GPS World

Tag: visual odometry

  • Movella and Fixposition team up

    Movella and Fixposition team up

    (Photo: Movella)
    Image: Pix Moving

    Movella, a leading provider of sensors and software, has launched a partnership with Fixposition, a manufacturer of precise positioning sensors. The partnership aims to develop and commercialize GNSS inertial navigation sensors and implement visual inertial odometry through new products.

    In December 2022, Movella and Fixposition launched the first product from the partnership, the Xsens Vision Navigator. This product integrates position inputs from three high-accuracy sources including dual-antenna RTK GNSS receivers, an IMU incorporating a three-axis accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer and a visual inertial odometry system.

    The Xsens Vision Navigator can optionally accept inputs from an external wheel speed sensor. The positioning sensor achieves centimeter-level accuracy when operating in GNSS mode with an RTK fix. When GNSS signals are not available, the product alone achieves an accuracy of 2% of travel distance, or 0.75% when supplemented by wheel speed.

    Xsens Vision Navigator is suitable for outdoor positioning applications such as material handling equipment, commercial and specialist vehicles, last-mile delivery, inspection equipment and UAVs, agricultural equipment, mining equipment and utility robots.

    Xsens Vision Navigator is available now from Movella or authorized distributors of Xsens products.

  • UAV Navigation’s visual system reduces dead-reckoning error

    UAV Navigation’s visual system reduces dead-reckoning error

    UAV Navigation has developed a Visual Navigation System (VNS) that reduces the accumulated positional error during dead-reckoning navigation. The VNS leverages visual odometry techniques to determine the position and orientation of the aircraft by analyzing and processing the images captured by a camera installed on its underside.

    Initial testing in real-time flight conditions has been a success, reports UAV Navigation. The system integrates well with the company’s flight-control solution to improve navigation in GNSS-denied environments.

    Vector autopilot. (Photo: UAV Navigation)
    Vector autopilot. (Photo: UAV Navigation)

    UAV Navigation’s sensors are tolerant toward GNSS failures (typically, in GNSS-denied scenarios) and can operate in dead-reckoning mode without compromising flight safety. However, a prolonged GNSS failure can lead to a significant navigation drift, and this is where the VNS comes in.

    The VNS system includes a simple belly-mounted camera and image processing computer. Images from the camera are processed by a lightweight onboard computer, translating them into a relative change in the aircraft position. This information can be combined with the inertial sensors to reduce the overall drift to < 1% of the distance traveled, eliminating any drift associated with time.

    Combined with the Vector autopilot, the VNS components provide a complete and robust autonomous flight control and navigation solution.