Vessel traffic in the Arctic is expanding in volume both within and transiting the region, yet the infrastructure necessary to support modern ship navigation is lacking. This includes aids to navigation such as buoys and beacons that can be difficult to place and maintain in this hostile environment that stretches across vast distances. The results of research are described which determine whether virtual electronic Aids to Navigation (eAtoN) existing entirely as digital information objects can overcome the practical limitations of physical aids to navigation (AtoN) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) radio eAtoN. Capabilities unique to virtual eAtoN that are not available using either physical or AIS radio technologies are also examined including dynamic and real time properties and immunity to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and AIS spoofing, aliasing, denial of service attacks and service outages. Conclusions are provided describing potential methods of deployment based upon similar concepts already in use.

The aim of the Integrated Navigation System (INS) on a ship bridge should be to provide the navigator with added value and aid in the complex task of conducting a safe and efficient passage at high speeds in demanding waters. This article presents a method for analysing eye tracking data to reveal sub-optimal design in the bridge layout and in the software graphical user interface on a maritime navigation display. The analysis of eye tracking data with a focus on scan path events indicates sub-optimal design, and the paper provides suggestions for improvement in design and interfaces. Pros and cons of using Eye Tracking Glasses in a maritime environment are presented. The importance of not affecting the normal behaviour of the navigator by collecting data is stressed, and how the software should provide good visualisation and interpretation of the eye tracking data.

The known navigational systems in use perform information functions and as such are helpful in the process of safe conduct of a vessel. One of the ways to assist in reducing the number of marine accidents is the development of systems which perform decision support functions, i.e. automatically generate solutions to collision situations. The use of information (and communication) technologies including knowledge engineering allows the generation of proposals for anti-collision manoeuvres taking into account the COLREGs. Demand for further enhancement of navigational safety by limiting human errors has initiated a trend to convert navigational information systems into decision support systems. The implementation of decision support systems will potentially reduce the number of human errors, which translates into a reduction of accidents at sea and their adverse consequences. This paper presents a summary of the research to date on the navigational decision support system NAVDEC. The system has been positively verified in laboratory conditions and in field tests – on a motor ferry and a sailing ship. Challenges associated with the development and implementation of such systems are outlined.

This paper reports the results of the first three in a series of experiments on tactile perception which form part of a larger project on tactile perceptions and spatial representations and the design of tactile interfaces for mobility devices for blind, partially sighted and deafblind people. The results indicate the potential of tactile interfaces, including to support environmental exploration and mobility. The participants showed reasonably good ability to determine the direction of motion of an arrow, with best recognition rates in the up and right directions. They showed reasonably good ability to use a tactile interface to detect and avoid obstacles after a very short learning period and more limited ability to learn and remember an environmental representation using information from a tactile interface and walking through the environment without specific instructions.

This paper is intended to provide an outline of how the lead and line formed a vital, but often overlooked, role in safe navigation during the 16th Century, with some comments on its later use up to, and into the 20th Century. During this period, the development of the more mathematical dead-reckoning and the more exciting astro-navigation attracted the attention of the literate commentators who were responsible for record keeping while the often illiterate sailors got on with practising their craft. Also, May (1970), has commented that, “the navigators during the great age of discovery must have made extensive use of the lead and line, but references are extremely sparse, for all their rough log-books were destroyed and only the most important references to their navigational proceedings were copied into the fair accounts of their voyages which have come down to us.”

We describe an integrated navigation system based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), an Inertial Navigation System (INS) and terrestrial ranging technologies that can support accurate and seamless indoor-outdoor positioning. To overcome severe multipath disturbance in indoor environments, Locata technology is used in this navigation system. Such a “Locata-augmented” navigation system can operate in different positioning modes in both indoor and outdoor environments. In environments where GNSS is unavailable, e.g. indoors, the proposed system is designed to operate in the Locata/INS “loosely-integrated” mode. On the other hand, in outdoor environments, all GNSS, Locata and INS measurements are available, and all useful information can be fused via a decentralised Federated Kalman filter. To evaluate the proposed system for seamless indoor-outdoor positioning, an indoor-outdoor test was conducted at a metal-clad warehouse. The test results confirmed that the proposed navigation system can provide continuous and reliable position and attitude solutions, with the positioning accuracy being better than five centimetres.

