Analytical Aircraft State and IMU Signal Generator from Smoothed Reference Trajectory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to generate realistic aircraft states and IMU signals from smoothed reference trajectories, aiding in simulation and testing of navigation systems.

Contribution

It presents three corner smoothing algorithms and a framework to produce consistent aircraft states and sensor signals from waypoints.

Findings

Effective smoothing of reference trajectories from waypoints.

Generation of realistic IMU signals aligned with aircraft states.

Applicability to simulation and navigation system testing.

Abstract

This work presents a method for generating position, attitude, and velocity states for an aircraft following a smoothed reference trajectory. The method also generates accelerometer and gyro measurements consistent with the aircraft states. This work describes three corner smoothing algorithms for generating a smoothed reference trajectory from a series waypoints that accounts for limitations in the physical system. The smoothed reference trajectory, and curvilinear motion theory are used to generate the lower-order states. A coordinated turn maneuver is then applied to generate accelerometer and gyro measurement estimates.