The development and evaluation of a combined initial alignment algorithm for strapdown inertial navigation system

Abstract

This paper proposes a combined initial alignment algorithm for strapdown inertial navigation system, in which the initial alignment is carried out in two stages during the process of preflight preparations while the aircraft is not moving. This method of initial alignment has the advantages of being conducted based on the Earth’s equatorial (Greenwich) coordinate system, which is also used by the aircraft onboard navigation system. In the first stage, the coarse initial alignment is carried out, and this is done according to the orientation parameters using the vector matching method. Then, in the second stage, a fine procedure is carried out, which may be looked at as an integrated system implemented using optimal Kalman filter. In this case, the initial parameters of orientation and navigation are refined, as well as the systematic errors of the inertial sensors are estimated and corrected. The simulation results show that the required level of initial alignment accuracy could be achieved by applying coarse and fine initial alignment procedures not sequentially but in a combination.