A SINS/USBL System-Level Installation Parameter Calibration With Improved RDPSO

The strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS)/ultra-short baseline (USBL) integrated navigation system has an important application in many underwater navigation situations. Accurate system-level installation parameter (SIP), including installation misalignment angle (IMA), lever arm, and transponder position, is the prerequisite for reliable navigation. Traditional separation-based calibration methods which just calibrate the SIP partially are labor intensive and inconvenient to a certain due to the requirement of prescheduled maneuvers, prelocated transponder, and accurate prior knowledge. This work investigated the SIP calibration of SINS/USBL and proposed an improved random drift particle swarm optimization (RDPSO)-aided approach for identifying the SIPs of SINS/USBL. This methodology implemented a unified calibration for SIPs by minimizing the cost function and eliminating the additional requirements for separation-based calibration methods. Field comparative tests with other methods demonstrated that our approach is capable of effectively calibrating the SIP of SINS/USBL with higher calibration accuracy, better convergence stability and repeatability, and a more expeditious convergence rate, thereby leading to a good performance of the SINS/USBL integrated navigation system.