A precision automatic vehicle location system for use in construction automation

Author

Feuerstein, Martin J. ; Pratt, Timothy ; Beliveau, Yvan J.

Author_Institution

Virginia Polytech. Inst., Blacksburg, VA, USA

fYear

1989

fDate

11-13 Sept. 1989

Firstpage

202

Lastpage

205

Abstract

A prototype automatic position and control system is being developed for use in position-sensitive construction processes. The system, operating in the 400-450 MHz UHF band, provides three-dimensional location information within the construction site. The three-dimensional data from the system are available in near real time as input to a CAD database of the construction project. The vehicle to be located is equipped with a spread spectrum beacon transmitter and its position is found using a hyperbolic phase ranging system. Several methods of improving the accuracy of the system in the presence of multipath interference have been investigated. A computer simulator has been developed using Monte Carlo analysis to predict system error performance and thus evaluate the effectiveness of various multipath defeating techniques. Antenna diversity and receiver diversity have been found to improve dramatically the overall accuracy. Weighting techniques are used to reject data contaminated with large multipath errors.<>

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; construction industry; digital simulation; diversity reception; interference suppression; position control; position measurement; radiofrequency interference; spread spectrum communication; vehicles; 400 to 450 MHz; CAD database; Monte Carlo analysis; UHF; accuracy; antenna diversity; automatic vehicle location system; computer simulator; construction site; hyperbolic phase ranging system; multipath interference; receiver diversity; spread spectrum beacon transmitter; three-dimensional location information; Automatic control; Computer errors; Control systems; Databases; Interference; Prototypes; Real time systems; Spread spectrum communication; Transmitters; Vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Vehicle Navigation and Information Systems Conference, 1989. Conference Record

Conference_Location

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Print_ISBN

0-9692316-2-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VNIS.1989.98763

Filename

98763