基于矢量观测的最小方差姿态估计算法

提出了适用于航天飞行器单点实时姿态估计的间接姿态估计算法(IRQE).该算法在精度上与目前使用的算法(QUEST)相同,而计算速度更快,并且没有奇异.通过协方差分析证明:在给定权系数和测量误差为零均值高斯噪声假设下,IRQE算法得到的姿态估计既是最小方差估计,又是极大似然估汁;同时,其方差达到了Cramer-Rao下界,这意味着其精度在所有无偏估计中最佳.

A Minimum Variance Attitude Estimator Using Vector Observations

This paper presents an Indirect Rodrigues-Quaternion Estimator (IRQE) for single-point real-time space-craft attitude estimation using vector observations. IRQE algorithm provides the identical accuracy as QUEST, but has faster computational speed and presents no singularity. Covariance analysis shows that, for an appropriate choice of weights and zero-mean Gaussian noise, IRQE is both the minimum variance estimator and maximum likelihood estimator of attitude, and its variance reaches the Cramer-Rao lower bound, which is the minimal achievable variance for all unbiased estimators.