A Novel Coarse Alignment Method for SINS Using Special Orthogonal Group Optimal Estimation

Aimed at the alignment problem of strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) on the swing base, a novel coarse alignment method using special orthogonal group optimal estimation is proposed. There are two main contributions in this paper. First, based on the Lie group differential equation, the rotation matrix is updated directly by using error Lie algebra, which avoids the non-convexity of traditional methods and the need for non-collinear vector observation. Second is that a novel optimal estimation method is developed by using the exact error Lie algebra, which is calculated based on the physical definition of Lie algebra, as the innovation term to compensate the initial special orthogonal group in the estimation process. The asymptotic convergence of the proposed optimal estimation method is proved by Lyapunov’s second law. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits better performance than existing methods in alignment accuracy and time, which can achieve the self-alignment of SINS on the swing base.