VirtuaLite, a new method for GPS INS Integration for the Agricultural Environment

Agricultural applications, particularly row cropping applications which are the focus of this paper, are ideal candidates for automation through their continuous and repetitive nature, high dependence on manual labour and typically being conducted in locations that have a relatively unobstructed sky view. A key part of the automation process however, is determining the location of the machinery being automated. Traditionally, GPS and INS integration through either a loosely-coupled or tightly-coupled Kalman filter has been used to provide a robust positioning solution in both the long and short term. The innovative idea to bridge GPS outages presented in this paper will outline an alternate method for INS and GPS integration utilising the existing GPS infrastructure specifically for the agricultural environment. While the focus of this paper is on agricultural applications this technique could be extended into all fields utilising an integrated GPS and INS system to derive a position solution. This paper discusses the problems associated with this new approach as well as presenting initial simulation results. Furthermore, a preliminary comparison between these simulation results and a simulation based on the traditional method for bridging GPS outages using the variable fixed method.