Implementation of a low-cost inertial navigation system on a real-time Linux platform

Inertial navigation generally involves inertial based acceleration and rotation rate, and GPS position and velocity measurements of a platform. Software algorithms are used to convert the readings to meaningful navigational information. A feasibility study was done on the implementation of an inertial navigation system on a single board computer operating under a open source real-time Linux distribution. Basic navigation theory is discussed. The real-time performance of the given platform is characterized and implemented software structure and execution method is given. An analysis of the execution time of the system is done. Finally introductory navigational results of the system is presented. This paper proves the viability of implementing a navigation system on commercial and open-source products, which reduces system cost.