A real-time algorithm for continuous navigation in intelligent transportation systems using LiDAR-Gyroscope-Odometer integration

Abstract Real-time positioning in suburban and urban environments has been a challenging task for many Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications. In these environments, positioning using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) cannot provide continuous solutions due to the blockage of signals in harsh scenarios. Consequently, it is intrinsic to have an independent positioning system capable of providing accurate and reliable positional solutions over GNSS outages. This study exploits the integration of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), gyroscope, and odometer sensors, and a novel real-time algorithm is proposed for this integration. Real field data, collected by a moving land vehicle, is used to test the presented algorithm. Three simulated GNSS outages are introduced in the trajectory such that each outage lasts for five minutes. The results show that using the proposed algorithm can achieve a promising navigation performance in urban environments. In addition, it is shown that the denser environments, that existed over the second and third outages, can provide better positioning accuracies as more features are extracted. The horizontal errors over the first outage, with less density of surroundings, reached 7.74 m (0.43%) error with a mean value of 3.15 m. Moreover, the horizontal errors in the denser environments over the second and third outages reached 4.97 m (0.28%) and 3.99 m (0.23%), with mean values of 2.25 m and 1.89 m, respectively.