Transfer alignment method based on installation deviation angle estimation for array POS

Transfer alignment of array Position and Orientation System (POS) is the key technology to provide motion information for airborne earth observation high-precision imaging. Because the large deviation angle between main Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and slave IMU is difficult to accurately measure by existing methods, the transfer alignment accuracy will be seriously affected. Aiming at this issue, a transfer alignment method based on installation deviation angle estimation for array POS is proposed. This method includes two steps: pre-estimation and improved transfer alignment. First, two deviation angles are calculated by angular velocity and acceleration using quaternion optimization method respectively. The higher-precision deviation angle is fused by two deviation angles using their respective weights, which are calculated by Signal to Noise Ratios (SNRs). Second, the result of pre-estimation is used in transfer alignment. Residual errors of deviation angle are considered as state variables and be compensated online. Compared with the existing methods, the velocity, position and attitude errors calculated by this method are reduced by 15.4%, 31.7% and 66.5% respectively. The proposed method significantly reduces the adverse effect of installation deviation angle on measurement accuracy of array POS.