Abstract
An attitude estimation method which is robust for accelerative environment and applicable to small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using low-cost gyroscope, magnetometer and global positioning system (GPS) receiver is developed. The accelerometer, which is essentially used for attitude heading reference system degrades the accuracy of estimated attitude when the UAV is under accelerative maneuver. For this reason, the accelerometer is excluded from the proposed method. On the other hand, pseudo-attitude, which is estimated from velocity measurement of the GPS receiver is easy to implement and provides stable attitude information for long term. However, it has low-rated output, time lag and deviation from true attitude. In order to complement the deviation of pseudo-attitude, magnetic-pitch angle determination method, which extracts the pitch angle information from magnetic vector in addition to yaw angle is developed in this study. Moreover, the time lag of pseudo-attitude is modeled using error of pseudo-attitude and time constant. Using this model, the time lag of pseudo-attitude is effectively compensated without large memory or computational load. Finally, the pseudo-attitude, magnetic-attitude and gyroscope measurement are fused based on Euler angle. As a result, an attitude which is high-rated and robust against acceleration is achieved. The proposed method is verified through both of the simulation and flight test. The results show that the proposed method maintains stable attitude accuracy even if the aircraft experiences sudden or continuous acceleration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appel P (2005) Attitude estimation from magnetometer and earth-albedo-corrected coarse sun sensor measurements. Acta Astronaut 56(1–2):115–126
Brown RG, Hwang PY (1992) Introduction to random signals and applied Kalman filtering. Wiley, New York
Cho A, Kim J, Lee S, Choi S, Lee B, Kim B, Park N, Kim D, Kee C (2007) Fully automatic taxiing, takeoff and landing of a UAV only with a single-antenna GPS receiver. In: AIAA Infotech at Aerospace 2007 conference and exhibit, Proceedings, AIAA
Cohen CE, Parkinson BW, McNally BD (1994) Flight tests of attitude determination using GPS compared against an inertial measurement unit. Navigation 41(1):83–98
Diebel J (2006) Representing attitude: Euler angles, unit quaternions, and rotation vectors. Stanford University Technical Report, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Gebre-Egziabher D (2004) Design and performance analysis of a low-cost aided dead reckoning navigator. Dissertation, Stanford University
Gebre-Egziabher D, Elkaim GH (2008) MAV attitude determination by vector matching. IEEE Trans Aerosp Electron Syst 44(3):1012–1028
Gebre-Egziabher D, Hayward RC, Powell JD (1998) A low-cost GPS/inertial attitude heading reference system (AHRS) for general aviation applications. In: IEEE position location and navigation symposium, pp 518–525
Gebre-Egziabher D, Hayward RC, Powell JD (2004) Design of multi-sensor attitude determination systems. IEEE Trans Aerosp Electron Syst 40(2):627–649
Jang J, Kee C (2006) Flight test of attitude determination system using multiple GPS antennae. J Navig 59(1):119–133
Jung D, Tsiotras P (2007) Inertial attitude and position reference system development for a small UAV. In: AIAA Infotech at Aerospace 2007 conference and exhibit, Proceedings, AIAA
Jurman D, Jankovec M, Kamnik R, Topič M (2007) Calibration and data fusion solution for the miniature attitude and heading reference system. Sens Actuators A Phys 138(2):411–420
Kingston D, Beard R (2004) Real-time attitude and position estimation for small UAVs using low-cost sensors. In: AIAA 3rd “Unmanned Unlimited” technical conference, workshop and exhibit, Proceedings, AIAA. doi:10.2514/6.2004-6488
Kornfeld RP, Hansman RJ, Deyst JJ (1998) Single-antenna GPS-based aircraft attitude determination. Navigation 45(1):51–60
Lai YC, Jan SS (2010) Attitude estimation based on fusion of gyroscopes and single antenna GPS for small UAVs under the influence of vibration. GPS Solut 15(1):67–77
Lai YC, Jan SS, Hsiao FB (2010) Development of a low-cost attitude and heading reference system using a three-axis rotating platform. Sensors. doi:10.3390/s100402472
Lee S, Lee T, Park S, Kee C (2003) Flight test results of UAV automatic control using a single-antenna GPS receiver. In: AIAA guidance, navigation, and control conference, Proceedings, AIAA
Maus S, McLean S, Hamilton B, Thomson A, Nair M, Rollins C (2010) The US/UK world magnetic model for 2010–2015. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS/NGDC
Park S, Kee C (2006) Enhanced method for single-antenna GPS-based attitude determination. Aircr Eng Aerosp Technol 78(3):236–243
Psiaki ML, Powell SP, Kintner PM (2000) Accuracy of the global positioning system-derived acceleration vector. J Guid Control Dyn 23(3):532–538
Sabatini AM (2006) Quaternion-based extended Kalman filter for determining orientation by inertial and magnetic sensing. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 53(7):1346–1356
Simon D (2006) Optimal state estimation: Kalman, H infinity, and nonlinear approaches. Wiley, New Jersey
Teper GL (1969) Aircraft stability and control data (NASA CR-96008). Systems Technology, Inc.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from the Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science & Technology funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2013 (Project: A Study on Satellite based Position Tracking Technology for Calamity Prevention and Public Safety Improvement), which was contracted through SNU-IAMD.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
No, H., Cho, A. & Kee, C. Attitude estimation method for small UAV under accelerative environment. GPS Solut 19, 343–355 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-014-0391-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-014-0391-7