DYNAMIC GPS ATTITUDE DETERMINING SYSTEM FOR MARINE APPLICATIONS

A 3-DIMENSIONAL ATTITUDE SENSOR WHICH USES GPS CARRIER PHASEINTERFEROMETRY IS PROPOSED FOR ANALYSIS AND CONCEPT TESTING IN PHASE I, AND PROTOTYPING IN PHASE II. THE RESULTING SENSOR WILL BE ACCURATE AT ANY LATITUDE. ADROIT SYSTEMS PROPOSES TO ENHANCE ITS SUCCESSFUL 2-DIMENSIONAL, STATIC GPSATTITUDE DETERMINING SYSTEM (ADS) SO THAT IT WILL OPERATE UNDER DYNAMIC CONDITIONS WHILE MEASURING 3-DIMENSIONAL ATTITUDE WITH BETTER THAN 0.5 DEGREE ACCURACY AND EXCELLENT INTEGRITY. THE PROPOSED NEW USCG ADS WILL INCORPORATE AN INNOVATIVE ALGORITHM ADROIT CALLS THE ERROR CORRECTING ATTITUDE SOLUTION (ECAS) WHICH WILL REMOVE BASELINE AND ANTENNA INDUCED ERRORS, AND ELECTRICAL PATH LENGTH VARIATION. THESE TWO ERRORS ARE THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTORS TOTHE SYSTEM ERROR BUDGET. ADROIT WILL ALSO INCORPORATE OTHERINNOVATIVE SOFTWARE AND AN INNOVATIVE BASELINE ASSEMBLY TO REDUCE ERRORS CAUSED BY POOR SATELLITE GEOMETRY. THIS NEW HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WILL ENABLE THE COAST GUARD TO GET ACCURACIES COMPARABLE TO OUR PREVIOUS SYSTEM WITH A BASELINELENGTH 1/5 AS LARGE, AND FOR A SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER COST.