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Integrated Visual and Inertial Sensor Information for Onboard Navigation…

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Air Force 		Award ID:
78113 		Program Year/Program:
2008 / STTR
Agency Tracking Number:
F064-032-0116 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation
9950 Wakeman Drive Manassas, VA -
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Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 2
Fiscal Year: 2008
Title: Integrated Visual and Inertial Sensor Information for Onboard Navigation (I-VISION)
Agency / Branch: DOD / USAF
Contract: FA9550-08-C-0032
Award Amount: $499,912.00
 

Abstract:

Given the vulnerability of the GPS system to intentional or hostile denial of service, it is imperative that the U.S. military develop technologies that provide robust navigation solutions that do not rely on GPS data. To achieve this capability, Aurora and MIT have teamed to develop the Integrated Visual and Inertial Sensor Information Onboard Navigation (I-VISION) system, which will couple optic flow-based ego-motion estimation with inertial navigation systems to achieve precision navigation without GPS. Current-generation inertial measurement units (IMUs) provide very accurate angular rate and linear acceleration information, which can be integrated to estimate a platform's position, velocity, and orientation over time. Unfortunately, due to sensor biases and scale factor errors, the accuracy of the estimation degrades with time. The coupling of visual flow and IMU-based ego-motion estimation enables the IMU to aid in resolving vision-based errors and ambiguities, and visual flow estimates can be used to reduce IMU sensor biases and scale factor errors. A multiple-camera system is being employed in order to better address the ambiguity that is introduced in the estimation of optical flow-based ego-motion. Both tightly coupled and ultra-tightly coupled implementations are being considered.

Principal Investigator:

James D. Paduano
Principal Investigator
6172254378
jpaduano@aurora.aero

Business Contact:

Diana Eichfeld
Contracts Manager
7033966329
deichfeld@aurora.aero
Small Business Information at Submission:

AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORP.
9950 Wakeman Drive Manassas, VA 20110

EIN/Tax ID: 541502935
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
Research Institution Information:
MASSACHUSETTS INST. OF TECHNOLOGY
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room E19-750
Cambridge, MA 2139
Contact: Michael P. Corcoran
Contact Phone: (617) 253-3906
RI Type: Nonprofit college or university