Date of Award
Spring 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Bishop, Robert H.
Second Advisor
Rice, James A.
Third Advisor
Schimmels, Joseph, M
Abstract
This thesis presents a mathematical model for a LIDAR-enabled Terrain- and Hazard-Relative Navigation sensor and the design and implementation of a dual-state extended Kalman filter. The extended Kalman filter equations are presented in summary. Mathematical models for an altimeter, a velocimeter, a star tracker, and a lidar-enabled mapping/tracking sensor are presented in depth. An explanation of the software designed for computer simulation is included. It is proved through this analysis that, when implemented as part of a well-tuned extended Kalman Filter and in combination with other sensors, the proposed model for a lidar-enabled mapping/tracking sensor significantly reduces estimation error. This enables accurate navigation capable of precision descent-to-landing scenarios.