Integrity monitoring for Positioning of intelligent transport systems using integrated RTK‐GNSS, IMU and vehicle odometer

Reliable continuing positioning is a critical requirement for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). An integrated positioning system is presented, where the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) real‐time kinematic (RTK) method was mainly used. When RTK is not available, positioning was maintained by using Doppler measurements or by low‐cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) coupled with vehicle odometer measurements. A new integrity monitoring (IM) method is presented that addresses each positioning mode of the proposed integrated system. Models for the protection levels (PLs) are presented to bound the position error (PE) along the direction of motion of the vehicle and for the cross‐track direction. Both direction components are needed, for instance for collision avoidance and for lane identification. The method was assessed through a kinematic test performed in a dense urban environment. Results showed that by integrating GNSS RTK, Doppler with IMU + odometer, positioning was available all the time. For RTK, positioning accuracy was less than a decimetre and the IM availability was 99%, where the PLs bounded the PEs and were less than an alert limit of 1 m. Positioning using Doppler and IMU + odometer measurements bridged RTK breaks but at the sub‐meter level accuracy when used for short periods.