Towards a Cyber-Physical Range for the Integrated Navigation System (INS)

The e-navigation concept was introduced by the IMO to enhance berth-to-berth navigation towards enhancing environmental protection, and safety and security at sea by leveraging technological advancements. Even though a number of e-navigation testbeds including some recognized by the IALA exist, they pertain to parts only of the Integrated Navigation System (INS) concept. Moreover, existing e-navigation and bridge testbeds do not have a cybersecurity testing functionality, therefore they cannot be used for assessing the cybersecurity posture of the INS. With cybersecurity concerns on the rise in the maritime domain, it is important to provide such capability. In this paper we review existing bridge testbeds, IMO regulations, and international standards, to first define a reference architecture for the INS and then to develop design specifications for an INS Cyber-Physical Range, i.e., an INS testbed with cybersecurity testing functionality.

Graph-optimisation-based self-calibration method for IMU/odometer using preintegration theory

Determination of calibration parameters is essential for the fusion performance of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and odometer integrated navigation system. Traditional calibration methods are commonly based on the filter frame, which limits the improvement of the calibration accuracy. This paper proposes a graph-optimisation-based self-calibration method for the IMU/odometer using preintegration theory. Different from existing preintegrations, the complete IMU/odometer preintegration model is derived, which takes into consideration the effects of the scale factor of the odometer, and misalignments in the attitude and position between the IMU and odometer. Then the calibration is implemented by the graph-optimisation method. The KITTI dataset and field experimental tests are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results illustrate that the proposed method outperforms the filter-based calibration method. Meanwhile, the performance of the proposed IMU/odometer preintegration model is optimal compared with the traditional preintegration models.

Covariance matrix transformation method in all-earth integrated navigation considering coordinate frame conversion

In the exploration of polar region, navigation is one of the most important issues to be resolved. To avoid the limitations of single navigation coordinate frame, the navigation systems usually use different navigation coordinate frames in polar and nonpolar region, such as the north-oriented geographic frame and the grid frame. However, the error states and covariance matrix are related with the definition of navigation coordinate frame, since the coordinate frame conversion will cause the integrated navigation Kalman filter overshoot and error discontinuity. To solve this problem, the transformation relationship of error states defined in different frames is deduced, whereby the covariance matrix transformation relationship is also analyzed. On this basis, covariance transformation-based the open-loop and the closed-loop Kalman filter integrated navigation algorithms are proposed. The effectiveness of algorithms is verified by flight tests with rotational strapdown inertial navigation system (RSINS)/global navigation satellite system (GNSS) integrated navigation system.

Simulation Experiment and Analysis of GNSS/INS/LEO/5G Integrated Navigation Based on Federated Filtering Algorithm

This article examines the positioning effect of integrated navigation after adding an LEO constellation signal source and a 5G ranging signal source in the context of China’s new infrastructure construction. The tightly coupled Kalman federal filters are used as the algorithm framework. Each signal source required for integrated navigation is simulated in this article. At the same time, by limiting the range of the azimuth angle and visible height angle, different experimental scenes are simulated to verify the contribution of the new signal source to the traditional satellite navigation, and the positioning results are analyzed. Finally, the article compares the distribution of different federal filtering information factors and reveals the method of assigning information factors when combining navigation with sensors with different precision. The experimental results show that the addition of LEO constellation and 5G ranging signals improves the positioning accuracy of the original INS/GNSS by an order of magnitude and ensures a high degree of positioning continuity. Moreover, the experiment shows that the federated filtering algorithm can adapt to the combined navigation mode in different scenarios by combining different precision sensors for navigation positioning.

INTEGRATED NAVIGATION METHOD OF ELECTRIC FORKLIFT BASED ON IMPROVED UKF ALGORITHM

Aiming at the problem of inaccurate navigation and positioning of electric forklifts in a complex environment with multiple placement racks when carrying stored crops in a warehouse, this paper proposes a combined navigation and positioning system based on information fusion of LiDAR and inertial measurement units. The method proposed in this paper improves the traditional EKF algorithm by introducing factors affecting the prior covariance matrix and changing the weights of processing old and new data in the filtering equation to achieve the desired goal of suppressing system dispersion and to accomplish accurate estimation of the position of electric forklifts in the storage room. The simulation of robot positioning and navigation in indoor environment shows that the improved algorithm improves the position estimation accuracy by about 30% compared with the traditional algorithm, the new algorithm can effectively improve the efficiency of electric forklift for handling and storage, and it can ensure the robustness of robot position estimation.

Clustering Algorithm for Vehicle’s Driving Data Feature based on Integrated Navigation

The clustering result of K-means clustering algorithm is affected by the initial clustering center and the clustering result is not always global optimal. Therefore, the clustering analysis of vehicle’s driving data feature based on integrated navigation is carried out based on global K-means clustering algorithm. The vehicle mathematical model based on GPS/DR integrated navigation is constructed and the vehicle’s driving data based on GPS/DR integrated navigation, such as vehicle acceleration, are collected. After extracting the vehicle’s driving data features, the feature parameters of vehicle’s driving data are dimensionally reduced based on kernel principal component analysis to reduce the redundancy of feature parameters. The global K-means clustering algorithm converts clustering problem into a series of sub-cluster clustering problems. At the end of each iteration, an incremental method is used to select the next cluster of optimal initial centers. After determining the optimal clustering number, the feature clustering of vehicle’s driving data is completed. The experimental results show that the global K-means clustering algorithm has a clustering error of only 1.37% for vehicle’s driving data features and achieves high precision clustering for vehicle’s driving data features.

Research on the Shearer Positioning Method Based on the MEMS Inertial Sensors/Odometer Integrated Navigation System and RTS Smoother

The shearer positioning method with an inertial measurement unit and the odometer is feasible in the longwall coal-mining process. However, the positioning accuracy will continue to decrease, especially for the micro-electromechanical inertial measurement unit (MIMU). In order to further improve the positioning accuracy of the shearer without adding other external sensors, the positioning method of the Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoother-aided MIMU and odometer is proposed. A Kalman filter (KF) with the velocity and position measurements, which are provided by the odometer and closing path optimal estimation model (CPOEM), respectively, is established. The observability analysis is discussed to study the possible conditions under which the error states of KF can be estimated. A RTS smoother with the above-mentioned KF as the forward filter is built. Finally, the experiments of simulating the movement of the shearer through a mobile carrier were carried out, with a longitudinal movement distance of 44.6 m and a lateral advance distance of 1.2 m. The results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the positioning accuracy. In addition, the odometer scale factor and mounting angles can be estimated in real time.