A system and method is provided for tracking and maintaining a highly
accurate inventory of shipping containers that are stored within
container storage facilities. The invention includes using multiple
complementary real-time and post-processing positioning techniques
associated with various positioning sensors that are associated with
inventory pieces or equipment. Examples of such positioning techniques
are DGPS, GPS with RTK, DGPS loosely-coupled with INS, DGPS
tightly-coupled with INS, and DGPS deeply-coupled with INS. Data
correction and fusion techniques are applied to these positioning stages
to re-compute a calibrated position with an improved accuracy. An
additional trajectory can be iteratively determined using the fusing
technique until the position data becomes statistically trustworthy.
Further, combinations of multiple real-time positioning techniques
combined with past position error correction algorithms provide a high
accuracy needed for inventory tracking.