Method and apparatus for inertial guidance for an automobile navigation system

Abstract

The present invention discloses an improved vehicular inertial guidance navigation system, a.k.a. a dead reckoning system for navigation of a vehicle. The inertial guidance navigation system which may be used alone or in combination with other position determination means, such as GPS and map databases, to determine the location of a vehicle. The dead reckoning system has several advantages over existing systems. First, it can be easily mounted to the chassis of any vehicle. Second, it does not require any interface with existing sensors on the vehicle. Third, the system contains logic for removing errors in the position and heading determinations, brought about by angulation/rotation of the chassis and inertial guidance sensors, brought about by inclination or tilt of the chassis, with respect to an inertial/quasi-inertial frame of reference, such as the earth. The inertial guidance system includes: an inertial guidance sensor, a translation unit, and a logic unit. The inertial guidance sensor is suitable for coupling to the vehicle. The inertial guidance sensor senses motion of the vehicle in a non-inertial frame of reference and forming a sensor signal corresponding thereto. The translation unit is coupled to receive the sensor signal formed by the inertial guidance sensor. The translation unit translates the sensor signal into a quasi-inertial frame of reference and forms a translated signal corresponding thereto. The logic unit receives the translated signal formed by the translation unit and converts converting the translated signal into an estimated position and heading of the vehicle.