Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2014
Positioning and navigation data for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are extracted using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Inertial Navigation System (INS) integrated with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The integration of quaternion with direction cosine matrix (DCM) with the aim of obtaining high accuracy with complete system independence has been effectively used to supply position and attitude information for autonomous navigation of marine crafts. A DCM integrated with a quaternion provided an advanced technique for precise USV attitude estimation and position determination using low-cost sensors. This paper presents the implementation of an INS developed by the integration of DCM and quaternion.