Small Light-Weight Precision Localization and Geo-registration System

Airborne navigation, reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting are critical missions that must be performed by the U.S. military in environments where reliable GPS services are unavailable or intentionally denied. Vision-aided inertial navigation has the potential to satisfy this need, though many of the existing approaches are not well suited for on-board application in the turbulent flight environment experienced with small UAV platforms. To provide a robust capability applicable from small UAVs to manned systems, CDI and SARA, Inc. have teamed to develop the Geo-Vision LOS/INS. This solution uses a flight-proven combination of inertially stabilized cameras and centralized optimal estimation. Landmark tracking provides precision geo-registration and accurate estimation of the platform’s position, velocity and orientation. Between landmark updates, feature/target tracking maintains the solution accuracy and provides precision localization and feature/target location estimation. To establish the technical feasibility of our approach, Phase I will develop performance predictions for typical mission scenarios and verify those predictions through ground tests with a proof-of-concept system on a moving vehicle. Applicable to a small UAV, this testbed consists of a low-cost MEMs IMU co-located with a small digital camera. Using an established network of industrial support, Phase II will develop a tightly integrated prototype and conduct flight testing on a UAV for system performance characterization and tuning. Upon completion of Phase II, our team will take the Geo-Vision LOS/INS system into production.