Tightly-Coupled INS, GPS, and Imaging Sensors for Precision Geolocation

Recent technological advances have significantly improved the capabilities of micro-air vehicles (MAV). This is evidenced by their expanding use by government, police, and military forces. AMAV can provide a real-time surveillance capability to even the smallest units, which provides commanders with a significant advantage. This capability is a result of the availability of miniaturized autopilot systemswhich typically combine inertial, pitot-static, and GPS sensors into a feedback flight-control system. While these autopilots can provide an autonomous flight capability, they have some limitations which impact their operational effectiveness. One of the primary issues is poor image geolocation performance, which limits the use of these systems for direct measurements of target locations. This poor geolocation performance is primarily a consequence of the relatively large attitude errors characteristic of low-performance inertial sensors. In previous efforts, we have developed a tightly-coupled image-aided inertial navigation system to operate in areas not serviced by GPS. This system extracts navigation information by automatically detecting and tracking stationary optical features of opportunity in the environment. One characteristic of this system is vastly reduced attitude errors, even with consumergrade inertial sensors. In this paper, the benefits of incorporating imagebased navigation techniques with inertial and GPS measurements is explored. After properly integrating GPS with the image-aided inertial architecture, Report Documentation Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 2008 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2008 to 00-00-2008 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Tightly-Coupled INS, GPS, and Imaging Sensors for Precision Geolocation 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER