Applications of Global Positioning System Velocity-Based Attitude Information

Applications of aircraft attitude information obtained from single-antenna global positioning system (GPS) receiver measurements are discussed. A recently introduced framework to synthesize attitude information from GPS velocity vector measurements is reviewed. The framework combines the benefits of high-quality GPS velocity measurements with a novel velocity-vector-based flight control paradigm to provide a means for the human operator or autopilot to close the aircraft flight control loop. Three possible applications of this novel concept are discussed. A single-antenna GPS-based backup attitude indicator is evaluated in flight and compared to the traditional attitude indicator. In addition, single-antenna GPS-based autopilot and tunnel-in-the-sky trajectory guidance systems are demonstrated in flight. Unlike traditional attitude indicators and autopilot and trajectory guidance systems, these applications rely solely on the information obtained from a single-antenna GPS receiver. This concept thus has significant system integration and cost advantages and makes a number of glass-cockpit capabilities affordable to the General Aviation aircraft community.