Development of the Real-time Initial Alignment Algorithm using the Kalman Filter

The purpose of the initial alignment of a SDINS is to get a coordinate transformation matrix from the body frame to the navigation frame. The initial alignment is one of the most important processes in the navigation system since its error has a large influence on the navigation solution. In this paper, a real-time initial alignment algorithm for the SDINS is developed using the Kalman filter. The steady state error analysis is performed for the developed Kalman filter technique and the gyrocompass loop method. The performance of the developed alignment method is compared with the gyrocompass loop method through the real-time alignment experiments.