Phased Array Radio Navigation System on UAVs: GNSS-based Calibration in the Field

Abstract

With global coverage, high accuracy, and lightweight receivers, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has been the major positioning solution for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). However, GNSS is prone to electromagnetic interference and malicious attacks such as jamming or spoofing due to its low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). To ensure the continuity and safety of UAV operation, the use of redundant navigation systems is crucial. Phased array radio system (PARS) has proven its potential as a local navigation solution in the last few years. PARS is robust against malicious attacks due to a significantly higher SNR than GNSS together with directional and encrypted transmission. One of the challenges of the PARS-based navigation is the radio antenna at ground station, as its orientation needs to be determined precisely to obtain accurate navigation solution for unmanned vehicles. This paper presents an automatic calibration algorithm for the ground radio antenna orientation using a multiplicative extended Kalman filter (MEKF) based on GNSS and PARS measurements. The calibration algorithm was tested with data obtained from a field test using a fixed wing UAV and validated by a residual analysis comparing the PARS- and GNSS-based positioning.