Impact of Motion-Dependent Errors on the Accuracy of an Unaided Strapdown Inertial Navigation System

Abstract

The selection of an appropriate measurement system for an inertial navigation system requires an analysis of the impact of sensor errors on the position and orientation determination accuracy to ensure that the selected solution is cost-effective and complies with the requirements. In the current literature, this problem is solved based on the navigation duration only by considering the time-dependent errors due to sensor bias and random walk parameters or by conducting numerous simulations. In the former case, oversimplifying the analysis will not allow accurate values to be determined, while the latter method does not provide direct insight into the emerging dependencies. In contrast, this article introduces an analytic approach with a detailed model. This article presents general formulas, also written in detail for the measurement system model adopted and various manoeuvres. Although general equations are complicated, the use of piecewise constant motion variables allow us to discern fragments of equations corresponding to individual error sources. The results confirm the effect the carouseling has on the reduction of navigation errors. The general formulas presented extend the potential to analyse the influence of the entire host vehicle motion, while the detailed formulas make dependencies between motion and navigational errors evident.