Nonlinear Attitude Estimation Using Intermittent and Multi-Rate Vector Measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces hybrid attitude observers on Lie group SO(3) that effectively estimate a rigid body's orientation using intermittent vector measurements and continuous angular velocity data, ensuring stability and robustness.

Contribution

The paper proposes two novel hybrid attitude observers on SO(3) that guarantee almost global and global asymptotic stability using intermittent and multi-rate measurements.

Findings

Observers achieve almost global stability

Switching mechanism ensures global stability

Validated through simulations and experiments

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of nonlinear attitude estimation for a rigid body system using intermittent and multi-rate inertial vector measurements as well as continuous (high-rate) angular velocity measurements. Two types of hybrid attitude observers on Lie group $SO(3)$ are proposed. First, we propose a hybrid attitude observer where almost global asymptotic stability is guaranteed using the notion of almost global input-to-state stability on manifolds. Thereafter, this hybrid attitude observer is extended by introducing a switching mechanism to achieve global asymptotic stability. Both simulation and experimental results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed hybrid observers.