Global Observability Analysis of Rotational MEMS Inertial Navigation System for Land Vehicle Applications.

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Autonomous Systems
• Navigation and Control Systems
• Sensor Fusion

Background:

• Micro-Electromechanical Systems-Inertial Navigation Systems (MEMS-INS) are crucial for autonomous vehicles operating without Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
• The accuracy limitations of traditional MEMS inertial sensors restrict their widespread use in demanding navigation applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel integrated navigation system utilizing a rotating MEMS architecture to overcome inherent sensor accuracy constraints.
• To enhance the estimation accuracy of attitude and velocity while mitigating long-term error accumulation in GNSS-denied environments.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a rotating MEMS architecture for inertial navigation.
• Global observability analysis to enable effective separation of sensor biases.
• Comparative analysis of rotating versus fixed MEMS configurations through simulations and road tests.

Main Results:

• A rotation scheme around the X-axis was found to reliably estimate sensor biases.
• The rotating configuration demonstrated superior performance over fixed systems during dynamic angular velocity changes.
• Significant error reductions were observed: 75.3% in heading, 62.9% in position, and 76.0% in velocity.

Conclusions:

• The proposed rotating MEMS architecture effectively mitigates sensor biases and long-term error accumulation.
• This novel approach substantially improves navigation accuracy for autonomous vehicles in GNSS-denied conditions.
• The rotating MEMS-INS offers a viable solution for enhancing the reliability and precision of autonomous vehicle operation.