This paper presents a low-cost methodology to estimate the position of a pipeline inspection gauge (PIG). The environment in which the PIG navigates is inside the thick walls of a metallic pipeline, where it is not possible to receive a global positioning system (GPS) signal. As a consequence, it is necessary to use other means of navigation. A technique is presented in the paper that uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a speedometer, and a set of reference stations. A Kalman filter is used to fuse the measurements from the IMU, the speedometer, and the reference stations. The reference stations, with known GPS coordinates, are installed for every set interval to correct the PIG’s state estimate from the errors that accumulate due to the integration of the IMU measurements. The paper presents three scenarios. These scenarios differ in the way the update step of the Kalman filter is performed. Experimental results are presented along with a 100-run Monte Carlo test to verify the estimator’s consistency.

This paper provides an overview of the first participation of the design developed by the undergraduate students of American University of Sharjah to meet the requirements laid forth in the 2008 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Student UAS competition. The overall objective of the competition is to fly autonomously over a GPS waypoint defined route and also to identify and locate ground based targets within a confined area. To meet the objectives an unmanned aircraft is equipped with autonomous functionality and aerial imaging system. A ground station and supportive software to keep track of the aircraft routine and log the raw data gained from the flight is also designed. Achieving complete success depends upon mission elements which include autonomous take-off and landing, autonomous control and waypoint navigation. The onboard equipment used was a flight control computer network, IMU, GPS, an air data system and a camera. Additionally, safety features such as manual override was also installed. Presented in this report are aircraft design and testing, the processes involved in accomplishing the goal, and the results and achievements.

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