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A MATLAB toolbox for attitude determination with GPS multi-antenna systems

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Abstract

In this paper a MATLAB toolbox for determining the attitude of a rigid platform by means of multiple non-dedicated antennas using global positioning system is presented. The programs embedded in this toolbox cover the RINEX data analysis, single point positioning, differential positioning, coordinate conversion, attitude determination, and other auxiliary functions. After forming the baselines through double-differenced (carrier phase smoothed) code observables, the attitude parameters are obtained by applying the direct attitude computation and the least squares attitude estimation. The theoretical background is summarized, and some hints regarding the software implementation are given in the paper. Moreover, improvements yielding an expanded functionality are proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under grant number KN 876/1-1, which is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank Steve Hilla for his comments and suggestions, and Junchuan Zhou for his help in operating the RF GPS signal simulator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Sensorsystems (ZESS), University of Siegen, 57068, Siegen, Germany

    Zhen Dai, Stefan Knedlik & Otmar Loffeld

Authors
  1. Zhen Dai
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  2. Stefan Knedlik
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  3. Otmar Loffeld
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhen Dai.

Additional information

The GPS Tool Box is a column dedicated to highlighting algorithms and source code utilized by GPS engineers and scientists. If you have an interesting program or software package you would like to share with our readers, please pass it along; e-mail it to us at gps-toolbox@ngs.noaa.gov. To comment on any of the source code discussed here, or to download source code, visit our website at http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/gps-toolbox. This column is edited by Stephen Hilla, National Geodetic Survey, NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Mike Craymer, Geodetic Survey Division, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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Dai, Z., Knedlik, S. & Loffeld, O. A MATLAB toolbox for attitude determination with GPS multi-antenna systems. GPS Solut 13, 241–248 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-008-0108-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-008-0108-x

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