Closed-form quaternion representations for rigid body rotation: application to error assessment in orientation algorithms of strapdown inertial navigation systems

Closed-form analytical representations of the rigid body orientation quaternion, angular velocity vector and the external moment vector satisfying kinematic equations and equations of motion are derived. In order to analyze errors of orientation algorithms for strapdown inertial navigation systems, reference models for specific rigid body rotation cases are formulated. Based on solutions, analytical expressions for ideal signals of angular velocity sensors in the form of quasi-coordinates are derived. For several sets of parameters, numerical implementations of the reference models are performed and trajectories in the configuration space of orientation parameters are presented. Numerical analysis of the drift error for the third-order orientation algorithm is performed. The results show that the value of the accumulated drift error using the derived two-frequency models exceeds the value of the accumulated drift error in the conventional case of a regular precession.