L grade), lateral distal femoral angles obtained from the navigation system and radiographs (NaviLDFA, XrayLDFA), hip-knee-ankle (HKA) axis, lateral gap under varus stress (LGVS), medial gap under valgus stress (MGVS), and side-to-side difference (STSD, MGVS - LGVS). The mean FCR was 6.1° ± 2.0°. Of all the potentially predictive factors evaluated in this study, only NaviLDFA (β = -0.668) and XrayLDFA (β = -0.714) predicted significantly FCR. The LDFAs, as determined using radiographs and the navigation system, were both predictive of the rotational alignment of the femoral component based on the posterior condylar axis in gap-based TKA for valgus knee. A 1° increment with NaviLDFA led to a 0.668° decrement in FCR, and a 1° increment with XrayLDFA led to a 0.714° decrement. This suggests that symmetrical lateral condylar hypoplasia of the posterior and distal side occurs in lateral compartment end-stage osteoarthritis with valgus deformity.

Applications of navigation for orthognathic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Bobek, Samuel L

2014-11-01

Stereotactic surgical navigation has been used in oral and maxillofacial surgery for orbital reconstruction, reduction of facial fractures, localization of foreign bodies, placement of implants, skull base surgery, tumor removal, temporomandibular joint surgery, and orthognathic surgery. The primary goals in adopting intraoperative navigation into these different surgeries were to define and localize operative anatomy, to localize implant position, and to orient the surgical wound. Navigation can optimize the functional and esthetic outcomes in patients with dentofacial deformities by identifying pertinent anatomic structures, transferring the surgical plan to the patient, and verifying the surgical result. This article discusses the principles of navigation-guided orthognathic surgery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Complementary terrain/single beacon-based AUV navigation

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Maurya, P.; Curado, T.F.; António, P.

is not sufficiently "rich" in terms of topographic features. The key contribution of this paper is a formal analysis of the benefits of using complementary filtering, in opposition to TAN navigation only. To this effect, we exploit key tools of estimation theory...

Operational Satellite-based Surface Oil Analyses (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Streett, D.; Warren, C.

2010-12-01

During the Deepwater Horizon spill, NOAA imagery analysts in the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) issued more than 300 near-real-time satellite-based oil spill analyses. These analyses were used by the oil spill response community for planning, issuing surface oil trajectories and tasking assets (e.g., oil containment booms, skimmers, overflights). SAB analysts used both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and high resolution visible/near IR multispectral satellite imagery as well as a variety of ancillary datasets. Satellite imagery used included ENVISAT ASAR (ESA), TerraSAR-X (DLR), Cosmo-Skymed (ASI), ALOS (JAXA), Radarsat (MDA), ENVISAT MERIS (ESA), SPOT (SPOT Image Corp.), Aster (NASA), MODIS (NASA), and AVHRR (NOAA). Ancillary datasets included ocean current information, wind information, location of natural oil seeps and a variety of in situ oil observations. The analyses were available as jpegs, pdfs, shapefiles and through Google, KML files and also available on a variety of websites including Geoplatform and ERMA. From the very first analysis issued just 5 hours after the rig sank through the final analysis issued in August, the complete archive is still publicly available on the NOAA/NESDIS website http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/MPS/deepwater.html SAB personnel also served as the Deepwater Horizon International Disaster Charter Project Manager (at the official request of the USGS). The Project Manager’s primary responsibility was to acquire and oversee the processing and dissemination of satellite data generously donated by numerous private companies and nations in support of the oil spill response including some of the imagery described above. SAB has begun to address a number of goals that will improve our routine oil spill response as well as help assure that we are ready for the next spill of national significance. We hope to (1) secure a steady, abundant and timely stream of suitable satellite imagery even in the absence of large-scale emergencies such as

Hand-gesture-based sterile interface for the operating room using contextual cues for the navigation of radiological images.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacob, Mithun George; Wachs, Juan Pablo; Packer, Rebecca A

2013-06-01

This paper presents a method to improve the navigation and manipulation of radiological images through a sterile hand gesture recognition interface based on attentional contextual cues. Computer vision algorithms were developed to extract intention and attention cues from the surgeon's behavior and combine them with sensory data from a commodity depth camera. The developed interface was tested in a usability experiment to assess the effectiveness of the new interface. An image navigation and manipulation task was performed, and the gesture recognition accuracy, false positives and task completion times were computed to evaluate system performance. Experimental results show that gesture interaction and surgeon behavior analysis can be used to accurately navigate, manipulate and access MRI images, and therefore this modality could replace the use of keyboard and mice-based interfaces.

