Case Studies
May 19, 2016

Integrated Navigation System for a Low-Cost Quadrotor Aerial Vehicle in the Presence of Rotor Influences

Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 1

Abstract

The performance of navigation sensors may be seriously affected by the operating rotors of a drone. To address this kind of disturbance, a low-cost multisensor integrated navigation system was developed for a quadrotor aerial vehicle (QAV). The navigation board integrates a global positioning system (GPS) module, triaxial gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, and a digital barometer. The sensors’ outputs were mathematically modeled and subsequently used in the integration Kalman filter. The data processing consisted of several steps: prefiltering, centralized filtering, and feedback. On the basis of onboard tests, the stochastic models of sensors were established in the presence of vibration, revolution, and ventilation caused by the QAV rotor’s operation, and in particular, its electromagnetic and aerodynamic characteristics. Flight experiments indicate that the proposed integrated navigation system can significantly improve flight accuracy and reliability.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Key Laboratory of Precise Engineering and Industry Surveying of National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation (NASG; PF2015-11), Key Laboratory of Land Environment and Disaster Monitoring (LEDM2014B09).

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Go to Journal of Surveying Engineering
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 143Issue 1February 2017

History

Received: Jun 19, 2015
Accepted: Mar 21, 2016
Published online: May 19, 2016
Discussion open until: Oct 19, 2016
Published in print: Feb 1, 2017

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Authors

Affiliations

Associate Professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Visiting Fellow, State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth's Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China; Visiting Fellow, Surveying and Geospatial Engineering School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Yong Li
Senior Research Fellow, Surveying and Geospatial Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
Jianfeng Zhang
Master’s Candidate, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
Chris Rizos
Professor, Surveying and Geospatial Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.

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