Soldier positioning in GNSS-denied operations

Abstract

Foot-mounted inertial sensors, combined with GPS-receivers, magnetometers and barometric pressure sensors have shown great potential in providing a high-accuracy positioning system for safety-critical applications, such as first responders and military personnel. Although several research groups have demonstrated high accuracies with experimental systems in controlled environment tests, showcasing the potential of the technology, there is still an apparent lack of performance evaluations conducted during more realistic conditions. Several field tests have been performed and the results from the first scenario-based measurements are presented here. An accuracy of 2-4 m was obtained with an experimental soldier positioning demonstration system, using foot-mounted inertial sensors, during a realistic building-clearing exercise that lasted over three and a half minutes. Also, different sensor fusion alternatives are examined, using double foot-mounted inertial navigation systems (INS) and combining a foot-mounted INS with camera-based localization.