Filter design for attitude determination using GPS and gyro: frequency domain approach

A constant gain estimator is proposed to integrate the GPS and gyro measurements for aircraft attitude determination. Through frequency domain approach, a pair of high pass and low pass filters are employed. Concerning GPS and gyros errors, we apply power spectral density (PSD) properties to select the cut-off frequencies. Once these values are determined, we can derive the associated Kalman gains. Since the PSD specifications of gyros are provided by equipment manufactory, the Kalman gains can be designed in advance. The reduction of the burdens of online computations, which are unavoidable in the traditional Kalman, make our algorithms suitable for real systems. From the assessment of software simulations, the proposed filter is sound and effective.