Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Marcello Napolitano.

Abstract

The estimation of a precise user's position is a difficult and complex problem. In addition, the use of geodetic grade position instruments is often not possible for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAV) systems. However, the availability of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and International GNSS Service (IGS) predicted product data allows an attempt to increase the precision of a navigation algorithm, which is the aim in this thesis.;The utilization of this information within an algorithm work environment is a complex problem, requiring the development of multiple tools in order to use and access the IGS raw and product data. Therefore, the overall goal of this research project was the development of these tools using MATLAB RTM. The IGS information provided by these tools allows access to a particular set of product and raw data files. The available predicted product data is used to increase the precision of the position estimate for a real-time application. Within this, the conversion from a long time interval to a fast update rate was determined. The use of this information requires these tools to also include important orbit determinations of the GPS satellites.;The use of only precise satellite position information from the developed MATLAB tools is evaluated by a comparison of a position estimation algorithm using recorded satellite position information and the developed satellite position information from the IGS predicted data. The results show an increase in performance of position estimation with the use of the created MATLAB tools. A discussion in how the use of the created tools could further be expanded to increase the accuracy and precision of a position estimation algorithm is presented.

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