Code Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is widely used in satellite navigation and positioning because of its simple algorithm and preferable precision. Multi-Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is expected to enhance the accuracy, reliability and availability of Differential GNSS (DGNSS) positioning. Traditional DGNSS models should set separate clock parameters due to the clock differences between the different systems. Awareness of the Inter-System Bias (ISB) could help to maximise the redundancy of the positioning model, thus improving the performance of multi-GNSS positioning. This paper aims to examine the inter-system bias of GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou (BDS)/Galileo and their benefits in DGNSS positioning. Results show that Differential ISB (DISB) characteristics vary with different receiver types and systems. The size of DISB could reach metre-level and the precision of estimated DISBs can reach approximately several centimetres within tens of epochs. Therefore, a new real-time DGNSS model that accounts for ISB is proposed. After differential ISBs are initialised, positioning with four satellites from arbitrarily the same or different systems can be realised. Moreover, compared with the traditional DGNSS model, the precision of the positioning results with the new model are obviously improved, especially in harsh environments.

In view that most Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) users are still using single-frequency receivers due to the low costs, single-frequency Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been attracting increasing attention in the GNSS community. For a long period, single-frequency PPP technology has mainly relied on the Global Positioning System (GPS). With the recent revitalisation of the Russian GLONASS constellation and two newly emerging constellations, BeiDou and Galileo, it is now feasible to investigate the performance of Four-Constellation integrated Single-Frequency PPP (FCSF-PPP) with GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo measurements. In this study, a FCSF-PPP model is presented to simultaneously process observations from all four GNSS constellations. Datasets collected at 47 globally distributed four-system Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) stations on seven consecutive days and a kinematic experimental dataset are employed to fully assess the performance of FCSF-PPP. The FCSF-PPP solutions are compared to GPS-only and combined GPS/GLONASS single-frequency PPP solutions. The results indicate that the positioning performance is significantly improved by integrating multi-constellation signals.

The Panama Canal (PC) has recently been in the world spotlight. In August 2014, it celebrated 100 years of uninterrupted service and, in June 2016, the expansion project for the canal was inaugurated. The final project involved building a third set of locks. Once the canal started to operate, it could be seen that the way in which vessels transited the canal remained the same. However, the dimensions of locks and their revised operating procedures have had an effect on vessel size and the manoeuvres for the larger vessels. After the first transit on 26 June 2016, it was possible to have access to data on the new lockage systems for Neopanamax ships. The thorough statistical study of these new datasets (composed of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), multivariate regression and statistical quality control techniques) has shown the main drivers of transit time across the Cocolí and Agua Clara locks. It has also made it possible to test the learning curve of Panama Canal pilots in the newly expanded canal. The effects of pilot training on the time it takes to transit through the locks, direction of entry in each lock, the type of vessel, vessel dimensions and the use of different types of manoeuvres have been analysed. The results are used to characterise and help optimise the performance of this new and unique lock system.

In order to achieve high accuracy of autonomous navigation for Mars probes, an integrated navigation method using X-ray pulsar measurement and optical data of viewing Martian moons is proposed. For single X-ray pulsar measurement on board a Mars probe, navigation accuracy is low due to its poor observability. On the other hand, Phobos and Deimos, two natural moons of Mars, are important optical navigation information sources available for Mars missions. However, the Martian moons ephemeris bias and the differences between barycentre and centre of brightness of Martian moons will result in low navigation accuracy. The method of integrated navigation using X-ray pulsar measurement and optical data of viewing Martian moons can overcome the defect and achieve accurate navigation. Two sequential orbit determination algorithms, Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), are compared. The simulation results show this method can obtain high autonomous navigation accuracy during the phase of a probe orbiting Mars.

In Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS)/Odometer (OD) integrated navigation systems, OD scale factor errors change with roadways and vehicle loads. In addition, the random noises of gyros and accelerometers tend to vary with time. These factors may cause the Kalman filter to be degraded or even diverge. To address this problem and reduce the computation load, an Adaptive Two-stage Kalman Filter (ATKF) for SINS/OD integrated navigation systems is proposed. In the Two-stage Kalman Filter (TKF), only the innovation in the bias estimator is a white noise sequence with zero-mean while the innovation in the bias-free estimator is not zero-mean. Based on this fact, a novel algorithm for computing adaptive factors is presented. The proposed ATKF is evaluated in a SINS/OD integrated navigation system, and the simulation results show that it is effective in estimating the change of the OD scale factor error and robust to the varying process noises. A real experiment is carried out to further validate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

The possibility of identifying the type of multipath environment and receiver motion (e.g. pedestrian, vehicular) using pattern recognition approaches based on multipath parameters is investigated. This allows the receiver to adjust its tracking strategy and optimally tune its tracking parameters to mitigate code multipath effects. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method with a modified Gaussian kernel is applied in this approach. A set of temporal and spectral features is extracted from the correlation samples of the received signals in different environments to train the classifier. The latter is then used in the structure of stochastic gradient-based adaptive multipath compensation and tracking techniques to tune the signal tracking parameters based on the environment and receiver motion. Simulation and real data measurements using Galileo E1B/C signals are performed to assess the validity of the proposed environment identification approaches and to evaluate the impact of the proposed context-based receiver parameter tuning techniques on tracking performance in multipath environments. Test results showed that the proposed classifiers have an accuracy between 86% and 92%, and the tracking performance improved by about 15%.

This paper presents a reliable in-motion alignment algorithm for a low cost Strapdown Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (SINS/GPS) combination under random misalignment angles, which transforms attitude alignment into an attitude estimation problem. Based on Rodrigues parameters, an alignment model with a linear state-space equation and a second order nonlinear measurement equation is established. Furthermore, by employing a Taylor expansion on the nonlinear measurement equation, we implement a second order Extended Kalman Filter (EKF2). The proposed method uses a single filter that can not only determine the initial attitude, but also estimate the sensor errors. In addition, a scheme is given for avoiding singularity, which makes the algorithm more widely suitable for random misalignment angles. Experimental ground tests are performed with a low-cost Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) SINS, which validates the efficacy of the proposed method. The performance compared to the traditional alignment algorithm is also given.

Navigational error accounts for half of the accidents and serious incidents in close to shore maritime transport in Norway predominantly due to the rapidly changing weather conditions and the dangerous nature of the narrow inshore waters found along the Norwegian coast. This creates a dependence on Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) use and any disruption to this service can lead to an increased accident rate. The aim of this paper is to research the jamming vulnerability of existing maritime receivers and to understand if an upgrade to a multi-constellation or multi-frequency receiver would improve system resilience. The novelty of this work is a comparison of jamming resilience between different combinations of multiple constellations (GPS and Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS)) and multi-frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. This paper presents results from GNSS jamming trials conducted in the northern part of Norway, confirming previous research and indicating that typical maritime GPS receivers are easy to jam and may produce erroneous positional information. Results demonstrate that the single frequency multi-constellation receivers offer better jamming resilience than multi-frequency (L1 + L2) GPS receivers. Further, the GLONASS constellation demonstrated a better resilience than GPS. Results demonstrate a known correlation between GPS L1 and L2 frequencies, as well as a probable over-dependence on GPS for signal acquisition, meaning that no signal can be received without GPS L1 present. With these limitations in mind, the authors suggest that the most economic update to the single frequency GPS receivers, currently used for maritime applications, should be multi-constellation GPS + GLONASS receivers. This solution is cheaper and it also offer better jamming resistance for close to shore navigation than dual frequency receivers.

