Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.

Dmitry Konstantinovich Tokarev

Nikolay Nikolaevich Vasilyuk

Sergey Ivanovich Tychinskiy

Alexandr Vladimirovich Doronin

Mikhail Yurievich Vorobiev

Determining vehicle orientation based on GNSS signals received by three antennas that are logically combined into two pairs, with one antenna common for both pairs. GNSS receiver measures first carrier phase difference within each pair of antennas, represented as sum of an integer number of periods of the carrier frequency and a fractional part of the period. The fractional parts are used to compute orientation of the vector connecting the antennas phase centers within each pair, excluding integer ambiguity resolution. Vehicle attitude is calculated from the orientation of two non-collinear vectors with a common origin, measured by two pairs of antennas. Each antenna has an RF front end. All RF front ends, heterodynes, digital navigation processors of this receiver are clocked from one common clock oscillator. All carrier phase measurements of the three antennas are performed on a common time scale.

GNSS-based attitude determination algorithm and triple-antenna GNSS receiver for its implementation

Multichannel inertial measuring unit (MIMU) contains sensors for measurements of vector and scalar parameters of motion (angular speed, specific acceleration, magnetic field, etc.), and independent hardware interfaces to transmit measured data. Measured information is read out from MIMU via each hardware interface irrespective of other hardware interfaces. The format of data presentation for each hardware interface is randomly selected from a predefined list. Measurements from MIMU are generated by a set of sensors within a common timescale. The timescale for synchronization of sensor measurements can be both generated within MIMU by a stable clock generator and transmitted to MIMU from outside, including from one of users of measured data. MIMU also can generate synchronization signals to transmit its timescale to external users. The MIMU allows building navigation systems when the same inertial measurements are used within independent computation modules implementing different algorithms of integrating these measurements with navigation data from satellite measurements, measurements of odometer, altimeter, etc.

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Moscow, Russia

Dmitry Konstantinovich Tokarev