Prospective navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement for the reduction of artifacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonel, H.; Frei, K.A.; Raio, L.; Meyer-Wittkopf, M.; Remonda, L.; Wiest, R.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroimaging quality and accuracy of prospective real-time navigator-echo acquisition correction versus untriggered intrauterine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Twenty women in whom fetal motion artifacts compromised the neuroimaging quality of fetal MRI taken during the 28.7 ± 4 week of pregnancy below diagnostic levels were additionally investigated using a navigator-triggered half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo-spin echo (HASTE) sequence. Imaging quality was evaluated by two blinded readers applying a rating scale from 1 (not diagnostic) to 5 (excellent). Diagnostic criteria included depiction of the germinal matrix, grey and white matter, CSF, brain stem and cerebellum. Signal-difference-to-noise ratios (SDNRs) in the white matter and germinal zone were quantitatively evaluated. Imaging quality improved in 18/20 patients using the navigator echo technique (2.4 ± 0.58 vs. 3.65 ± 0.73 SD, p < 0.01 for all evaluation criteria). In 2/20 patients fetal movement severely impaired image quality in conventional and navigated HASTE. Navigator-echo imaging revealed additional structural brain abnormalities and confirmed diagnosis in 8/20 patients. The accuracy improved from 50% to 90%. Average SDNR increased from 0.7 ± 7.27 to 19.83 ± 15.71 (p < 0.01). Navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement is a reliable technique that can deliver diagnostic fetal MR image quality despite vigorous fetal movement. (orig.)

Prospective navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement for the reduction of artifacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonel, H; Frei, K A; Raio, L; Meyer-Wittkopf, M; Remonda, L; Wiest, R

2008-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroimaging quality and accuracy of prospective real-time navigator-echo acquisition correction versus untriggered intrauterine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Twenty women in whom fetal motion artifacts compromised the neuroimaging quality of fetal MRI taken during the 28.7 +/- 4 week of pregnancy below diagnostic levels were additionally investigated using a navigator-triggered half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo-spin echo (HASTE) sequence. Imaging quality was evaluated by two blinded readers applying a rating scale from 1 (not diagnostic) to 5 (excellent). Diagnostic criteria included depiction of the germinal matrix, grey and white matter, CSF, brain stem and cerebellum. Signal-difference-to-noise ratios (SDNRs) in the white matter and germinal zone were quantitatively evaluated. Imaging quality improved in 18/20 patients using the navigator echo technique (2.4 +/- 0.58 vs. 3.65 +/- 0.73 SD, p < 0.01 for all evaluation criteria). In 2/20 patients fetal movement severely impaired image quality in conventional and navigated HASTE. Navigator-echo imaging revealed additional structural brain abnormalities and confirmed diagnosis in 8/20 patients. The accuracy improved from 50% to 90%. Average SDNR increased from 0.7 +/- 7.27 to 19.83 +/- 15.71 (p < 0.01). Navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement is a reliable technique that can deliver diagnostic fetal MR image quality despite vigorous fetal movement.

Prospective navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement for the reduction of artifacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonel, H. [University Hospital Berne-Inselspital, Freiburgstrasse, Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Pediatric Radiology, Bern (Switzerland); Frei, K.A.; Raio, L.; Meyer-Wittkopf, M. [University of Berne, Women' s' Hospital, Bern (Switzerland); Remonda, L.; Wiest, R. [University of Berne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology (DIN), Inselspital, Bern (Switzerland)

2008-04-15

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroimaging quality and accuracy of prospective real-time navigator-echo acquisition correction versus untriggered intrauterine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Twenty women in whom fetal motion artifacts compromised the neuroimaging quality of fetal MRI taken during the 28.7 {+-} 4 week of pregnancy below diagnostic levels were additionally investigated using a navigator-triggered half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo-spin echo (HASTE) sequence. Imaging quality was evaluated by two blinded readers applying a rating scale from 1 (not diagnostic) to 5 (excellent). Diagnostic criteria included depiction of the germinal matrix, grey and white matter, CSF, brain stem and cerebellum. Signal-difference-to-noise ratios (SDNRs) in the white matter and germinal zone were quantitatively evaluated. Imaging quality improved in 18/20 patients using the navigator echo technique (2.4 {+-} 0.58 vs. 3.65 {+-} 0.73 SD, p < 0.01 for all evaluation criteria). In 2/20 patients fetal movement severely impaired image quality in conventional and navigated HASTE. Navigator-echo imaging revealed additional structural brain abnormalities and confirmed diagnosis in 8/20 patients. The accuracy improved from 50% to 90%. Average SDNR increased from 0.7 {+-} 7.27 to 19.83 {+-} 15.71 (p < 0.01). Navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement is a reliable technique that can deliver diagnostic fetal MR image quality despite vigorous fetal movement. (orig.)

