A Low-Cost, High-Precision Navigator

Toyon Research Corporation proposes to develop and demonstrate a prototype low-cost precision navigation system using commercial-grade gyroscopes and accelerometers. During the Phase I effort an uncalibrated brassboard system was built and flight tested using a manned biplane. The brassboard system comprised an experimental single-channel (L1-only) software GPS receiver, and a 720 deg/hr inertial measurement unit (IMU) costing only $1k. The performance of the brassboard system was comparable to that of a $42k precision reference system that comprised a dual-channel (L1 and L2) GPS receiver and antenna, and a tactical-grade (1 deg/hr) IMU ($24k). This tactical-grade performance was achieved by fusing low-cost inertial measurements with attitude and position measurements from a GPS-based attitude (GPS/A) sensor. The Miniature Integrated Direction-finding Attitude-determining Anti-jam System (MIDAAS(TM)) obtains position, velocity, attitude, and time (PVAT) measurements directly from GPS signals and employs an innovative small single-aperture antenna to compute full 3-D attitude (roll, pitch and yaw) using only two RF channels, leading to a smaller, simpler, lower-cost GPS/A receiver system. During the Phase II program, a form-fit-function prototype system will be designed, built, and flight tested in an operational environment. The prototype performance will be compared with that of a higher-accuracy, more expensive attitude reference system.

Integrating MIDAAS with a commercial-grade IMU will provide tactical-grade navigation accuracies at a low-cost, which in turn will enable science payload instrument stability and highly accurate pointing accuracy for NASA's manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This low-power novel navigation system will satisfy the size, weight and power (SWAP) constraints of most civilian and military small-scale remotely operated vehicles and unmanned systems. Furthermore, the improved attitude accuracy of the navigation system will enable precision flight control for repeatable terrain monitoring. The GPS/A technology is also applicable to spin-stabilized platforms such as sounding rockets and space launch vehicles. Furthermore, a unique ultra-tightly coupled (UTC) anti-jam (AJ) GPS navigation architecture makes the system inherently more robust to interference and significantly improves the attitude estimate, thereby improving the probability of successfully completing a mission even in the presence of unintentional and intentional interference.

The MIDAAS GPS-based attitude (GPS/A) sensor technology and inertial navigation system (INS) is applicable to a wide range of military and civilian applications including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), micro air vehicles (MAVs), unattended ground sensors (UGS), handheld positioning units, recreational/virtual reality orienting devices, radio-controlled (RC) vehicles, ground vehicles, and far-target locators (FTL). The technology appeals to customers who desire robust position and attitude measurements for platforms that have stringent cost and size, weight and power (C-SWAP) constraints. The gyro-less system can also provide accurate attitude measurements for spin-stabilized projectiles and launch systems with roll rates at least as high as 300 Hz.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.