Real-time kinematic surveying using tightly-coupled GPS and ultra-wideband ranging

Ultra-wideband (UWB) ranging radios, an emerging technology that offers precise, short distance, range measurements are investigated as a method to augment carrier-phase GPS positioning. This thesis begins with a discussion of radio-frequency based methods of augmenting high precision GPS and proposes to utilize UWB ranging technology in a tightly-coupled GPS and UWB position estimation filter. This thesis then provides an overview of UWB in the context of ranging applications and assesses the precision and accuracy of UWB ranging from both a theoretical perspective and a practical perspective using real data. Two types of commercially available UWB ranging radios are introduced which are used in testing. Actual ranging accuracy is assessed from line-of-sight testing in benign signal conditions and in outdoor testing with line-of-sight obstructions and strong reflection sources. A tightly-coupled GPS and UWB real-time kinematic (RTK) estimation method is developed and the performance of the system is evaluated in static and kinematic testing. The results of static testing show that the integrated solution provides better accuracy, better ability to resolve integer ambiguities and enhanced fixed ambiguity solution availability compared with GPS alone. The results of kinematic testing demonstrate that UWB errors can be successfully estimated in a real-time filter. In static and kinematic testing in a degraded GPS environment created by artificially inducing a 40° satellite elevation mask, subdecimetre accuracy was maintained. The tightly-coupled system is also tested to survey several external corner points of an eight story building. The tightly-coupled solution is compared to GPS-only, UWB-only, and loosely-coupled solutions. Sub-metre level solutions are maintained using tight-coupling in conditions where the solutions from the other three approaches are either unavailable or unreliable. The thesis also provides a novel and efficient method for deploying UWB reference stations and performing the RTK survey. Tightly-coupled GPS+UWB for RTK surveying is a promising new technology that extends RTK surveying to new environments. In addition, in marginal GPS-only surveying environments, position accuracy and RTK solution availability are improved substantially.