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Virginia Tech

Techniques in Kalman Filtering for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis examines the design and implementation of the navigation solution for an autonomous ground vehicle suited with global position system (GPS) receivers, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and wheel speed sensors (WSS) using the framework of Kalman filtering (KF). To demonstrate the flexibility of the KF several methods are explored and implemented such as constraints, multi-rate data, and cascading filters to augment the measurement matrix of a main filter. GPS and IMU navigation are discussed, along with common errors and disadvantages of each type of navigation system. It is shown that the coupling of sensors, constraints, and self-alignment techniques provide an accurate solution to the navigation problem for an autonomous vehicle. Filter divergence is discussed during times when the states are unobservable. Post processed data is analyzed to demonstrate performance under several test cases, such as GPS outage, and the effect that the initial calibration and alignment has on the accuracy of the solution.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Jones, Philip Andrew
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Wicks, Alfred L.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Bird, John P.
  • Meehan, Kathleen

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en_US

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-05192015-184107
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78128

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Jones, Philip Andrew. Techniques in Kalman Filtering for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78128