A horizontal navigation system aided by a carrier phase differential
Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and a Laser-Scanner (LS) for an
Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV). The high accuracy vehicle navigation
system is highly demanded for advanced AGVs. Although high positioning
accuracy is achievable by a high performance RTK-GPS receiver, the
performance should be considerably degraded in a high-blockage
environment due to tall buildings and other obstacles. The present
navigation system is to provide decimetre-level positioning accuracy in
such a severe environment for precise GPS positioning. The horizontal
navigation system is composed of a low cost Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG) and a
precise odometer. The navigation errors are estimated using a tightly
coupled Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The measurements of the EKF are
double differenced code and carrier phase from a dual frequency GPS
receiver and relative positions derived from laser scanner measurements.