A real-time localization system for compactors

An operator-aiding system for compactors must incorporate a localization system. In this paper, we consider real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS and we present the solutions we have developed to maintain the positioning error lower than 0.2 m even during the satellite (limited) masking phases. By combining gyro, steering angle and speed measurements, we show that it is possible to obtain satisfying performances in dead-reckoning navigation with a low-cost internal sensor set. A forward–backward Kalman filter is proposed to deal with particularly long maskings, which typically occur when the machine works under bridges. Results of experiments carried out with an instrumented machine are presented to validate the proposed solutions.