Application of microwave motion sensors in navigation systems for ground vehicle

Dmitrii, Khablov · 2019 · DOAJ

DOI: 10.1051/itmconf/20193012004

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Summary

This paper addresses the challenge of achieving accurate, continuous positioning for ground vehicles in environments where Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are unavailable or unreliable, such as indoors or in areas with poor reception. The authors identify that traditional Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), commonly used as autonomous backups, are ineffective for terrestrial applications due to cumulative errors from double integration of accelerometer data and sensitivity to vehicle-specific factors like mass, friction, and air resistance. Consequently, the study proposes an alternative autonomous navigation solution based on modular radar Doppler sensors operating in the millimeter-wave microwave spectrum. The proposed system utilizes two antennas emitting continuous microwave radiation at specific angles relative to the vehicle’s direction of motion. By analyzing the Doppler shift of signals reflected from the road surface, the system measures the velocity vector and drift angle. The paper details two processing algorithms: one for calculating instantaneous velocity via correlation of quadrature mixer outputs, and a more advanced method for the direct continuous measurement of displacement. This direct method involves counting the number of half-periods of the Doppler signal over fixed time intervals to determine displacement vectors directly, rather than integrating velocity over time. This approach eliminates the error accumulation inherent in INS. The system is designed to operate in a hybrid configuration, where radar data is fused with periodic GNSS corrections using a Kalman filter to maintain long-term accuracy. The findings demonstrate that direct displacement measurement significantly reduces cumulative positioning errors compared to INS. The authors provide mathematical derivations showing that displacement can be calculated with an error margin of approximately half the wavelength of the Doppler signal, which remains constant regardless of sudden changes in vehicle speed. Simulation results, illustrated through figures of a simulated route and GNSS error reduction, confirm that the Kalman filter effectively merges radar and GNSS data, resulting in decreased errors along both east and north axes. The radar system proves robust against the dynamic conditions of ground transport that typically degrade INS performance. The significance of this work lies in offering a cost-effective, lightweight, and accurate alternative to INS for ground vehicle navigation. By avoiding the integration processes that cause error drift and eliminating dependencies on vehicle physical properties, the microwave Doppler sensor system provides reliable autonomous positioning. This technology is particularly promising for automated land transport management, enabling continuous navigation in GNSS-denied environments without the high costs and accuracy limitations associated with traditional inertial systems.

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