Single Seven State Discrete Time Extended Kalman Filter for Micro Air Vehicle

The term Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) is used for a new type of remotely controlled, semi-autonomous or autonomous aircraft that is significantly smaller than conventional aircrafts. To apply Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) inertial sensors for the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) of Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is an extremely challenging area. The major components of the control system of micro air vehicles are the onboard sensors. This paper presents an approach for the implementation of on board sensors for Micro Air Vehicles and the application of a Seven State Discrete Time Extended Kalman Filter. On-board sensors are linked to the Ground Control Station (GCS). This paper presents an approach of applying an Inertial Navigation System (INS) using MEMS inertial sensors and Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver with a Single Seven State Discrete Time Extended Kalman Filter. Inertial navigation system (INS) includes MEMS gyro, accelerometer, magnetometer and barometer. MEMS inertial sensors are of utmost importance in the GNC system. The system considered is non-linear and it is first linearized for application of the Kalman Filter. A Single Seven State Discrete Time Extended Kalman Filter is used for state estimation. Process covariance matrix and measurement covariance matrix are derived.