Vehicle Heading Estimation Using Magnetic Positioning System

Abstract

Vehicle localization is an important factor in autonomous driving vehicles. Particularly, accurate and precise information about the vehicle location, and robustness towards weather and road conditions is required for such uses. Vehicle localization using roadway magnets has proven useful regarding its precision and robustness. However, it is not widely used due to a concern that introduction and maintenance cost of such systems may be costly. A breakthrough in sensor technology has made it possible to pick up weak magnetic force, thus enabling the use of low-cost magnets. Combined with a new method, vehicle localization using magnetic markers is regaining attention as Magnetic Positioning System (MPS). This paper focuses on vehicle heading estimation of MPS using only one magnetic sensor array. Current system cannot measure vehicle heading with a single magnetic sensor array, so a novel approach is required. We propose a method to enable heading estimation: a sensor fusion of IMUs and marker position. This is further investigated in simulations, with some promising results.