A method for calibrating spatial errors induced by phase biases having a detrimental effect on the measurements of phase differences of radio signals received by three unaligned receiving antennas of a vehicle. An inter-satellite angular deviation of a pair of satellites is estimated in two different ways: on the basis of the respective positions of the vehicle and of the satellites to obtain a theoretical inter-satellite angular deviation; and on the basis of the respective directions of incidence of the satellites relative to the vehicle, which are determined from phase measurements, to obtain an estimated inter-satellite angular deviation. The space errors are estimated on the basis of said theoretical and estimated inter-satellite angular deviations. Also, a method and system for estimating the attitude of a vehicle, in particular a spacecraft.

An apparatus includes a controller coupled to at least two antennas and one or more sensors. An initial azimuth value for the apparatus is determined based on output of the one or more sensors. Respective phase differences between satellite signals received from respective satellites at the at least two antennas are detected, and respective phase difference values for the respective satellites are calculated based on the initial azimuth value, a distance between the at least two antennas in the apparatus, and positions of the respective satellites. An actual azimuth angle of the apparatus is identified based on the initial azimuth value from the output of the one or more sensors and variations between the respective detected phase differences and the respective calculated phase difference values for the respective satellites.

An apparatus includes a controller coupled to at least two antennas and one or more sensors. An initial azimuth value for the apparatus is determined based on output of the one or more sensors. Respective phase differences between satellite signals received from respective satellites at the at least two antennas are detected, and respective phase difference values for the respective satellites are calculated based on the initial azimuth value, a distance between the at least two antennas in the apparatus, and positions of the respective satellites. An actual azimuth angle of the apparatus is identified based on the initial azimuth value from the output of the one or more sensors and variations between the respective detected phase differences and the respective calculated phase difference values for the respective satellites.

A small-sized state calculating device which may acquire a highly-precise state calculation value is provided. The state calculating device may include antennas, receiving parts, a phase difference calculating part and an operation part. The receiving parts may calculate carrier phase measurements PY.sub.A, PY.sub.B and PY.sub.C of GNSS signals received by the antennas, respectively. The phase difference calculating part may set the antennas to be switched between a master antenna and a slave antenna, and calculate the plurality of inter-antenna phase differences Δζ.sub.AB, Δζ.sub.BC and Δζ.sub.CA, for every combination of the master antenna and the slave antenna, using the carrier phase measurements PY.sub.A, PY.sub.B and PY.sub.C. The operation part may calculate an attitude angle AT using the plurality of inter-antenna phase differences Δζ.sub.AB, Δζ.sub.BC and Δζ.sub.CA.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device and an information processing method capable of realizing attitude estimation more suitably.

A reception control unit controls a plurality of antennas such that the antennas switch and receive positioning signals from positioning satellites in a time division manner, and an attitude estimation unit estimates an attitude of an object on the basis of phase differences between carrier phases of the positioning signals received by the plurality of antennas. The technology according to the present disclosure can be applied to, for example, a reception device mounted on an artificial satellite.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device and an information processing method capable of realizing attitude estimation more suitably.

A reception control unit controls a plurality of antennas such that the antennas switch and receive positioning signals from positioning satellites in a time division manner, and an attitude estimation unit estimates an attitude of an object on the basis of phase differences between carrier phases of the positioning signals received by the plurality of antennas. The technology according to the present disclosure can be applied to, for example, a reception device mounted on an artificial satellite.

A system and method for providing location information using a long baseline accelerometer/GNSS system. A first set of accelerometers is operatively associated with the first GNSS antenna while a second set of accelerometers is operatively associated with a second (or more) GNSS antenna. The multiple assemblies are separated by predefined distances and held rigid to each other. Accelerometer data is combined with the GNSS data to provide improved navigation and location information.

The present disclosure is to calculate an estimated position with high precision. A course estimating device 10 includes an angular velocity calculating part 30, a horizontal ground speed calculating part 70 and an estimated position calculating part 80. The angular velocity calculating part 30 measures or calculates an angular velocity of a movable body. The horizontal ground speed calculating part 70 calculates a horizontal ground speed based on an attitude angle, a ground course, and a ground ship speed of the movable body. The estimated position calculating part 80 calculates an estimated position, based on a period of time from a current time point to an estimation time point, the horizontal ground speed, and an integration operation of the angular velocity.

A system and method of determining a pointing vector using two GPS antennas and a single GPS receiver is disclosed. Two stationary GPS antennas, with a separation preferably less than half of a wavelength (˜100 mm) may use a single receiver to determine the pointing vector of the system. Incorporation of a three axis angular rate measurement allows pointing determination during system rotation. Incorporation of three axis gyroscope system allows pointing determination while in motion. The system provides the ability to sense multipath and jamming. Also the system can potentially eliminate the impact and certainly alert the user that the measurement may not be reliable.

A system and method of determining a pointing vector using two GPS antennas and a single GPS receiver is disclosed. Two stationary GPS antennas, with a separation preferably less than half of a wavelength (˜100 mm) may use a single receiver to determine the pointing vector of the system. Incorporation of a three axis angular rate measurement allows pointing determination during system rotation. Incorporation of three axis gyroscope system allows pointing determination while in motion. The system provides the ability to sense multipath and jamming. Also the system can potentially eliminate the impact and certainly alert the user that the measurement may not be reliable.