Data fusion techniques and positioning estimation for land vehicle navigation systems: an overview

In this paper, we will review the problem of estimating in real-time the position of a vehicle for use in land navigation systems. After describing the application context and giving a definition of the problem, we will look at the mathematical framework and technologies involved to design positioning systems. We will compare the performance of some of the most popular data fusion approaches and provide some insights on their limitations and capabilities. We will then look at the case of robustness of the positioning system when one or some of the sensors are faulty. We will describe how the positioning system can be made more robust and adaptive in order to take account the occurrence of faulty sensors. Finally, we will go one step further and explore possible architectures for collaborative positioning systems whereas many vehicles are interacting and exchanging data to improve their own location estimate. We close the paper with some concluding remarks on the future evolution of the field.