An integrated GPS/MEMS-IMU navigation system for an autonomous helicopter

During the last years, there is an increasing demand for cheap and easy to operate platforms for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes. Therefore, the development of micro aerial vehicles is receiving an increasing attention. However, VTOL-MAVs often show an inherent instability that makes at least an automatic stabilization necessary, because otherwise the operator would not be able to keep these vehicles airborne. This requires the availability of navigation information, especially the vehicle's attitude has to be known. This paper addresses the development of an integrated navigation system based on MEMS inertial sensors and GPS for a VTOL-MAV. Special attention is paid to the handling of GPS outages. While usually periods without GPS aiding can be bridged using the unaided strapdown solution, the poor quality of the MEMS inertial sensors prohibits this approach here. Therefore, during GPS outages the accelerometer data is interpreted as approximate measurements of the local gravity vector. Additionally, the usage of a magnetometer providing measurements of the Earth's magnetic field is motivated and discussed. Finally, flight test results illustrate the performance of the resulting system, proving that the achieved attitude accuracy is sufficient for the automatic control of the MAV. This holds in situations with permanent GPS loss and dynamic maneuvering, too. (C) 2006 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.