A SYSTEM FOR UPDATING AN INS

A SYSTEM IS PROPOSED FOR UPDATING THE INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM ABOARD A RAPID RUNWAY REPAIR ROBOT, ASSOCIATED WITH 3 CONCEPTS FORMING A NEW AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH: RING LASER GYRO STRAPDOWN SYSTEM OF INS; KALMAN FILTER SOFTWARE. WHEN COMBINED IN A UNIFIED SYSTEM, THEY CAN ACHIEVE THE SOLICITATION'S GOALS. THE NEW SURVEYING TECHNOLOGY IS THE INSTRUMENT GEODIMETER 4000. IT CAN TRACK AND MEASURE TO A MOVING TARGET (RRR ROBOT) AUTOMATICALLY IN "TRACKING MODE", WHERE IT OPERATES UNATTENDED SUITABLE FOR USE IN A HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT, PROVIDING COMPLETE POSITIONAL INFORMATION (SLANT RANGE, HORIZONTAL RANGE, HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL ANGLES) OF HIGH ACCURACY. THE PROPOSED INS EMPLOYS A STRAPDOWN SYSTEM WITH THE RING LASER GYRO, WHICH USES OPTICAL PRINCIPLES AS OPPOSED TO MECHANICAL ONES USED BY THE GIMBALED SYSTEM; THUS, MANY MOVING PARTS AND A LENGTHY PROCESS OF INITIALIZATION ARE ELIMINATED. THIS SYSTEM IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE COMMON, AND WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY LESS EXPENSIVE THAN THE GIMBALED SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED KALMAN FILTER USES ALL AVAILABLE DATA, PAST AND PRESENT; OBSERVATIONS FROM THE INS, THE GEODIMETER 4000, AND THE ATTITUDE SENSORS. THE KALMAN FILTER UPDATES THE INS OPTIMALLY AND REDUNDANTLY IN REALTIME; THUS, ALL AVAILABLE DATA ARE USED TO PROTECT THE ROBOT.