A Method for Determination and Compensation of a Cant Influence in a Track Centerline Identification Using GNSS Methods and Inertial Measurement

Abstract

At present, the problem of rail routes reconstruction in a global reference system is increasingly important. This issue is called Absolute Track Geometry, and its essence is the determination of the axis of railway tracks in the form of Cartesian coordinates of a global or local coordinate system. To obtain such a representation of the track centerline, the measurement methods are developed in many countries mostly by the using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) techniques. The accuracy of this type of measurement in favorable conditions reaches one centimeter. However, some specific conditions cause the additional supporting measurements with a use of such instruments as tachymetry, odometers, or accelerometers to be needed. One of the common issues of track axis reconstruction is transforming the measured GNSS antenna coordinates to the target position, i.e., to the place between rails on the level of rail heads. The authors in their previous works described the developed methodology, while this article presents a method of determining the correction of horizontal coordinates for measurements in arc sections of the railway track. The presence of a cant causes the antenna’s center to move away from the track axis, and for this reason, the results must be corrected. This article presents a method of calculation of mentioned corrections for positions obtained from mobile satellite surveying with additional inertial measurement. The algorithm presented in the article and its implementation have been illustrated on an example of a complex geometric layout, where cant transitions exist without transition curves in horizontal plane. Such a layout is not preferable due to the additional accelerations and their changes. However, it allows the verification of the presented methods.