Gravity Matching Aided Inertial Navigation Technique Based on Marginal Robust Unscented Kalman Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the topic of gravity matching aided inertial navigation technology using Kalman filter. The dynamic state space model for Kalman filter is constructed as follows: the error equation of the inertial navigation system is employed as the process equation while the local gravity model based on 9-point surface interpolation is employed as the observation equation. The unscented Kalman filter is employed to address the nonlinearity of the observation equation. The filter is refined in two ways as follows. The marginalization technique is employed to explore the conditionally linear substructure to reduce the computational load; specifically, the number of the needed sigma points is reduced from 15 to 5 after this technique is used. A robust technique based on Chi-square test is employed to make the filter insensitive to the uncertainties in the above constructed observation model. Numerical simulation is carried out, and the efficacy of the proposed method is validated by the simulation results.

Improving Canada's Marine Navigation System through e-Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Breton

2016-06-01

The conclusion proposed is that on-going work with key partners and stakeholders can be used as the primary mechanism to identify e-Navigation related innovation and needs, and to prioritize next steps. Moving forward in Canada, implementation of new e-navigation services will continue to be stakeholder driven, and used to drive improvements to Canada's marine navigation system.

Programmable Ultra-Lightweight System Adaptable Radio Satellite Base Station

Science.gov (United States)

Varnavas, Kosta; Sims, Herb

2015-01-01

With the explosion of the CubeSat, small sat, and nanosat markets, the need for a robust, highly capable, yet affordable satellite base station, capable of telemetry capture and relay, is significant. The Programmable Ultra-Lightweight System Adaptable Radio (PULSAR) is NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) software-defined digital radio, developed with previous Technology Investment Programs and Technology Transfer Office resources. The current PULSAR will have achieved a Technology Readiness Level-6 by the end of FY 2014. The extensibility of the PULSAR will allow it to be adapted to perform the tasks of a mobile base station capable of commanding, receiving, and processing satellite, rover, or planetary probe data streams with an appropriate antenna.

Developments in Acoustic Navigation and Communication for High-Latitude Ocean Research

Science.gov (United States)

Gobat, J.; Lee, C.

2006-12-01

Developments in autonomous platforms (profiling floats, drifters, long-range gliders and propeller-driven vehicles) offer the possibility of unprecedented access to logistically difficult polar regions that challenge conventional techniques. Currently, however, navigation and telemetry for these platforms rely on satellite positioning and communications poorly suited for high-latitude applications where ice cover restricts access to the sea surface. A similar infrastructure offering basin-wide acoustic geolocation and telemetry would allow the community to employ autonomous platforms to address previously intractable problems in Arctic oceanography. Two recent efforts toward the development of such an infrastructure are reported here. As part of an observational array monitoring fluxes through Davis Strait, development of real-time RAFOS acoustic navigation for gliders has been ongoing since autumn 2004. To date, test deployments have been conducted in a 260 Hz field in the Pacific and 780 Hz fields off Norway and in Davis Strait. Real-time navigation accuracy of ~1~km is achievable. Autonomously navigating gliders will operate under ice cover beginning in autumn 2006. In addition to glider navigation development, the Davis Strait array moorings carry fixed RAFOS recorders to study propagation over a range of distances under seasonally varying ice cover. Results from the under-ice propagation and glider navigation experiments are presented. Motivated by the need to coordinate these types of development efforts, an international group of acousticians, autonomous platform developers, high-latitude oceanographers and marine mammal researchers gathered in Seattle, U.S.A. from 27 February -- 1 March 2006 for an NSF Office of Polar Programs sponsored Acoustic Navigation and Communication for High-latitude Ocean Research (ANCHOR) workshop. Workshop participants focused on summarizing the current state of knowledge concerning Arctic acoustics, navigation and communications

NFC Internal: An Indoor Navigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Busra Ozdenizci

