Celestial Navigation for Drones
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Celestial Navigation for Drones
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Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#2I didn't see an explanation of what strapdown meant in this context, so I dug one up:
"Traditional, stable-platform navigation systems commonly involve separate accelerators and fibers or laser-based gyroscopes, with all the components mechanically and rigidly mounted on a stable platform that is isolated from the moving vehicle. This leads to the drawbacks of large size, poor reliability, and high cost. In contrast, in strapdown navigation systems, the inertial sensors are fastened directly to the vehicle’s body, which means the sensors rotate together with the vehicle. "
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#3I didn't see an explanation of what strapdown meant in this context, so I dug one up: "Traditional, stable-platform navigation systems commonly involve separate accelerators and fibers or laser-based gyroscopes, with all the components mechanically and rigidly mounted on a stable platform that is isolated from the moving vehicle. This leads to the drawbacks of large size, poor reliability, and high cost. In contrast,…
Or in short, the sensors are strapped down to the platform being measured - like your phone’s sensors for example.
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#4I wonder if GPS and the like will be used more for their clock features than for position. The emissions celestial bodies are perfect fiducial markers [0,1], but connecting them to position still requires accurate timekeeping [2], as the paper notes:
Provided the use of an accurate clock, the results presented in this paper will not degrade over time.
0. https://www.twz.com/17207/sr-71s-r2-d2-could-be-the-key-to-w...
1. https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics...
2. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/harrisons-clocks-longit...
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#5Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I've been told to avoid doing any DIY in this field of study.
Apparently, or so I'm told, out of the many, many ways to end up on a list — building a working celestial navigation system can lead to some very inconvenient outcomes. Second, only to ordering large quantities of certain chemicals online.
Is this true?
———
EDIT - from the paper, this is incorrect,
> The introduction of GPS caused the interest in celestial navigation to wither due to its relative inaccuracy. Consequently, celestial navigation is primarily seen only in space-based systems, whose orientation must be known to high levels of precision. Nonetheless, celestial navigation was identified as a desirable alternative to GPS [2], primarily due its robustness against potential jamming. Critically, few GPS-denied alternatives exist that are capable of using passive sensors to estimate global position at night or over the ocean. For this reason, celestial navigation remains an important topic of research.
The US and other militaries never stopped using these systems. They just stopped talking about them as much. Here's a literature search showing some of the slow & steady research on the topic,
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=astro-inertial+navigati...
Example systems that have been deployed in many (most? all???) American combat aircraft,
https://theaviationist.com/2021/09/10/lets-have-another-look...
https://www.gpsworld.com/honeywell-demonstrates-military-gra...
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/290940
Alright. I'm ready to be on that list, Mr NSA agent.
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#6I wonder if GPS and the like will be used more for their clock features than for position. The emissions celestial bodies are perfect fiducial markers [0,1], but connecting them to position still requires accurate timekeeping [2], as the paper notes: Provided the use of an accurate clock, the results presented in this paper will not degrade over time. 0. https://www.twz.com/17207/sr-71s-r2-d2-could-be-the-key-to-w...…
They are perfect markers only as long as you can see them. Clouds and fog are your enemies here
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#7Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I've been told to avoid doing any DIY in this field of study. Apparently, or so I'm told, out of the many, many ways to end up on a list — building a working celestial navigation system can lead to some very inconvenient outcomes. Second, only to ordering large quantities of certain chemicals online. Is this true? ——— EDIT - from the paper, this is incorrect, > The introduction of GPS c…
I've also been told learning too much about linux or the nuclear reactions in power plants or bombs puts you on a list. I just assume I'm on several.
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#8Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I've been told to avoid doing any DIY in this field of study. Apparently, or so I'm told, out of the many, many ways to end up on a list — building a working celestial navigation system can lead to some very inconvenient outcomes. Second, only to ordering large quantities of certain chemicals online. Is this true? ——— EDIT - from the paper, this is incorrect, > The introduction of GPS c…
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Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#9Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I've been told to avoid doing any DIY in this field of study. Apparently, or so I'm told, out of the many, many ways to end up on a list — building a working celestial navigation system can lead to some very inconvenient outcomes. Second, only to ordering large quantities of certain chemicals online. Is this true? ——— EDIT - from the paper, this is incorrect, > The introduction of GPS c…
You're definitely on the list of people worried about being on lists now.
Re: Celestial Navigation for Drones
#10Perhaps I am too paranoid, but I've been told to avoid doing any DIY in this field of study. Apparently, or so I'm told, out of the many, many ways to end up on a list — building a working celestial navigation system can lead to some very inconvenient outcomes. Second, only to ordering large quantities of certain chemicals online. Is this true? ——— EDIT - from the paper, this is incorrect, > The introduction of GPS c…
You will likely raise a flag somewhere if you publicise what you are doing, but I highly doubt there would be any issues if you're working on this in private as a hobby.
As for chemicals, I can personally vouch that it is a terrible idea to order reagents (or even chemistry equipment) as an individual. I tried to teach myself organic synthesis in the summer before starting my doctoral studies, and ended up with MIB searching my house. Certainly on a list now :(