Waypoint navigation for an autonomous all-terrain vehicle
Basic Information
Project ID: AEE-2020-19
Students: Jani Arponen, Anand George, Sakke Jussmäki, Tommi Penttilä, Ville Piesala, Markus Sarlin
Project manager: Jani Arponen
Instructor: Badar Tabish
Other advisors: Mika Vainio
Starting date: 16.1.2020
Completion date: 29.5.2020
Abstract
Waypoint navigation in autonomous systems relies heavily in knowing the precise position of the system in question. The Polaris e-ATV used by the Aalto University's Autonomous Systems Research Group is one such system in need of more accurate positioning data. The aim for this project was to implement Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS) corrections for the Polaris, using the hardware already installed on the Polaris, with corrections provided by the National Land Survey of Finland.
The project goal was significantly altered as a result of the actions taken by the university in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project group lost all access to the hardware. The original goals of the project could not be met, but auxiliary objectives were explored and implemented. Post-processing GNSS data together with the DGNSS corrections was researched, but deemed impossible with the limited tools available during the COVID-19 lockdown. Finally, a simplified satellite based positioning system simulation was implemented in Matlab. An Extended Kalman Filter is used in estimating a simulated rovers state based only on noisy range measurements of said satellites. Future work recommendations for expanding the satellite simulation is also presented.