Obtaining approximations for range-based free-network adjustment

Abstract

Abstract. Airborne and ground mobile mapping platforms are increasingly used in group formations to increase productivity or complement each other in terms of improving observation capacity and efficiency in the surveyed area. Similarly, the navigation of assisted and autonomous vehicles presents a similar problem of sharing a small place where, for example, accurate relative positioning is essential to avoid collisions. Estimating platform relative positions from inter-platform range measurements is important in these applications, as they can provide valuable information to improve individual platform navigation or can potentially detect anomalies in these solutions that could be caused by unintentional or intentional disturbances. Free-network adjustment based on ranges forms the baseline solution to obtain relative positions. The challenge is to provide adequate platform position approximations for the least squares adjustment to achieve both quick convergence and fast execution time. Here we propose a preprocessing method that creates suitable approximations based on range values.