Trimble Inc.
Methods, apparatuses, and computer programs for estimating the heading of an axis of a rigid body

Abstract:

Methods, apparatuses and computer programs are disclosed for estimating, or at least for generating information usable to estimate, the heading of at least one axis of interest of a rigid body. Rigid body is equipped with an antenna of a navigation satellite system (NSS) receiver, and with sensor equipment comprising sensors such as a gyroscope, an angle sensor, and accelerometers, depending on the form of the invention. Rigid body is subject to a known motion comprising causing a point's horizontal position to change, the point being referred to as "point B", while keeping another point's position, the point being referred to as "point A", fixed relative to the Earth. Considering the motion constraint, an estimation of the heading is generated using sensor equipment data and NSS receiver data. The estimation of the heading may for example be used to estimate the position of any point of rigid body.