An Artificial Neural Network Embedded Position and Orientation Determination Algorithm for Low Cost MEMS INS/GPS Integrated Sensors

Digital mobile mapping, which integrates digital imaging with direct geo-referencing, has developed rapidly over the past fifteen years. Direct geo-referencing is the determination of the time-variable position and orientation parameters for a mobile digital imager. The most common technologies used for this purpose today are satellite positioning using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). They are usually integrated in such a way that the GPS receiver is the main position sensor, while the IMU is the main orientation sensor. The Kalman Filter (KF) is considered as the optimal estimation tool for real-time INS/GPS integrated kinematic position and orientation determination. An intelligent hybrid scheme consisting of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and KF has been proposed to overcome the limitations of KF and to improve the performance of the INS/GPS integrated system in previous studies. However, the accuracy requirements of general mobile mapping applications can’t be achieved easily, even by the use of the ANN-KF scheme. Therefore, this study proposes an intelligent position and orientation determination scheme that embeds ANN with conventional Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoother to improve the overall accuracy of a MEMS INS/GPS integrated system in post-mission mode. By combining the Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) INS/GPS integrated system and the intelligent ANN-RTS smoother scheme proposed in this study, a cheaper but still reasonably accurate position and orientation determination scheme can be anticipated.