Nowadays, the most widely used method for estimating location of autonomous vehicles in real time is the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). However, positioning in urban environments using GNSS is hampered by poor satellite geometry due to signal obstruction created by both man-made and natural features of the urban environment. The presence of obstacles is the reason for the decreased number of observed satellites as well as uncertainty of GNSS positioning. It is possible that in some sections of the vehicle route there might not be enough satellites necessary to fix position. It is common to use software for static GNSS measurement campaign planning, but it is often only able to predict satellite visibility at one point. This article presents a proposal for dynamic GNSS mission planning using a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and dead reckoning. The methodology and sample results of numerical experiments are also described. They clearly show that proper dynamic GNSS mission planning is necessary in order to complete a task by an autonomous vehicle in an obstructed environment.

Ship collision avoidance involves helping ships find routes that will best enable them to avoid a collision. When more than two ships encounter each other, the procedure becomes more complex since a slight change in course by one ship might affect the future decisions of the other ships. Two distributed algorithms have been developed in response to this problem: Distributed Local Search Algorithm (DLSA) and Distributed Tabu Search Algorithm (DTSA). Their common drawback is that it takes a relatively large number of messages for the ships to coordinate their actions. This could be fatal, especially in cases of emergency, where quick decisions should be made. In this paper, we introduce Distributed Stochastic Search Algorithm (DSSA), which allows each ship to change her intention in a stochastic manner immediately after receiving all of the intentions from the target ships. We also suggest a new cost function that considers both safety and efficiency in these distributed algorithms. We empirically show that DSSA requires many fewer messages for the benchmarks with four and 12 ships, and works properly for real data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in the Strait of Dover.

Increasing lunar exploration activities are giving rise to higher demands for a navigation constellation system in cislunar space. A novel constellation of solar sails around the Sun-Earth Artificial Lagrangian Points (ALPs) is proposed for cislunar navigation in this paper, which benefits from the numberless and out-of-plane advantages of ALPs compared with the classical Lagrangian points. To relieve the technical pressure on sail equipment, a two-layer optimisation strategy including the navigation constellation architecture and trajectory design is developed to reduce the desired lightness number of the sail's motion. The constellation architecture is constructed in the shape of a regular tetrahedron, whose size and orientation are derived from the realisable lightness number at the ALPs. The powerful Hamiltonian structure-preserving controller and differential evolution algorithm are adopted to propagate the bounded quasi-periodic trajectory with minimum lightness number variation. With the premise of the sail's high feasibility in the mechanism, the numerical navigation simulations for a typical trans-lunar weak stability boundary trajectory indicate that the proposed navigation constellation has a low geometric dilution of precision factor and a good navigation performance.

The precise autonomous navigation for deep space exploration by combination of multi-source observation data is a key issue for probe control and scientific applications. In this paper, the performance of an integrated Optical Celestial Navigation (OCN) and X-ray Pulsars Autonomous Navigation (XNAV) system is investigated for the orbit of Mars Pathfinder. Firstly, OCN and XNAV single systems are realised by an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). Secondly, the integrated system is simulated with a Federated Kalman Filter (FKF), which can do the information fusion of the two subsystems of UKF and inherits the advantages of each subsystem. Thirdly, the performance of our system is evaluated by analysing the relationship between observation errors and navigation accuracy. The results of the simulation experiments show that the biases between the nominal and our calculated orbit are within 5 km in all three axes under complex error conditions. This accuracy is also better than current ground-based techniques.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) Out supports various ground applications including Air Traffic Control (ATC) surveillance in radar airspace, non-radar airspace and on the airport surface. In addition, the capability of aircraft to receive ADS-B Out messages from other aircraft within their coverage (ADS-B In) enables enhanced airborne surveillance applications. The requirements of the application vary depending on its safety-criticality. More stringent applications will require higher levels of performance. It is therefore critical that the ADS-B system performance is measured against the most stringent application it is designed for. This paper reviews the various enhanced airborne surveillance applications and the required ADS-B information to support them. It identifies the ADS-B based applications required for Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernisation under the SESAR/NextGen programs. It discusses existing ADS-B Out versions and their capabilities. A mapping exercise is undertaken to assess the credibility of the ADS-B system performance to support the functionalities and requirements of the various enhanced airborne surveillance applications and establish those that require further research and development, highlighting some of the key challenges.