Integrated RTK/INS Navigation for Precision Agriculture

The reliability and robustness of the positioning technologies are crucial in the field of precision agriculture. Utilizing RTK GNSS only is not sufficient as the navigation performance can be degraded due to obstacles such as tree lines, silos, and barns. These obstacles can block the GNSS signal entirely or partially, thus resulting in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) visibility of the GNSS satellites. In addition, a reliable attitude solution is needed for full autonomy. To tackle these challenges, Profound Positioning Inc. (PPI) developed Profound Untethered Dead Reckoning (UDR) with RTK, to provide a reliable and continuous navigation solution in GNSS challenging environments by integrating data from low-cost RTK GNSS receivers and low-cost MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU). Profound UDR with RTK is a software library that provides a navigation solution based on loosely-coupled (LC) integration of IMU with RTK GNSS position and velocity. This paper introduces the major features of PPI’s Profound UDR with RTK and demonstrates its capabilities in real-time. Experimental results show that Profound UDR with RTK has the advantage of providing reliable centimeter-level and high-rate positioning solution in challenging GNSS areas for precise agriculture applications while utilizing low-cost inertial sensors.