Integrated Navigation for Tracked Compost Turners Using GNSS, INS, Odometers, Stereo Camera and 3D Map

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference paperpeer-review

Abstract

In the most common method of commercial composting, bio-waste is stacked into triangle-shaped windrows. As oxygen is needed for the composting process, the windrows need to be turned repeatedly by compost turners with spiked drums. The biogenic material has to be turned at low speeds and during the turning process, the drivers are exposed to water vapor, gases and high temperatures. Due to these unpleasant working conditions, operators of large composting plants often have difficulty in finding personnel. Therefore, autonomous compost turners would be a great benefit for operators of composting plants. A prerequisite for an autonomous compost turner is a robust and reliable positioning algorithm which is capable of providing continuous and precise position, velocity and attitude information of the compost turner in real-time. This paper presents a positioning module for tracked compost turners. It gives an overview on the system design and evaluates which sensors can be used for positioning of compost turners based on tests in the environment of a real composting site. Based on the preliminary sensor tests, a set of suitable navigation sensors is selected. The selected sensors include a GNSS dual-antenna array, a stereo camera, a MEMS IMU and encoders. The images recorded by the stereo camera are fused with a precise 3D map. Within this paper, a federated loosely coupled extended Kalman filter is developed to fuse the result of the stereo-image and model matching with GNSS, INS and odometer measurements. The primary innovation lies in the sensor selection and sensor fusion specifically tailored to compost turners. A novel approach, which fuses GNSS, INS, odometer, stereo images and a 3D map, is presented.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2020)
Place of PublicationManassas, VA
PublisherThe Institute of Navigation
Pages2518-2532
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)0936406267, 9780936406268
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Oct 2020
Event33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation - Virtuell, United States
Duration: 21 Sept 202025 Sept 2020

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2020

Conference

Conference33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation
Abbreviated titleION GNSS+ 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtuell
Period21/09/2025/09/20

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications

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