GPS aided strapdown inertial navigation system for autonomous robotics applications

In this article the development and implementation of a Navigation System (NS) for autonomous mobile robotic applications is presented. The NS is based on a Global Positioning System (GPS) aided Inertial Navigation System (INS) using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) sensor fusion algorithm. The development stage of the NS was carried out in simulation using real sensor data from tests. The system was implemented as a Robotic Operating System (ROS) node. Field test were performed on a Pioneer P3-AT mobile robot. The NS presented benefits from the heterogeneity, integration and hardware abstraction advantages of the ROS. The experimental results of the presented NS show a very good performance that will allow the migration to other platforms such as Autonomous Surface and Underwater Vehicles (ASV and AUV) in which the INTELYMEC-CIFICEN-UNCPBA group is working.