Hybrid positioning a prototype system for navigation in GPS-challenged environments

The integration of several technologies such as satellite (GNSS including GIS) and terrestrial ranging systems, inertial navigation systems (INS), laser guidance/scanning systems, and even electro optical devices such as surveyors total stations or laser scanners offers navigation in GPS challenged environments. GPS and Locata have high positioning accuracy in open or moderately obstructed environment, but they ate sensitive to signal blockage in dense forests and urban canyons. The most common data processing to integrate GPS and INS is the Kalman filter, which forms the basis for multi sensor integration. The implementation of the filter will be flexible, so adjustments can be made to account for actual environmental conditions. The test experiment demonstrates a proof of concept of a triple integration GPS/INS/Locata system.