Speed Sensor-Aided Navigation Filter for Robust Localization in GNSS-Denied Mining Environments

Abstract

The automation of mining haulage vehicles has great potential in terms of safety and economy. The performance of autonomous vehicles depends largely on highly accurate vehicle state information. Deep mines are especially challenging, as satellite-based localization methods are reaching their limits. Therefore, we introduce a new navigation filter concept for the precise and robust localization of the haulage fleet that can handle temporary GNSS interruptions in deep open-pit mines. The multi-sensor navigation filter utilizes an inertial measurement unit and is aided by GNSS. We introduce a new optical speed sensor update within the tightly coupled unscented Kalman filter. The speed sensor measures the slip-free two-dimensional speed above ground. The filter was validated with an articulated dumper in a gravel pit. The new filter achieved a mean position error of 0.24 m during a test drive of 190 s with a simulated GNSS outage of 90 s.