Sigma-Point Kalman Filters for Integrated Navigation

Core to integrated navigation systems is the concept of fusing noisy observations from GPS, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), and other available sensors. The current industry standard and most widely used algorithm for this purpose is the extended Kalman filter (EKF) [6]. The EKF combines the sensor measurements with predictions coming from a model of vehicle motion (either dynamic or kinematic), in order to generate an estimate of the current navigational state (position, velocity, and attitude). This paper points out the inherent shortcomings in using the EKF and presents, as an alternative, a family of improved derivativeless nonlinear Kalman filters called sigma-point Kalman filters (SPKF). We demonstrate the improved state estimation performance of the SPKF by applying it to the problem of loosely coupled GPS/INS integration. A novel method to account for latency in the GPS updates is also developed for the SPKF (such latency compensation is typically inaccurate or not practical with the EKF). A UAV (rotor-craft) test platform is used to demonstrate the results. Performance metrics indicate an approximate 30% error reduction in both attitude and position estimates relative to the baseline EKF implementation.