A HIGH ACCURACY ABSOLUTE NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM FOR RAPID RUNWAY REPAIRERS

NAVIGATION OF FIELD MOBILE ROBOTIC SYSTEMS REQUIRES A MEANS FOR THE ROBOTIC SYSTEM TO DETERMINE ITS ABSOLUTE LOCATION. THE USUSAL MEANS IS TO USE A VEHICLE INTERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM WHICH IS PERIODICALLY UPDATED BY A GPS OR LORAN C RECEIVER. UNFORTUNATELY, GPS AND LORAN CAN ONLY PROVIDE ABSOLUTE POSITIONAL ACCURACY TO WITHIN 5 METERS OR SO WHICH LIMITS THE COMBINED INS/GPS/LORAN SYSTEM TO ABOUT THE SAME. ALSO, GPS AND LORAN C CAN BE JAMMED OR INTERFERED WITH BY LARGE CONDUCTIVE STRUCTURES (LIKE AIRCRAFT, BUILDINGS, OR REINFORCING STRUCTURES). IN THIS EFFORT WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN ALTERNATIVE NAVIGATIONAL METHOD WHICH USES A COMBINATION OF DOWN-LOOKING GROUND TRACKING AND VERY INFREQUENTLY MOUNTED TARGETS TO PROVIDE RF FREE HIGHLY ACCURATE MOBILE SYSTEMS LOCATION DETERMINATION CAPABILITY.