Peer-to-Peer Laser Ranging for GPS-Denied Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing positioning and navigation systems face challenges in areas with limited or no GPS capability, such as thick wilderness or rugged terrain, due to error-prone dead-reckoning methods and the cumbersome nature of alternative technologies like inertial measurement units, which often drift over time and distance.
Innovation Solution
A leapfrogging scheme using two or more nodes that combine map and compass orienteering with collaborative positioning and field surveying, employing ranging and directional measurements with tools like laser range finders to track positions with high precision, reducing positional errors to about 1-3% per distance traveled.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dead-reckoning methods are used for navigation in GPS-denied areas, then navigation can be performed without external aids, but positional accuracy deteriorates with increasing distance and time due to error drift
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring relative positions between team members using peer-to-peer ranging measurements. Each member's position is constantly updated based on distance and bearing measurements from others, allowing the system to detect and correct drift errors in real-time rather than allowing them to accumulate over distance and time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses other team members as intermediary reference points for positioning. Instead of relying solely on self-motion tracking which accumulates error, each member serves as a moving reference frame for others, with relative positions continuously measured and used to correct individual position estimates, thereby maintaining accuracy without external GPS references.
2Measurement precision
If inertial measurement units are used for high positional accuracy, then positioning precision is improved, but device complexity and portability worsen due to bulky equipment requiring boot-mounting
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables team members to serve each other's positioning needs through peer-to-peer ranging. Each member's device uses measurements from other team members to determine its own position, eliminating the need for complex inertial measurement units. The team collectively provides the positioning function that would otherwise require bulky specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The peer-to-peer ranging device performs multiple functions: it measures distance and bearing to other team members, calculates relative positions, provides navigation guidance, and maintains positional accuracy over long distances. This multi-functional approach replaces the need for specialized inertial measurement units while achieving similar or better performance.
3Device complexity
If traditional map and compass navigation is used, then equipment requirements are minimized, but navigation efficiency and accuracy worsen due to difficulty in rugged terrain and lack of prominent landmarks
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical map-and-compass navigation method with an electronic peer-to-peer ranging system. Instead of manually interpreting maps and taking compass bearings in difficult terrain, team members use electronic devices to automatically measure distances and directions to each other, with the system computing positions and providing guidance, thereby significantly improving navigation efficiency while maintaining simple equipment requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for accurate long-distance navigation with minimal equipment and computational resources, suitable for rugged terrain and GPS-denied areas, providing high positional tracking accuracy for search-and-rescue teams and other mobile groups.
Implementation Method 1
employing ranging and directional measurements with tools like laser range finders
Implementation Method 2
measuring a second position of the second node based on the relative position data
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving relative position data from a laser range finder, where the relative position data includes a distance and a relative angle between a first node and a second node measured by the laser range finder from a first position of the first node. The method may also include computing a second position of the second node based on the relative position data, providing the second position of the second node to a computing device of one or more of the first node and the second node, and computationally reconstructing a route traversed by the first node and the second node from a number of computed positions for the first node and the second node based on data received from the laser range finder.