INS reset removal for enhanced post-flight performance analysis

High-performance integrated inertial navigation systems (INSs) use a Kalman filter to compute the optimal navigation solution from the data provided by an INS and various navigation aids such as GPS (Global Positioning System) and Doppler. The error estimates of the Kalman filter are used to reset the INS when the navigation system operates in feedback mode. A reset removal procedure (RRP) has been developed for recovering, during post-flight processing, a high-fidelity approximation to the unaided pure inertial navigation solution that would have been produced by the INS had it not been operated in feedback mode. The procedure is of great value in carrying out a performance evaluation of an integrated INS because it effectively broadens the scope and extent of actual physical flight trials. The RRP is described and discussed, and simulation results are presented to illustrate its behavior