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Indoor navigation systems have recently become a popular research field due to the lack of GPS signals indoors. Several indoors navigation systems have already been proposed in order to eliminate deficiencies; however each of them has several technical and usability limitations. In this study, we propose NFC Internal, a Near Field Communication (NFC-based indoor navigation system, which enables users to navigate through a building or a complex by enabling a simple location update, simply by touching NFC tags those are spread around and orient users to the destination. In this paper, we initially present the system requirements, give the design details and study the viability of NFC Internal with a prototype application and a case study. Moreover, we evaluate the performance of the system and compare it with existing indoor navigation systems. It is seen that NFC Internal has considerable advantages and significant contributions to existing indoor navigation systems in terms of security and privacy, cost, performance, robustness, complexity, user preference and commercial availability.

Navigating on handheld displays: Dynamic versus Static Keyhole Navigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mehra, S.; Werkhoven, P.; Worring, M.

2006-01-01

Handheld displays leave little space for the visualization and navigation of spatial layouts representing rich information spaces. The most common navigation method for handheld displays is static peephole navigation: The peephole is static and we move the spatial layout behind it (scrolling). A

Evaluation of the Terminal Sequencing and Spacing System for Performance Based Navigation Arrivals

Science.gov (United States)

Thipphavong, Jane; Jung, Jaewoo; Swenson, Harry N.; Martin, Lynne; Lin, Melody; Nguyen, Jimmy

2013-01-01

NASA has developed the Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSS) system, a suite of advanced arrival management technologies combining timebased scheduling and controller precision spacing tools. TSS is a ground-based controller automation tool that facilitates sequencing and merging arrivals that have both current standard ATC routes and terminal Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) routes, especially during highly congested demand periods. In collaboration with the FAA and MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), TSS system performance was evaluated in human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulations with currently active controllers as participants. Traffic scenarios had mixed Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) equipage, where the more advanced RNP-equipped aircraft had preferential treatment with a shorter approach option. Simulation results indicate the TSS system achieved benefits by enabling PBN, while maintaining high throughput rates-10% above baseline demand levels. Flight path predictability improved, where path deviation was reduced by 2 NM on average and variance in the downwind leg length was 75% less. Arrivals flew more fuel-efficient descents for longer, spending an average of 39 seconds less in step-down level altitude segments. Self-reported controller workload was reduced, with statistically significant differences at the p less than 0.01 level. The RNP-equipped arrivals were also able to more frequently capitalize on the benefits of being "Best-Equipped, Best- Served" (BEBS), where less vectoring was needed and nearly all RNP approaches were conducted without interruption.

Trellis-coded CPM for satellite-based mobile communications

Science.gov (United States)

Abrishamkar, Farrokh; Biglieri, Ezio

1988-01-01

Digital transmission for satellite-based land mobile communications is discussed. To satisfy the power and bandwidth limitations imposed on such systems, a combination of trellis coding and continuous-phase modulated signals are considered. Some schemes based on this idea are presented, and their performance is analyzed by computer simulation. The results obtained show that a scheme based on directional detection and Viterbi decoding appears promising for practical applications.

Smoothing of Fused Spectral Consistent Satellite Images with TV-based Edge Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sveinsson, Johannes; Aanæs, Henrik; Benediktsson, Jon Atli

2007-01-01

based on satellite data. Additionally, most conventional methods are loosely connected to the image forming physics of the satellite image, giving these methods an ad hoc feel. Vesteinsson et al. [1] proposed a method of fusion of satellite images that is based on the properties of imaging physics...... in a statistically meaningful way and was called spectral consistent panshapening (SCP). In this paper we improve this framework for satellite image fusion by introducing a better image prior, via data-dependent image smoothing. The dependency is obtained via total variation edge detection method.......Several widely used methods have been proposed for fusing high resolution panchromatic data and lower resolution multi-channel data. However, many of these methods fail to maintain the spectral consistency of the fused high resolution image, which is of high importance to many of the applications...

Hidden Markov Model-based Pedestrian Navigation System using MEMS Inertial Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Yingjun

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a foot-mounted pedestrian navigation system using MEMS inertial sensors is implemented, where the zero-velocity detection is abstracted into a hidden Markov model with 4 states and 15 observations. Moreover, an observations extraction algorithm has been developed to extract observations from sensor outputs; sample sets are used to train and optimize the model parameters by the Baum-Welch algorithm. Finally, a navigation system is developed, and the performance of the pedestrian navigation system is evaluated using indoor and outdoor field tests, and the results show that position error is less than 3% of total distance travelled.