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SPAN-IGM User Manual Rev 2 11
Chapter 1 Introduction
NovAtel's SPAN technology brings together two very different but complementary positioning and
navigation systems namely Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and an Inertial Navigation
System (INS). By combining the best aspects of GNSS and INS into one system, SPAN technology is
able to offer a solution that is more accurate and reliable than either GNSS or INS could provide alone.
The combined GNSS + INS solution has the advantage of the absolute accuracy available from GNSS
and the continuity of INS through traditionally difficult GNSS conditions.
1.1 Fundamentals of GNSS + INS
GNSS positioning observes range measurements from orbiting GNSS satellites. From these
observations, the receiver can compute position and velocity with high accuracy. NovAtel GNSS
positioning systems are highly accurate positioning tools. However, GNSS in general has some
restrictions which limit its usefulness in some situations. GNSS positioning requires line of sight view to at
least four satellites simultaneously. If these criteria are met, differential GNSS positioning can be
accurate to within a few centimetres. If however, some or all of the satellite signals are blocked, the
accuracy of the position reported by GNSS degrades substantially, or may not be available at all.
In general, an INS uses forces and rotations measured by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to
calculate position, velocity and attitude. This capability is embedded in the firmware of the SPAN-IGM.
Forces are measured by accelerometers in three perpendicular axes within the IMU and the gyros
measure angular rotation rates around those axes. Over short periods of time, inertial navigation gives
very accurate acceleration, velocity and attitude output. The INS must have prior knowledge of its initial
position, initial velocity, initial attitude, Earth rotation rate and gravity field. Since the IMU measures
changes in orientation and acceleration, the INS determines changes in position and attitude, but initial
values for these parameters must be provided from an external source. Once these parameters are
known, an INS is capable of providing an autonomous solution with no external inputs. However,
because of errors in the IMU measurements that accumulate over time, an inertial-only solution degrades
with time unless external updates such as position, velocity or attitude are supplied.
The SPAN system’s combined GNSS + INS solution integrates the raw inertial measurements with all
available GNSS information to provide the optimum solution possible in any situation. By using the high
accuracy GNSS solution, the IMU errors can be modeled and mitigated. Conversely, the continuity and
relative accuracy of the INS solution enables faster GNSS signal reacquisition and RTK solution
convergence.
The advantages of using SPAN technology are its ability to:
• Provide a full attitude solution (roll, pitch and azimuth)
• Provide continuous solution output (in situations when a GNSS-only solution is impossible)
• Provide faster signal reacquisition and RTK solution resolution (over stand-alone GNSS because
of the tightly integrated GNSS and INS filters)
• Output high-rate (up to 125 or 200 Hz depending on SPAN-IGM model and logging selections)
position, velocity and attitude solutions for high-dynamic applications, see also Logging
Restriction Important Notice on page 33
• Use raw phase observation data (to constrain INS solution drift even when too few satellites are
available for a full GNSS solution)