Open AccessApplication of Inertial and GNSS Integrated Navigation to Seabird Biologging
Author(s) -
Masaru Naruoka,
Yusuke Goto,
Henri Weimerskirch,
Takashi Mukai,
Taichi Sakamoto,
Kei Sakamoto,
Katsufumi Sato
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of robotics and mechatronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1883-8049
pISSN - 0915-3942
DOI - 10.20965/jrm.2021.p0526
Subject(s) - gnss applications , global positioning system , computer science , inertial measurement unit , inertial navigation system , spacecraft , real time computing , aerospace engineering , simulation , engineering , inertial frame of reference , telecommunications , physics , quantum mechanics
The study demonstrates the versatility of integration of inertial navigation and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) with its unique application to seabird biologging. Integrated navigation was originally developed in the field of aerospace engineering, which requires accurate and reliable position, velocity, and attitude information for the guidance and control of aircraft and spacecraft. Due to its high performance and recent progress of sensor development, integrated navigation has been widely used not only in aerospace but also in many fields represented by land and marine vehicles. One of its ultimate applications under the constraint on the size and power consumption of devices is this study. Seabird biologging involves attaching a logging device onto a seabird for scientific purposes to understand its biomechanics, behavior, and so on. Design restrictions for the device include several tens of grams mass, several tens of millimeters in length, and several tens of milliamperes of power consumption. It is more difficult to maintain the accuracy of such a device than applications to an artificial vehicle. This study has shown that integrated navigation is a feasible solution for such extreme applications with two examples: biologging for wandering albatrosses and great frigatebirds. Furthermore, it should be stressed that the navigation captured the world’s first data of their detailed trajectories and attitudes in their dynamic and thermal soarings. For completeness, the navigation algorithm, simulation results to show the effectiveness of the algorithm, and the logging devices attached to bird are also described.