Inertial Explorer GNSS+INS post-processing

Inertial Explorer (IE) maximises the performance of your GNSS+INS hardware by processing and outputting a truth trajectory with the position, velocity and attitude accuracy your application requires. The tightly coupled integration of GNSS and inertial data delivers precise results, even when using lower-grade inertial sensors. 

IE provides a source of truth for post-mission position, velocity and attitude trajectories for a range of applications, including mobile mapping, aerial and hydrographic surveying, R&D companies developing autonomous systems and post-processing-as-a-service integrators. With full support of major constellations, frequencies and GNSS corrections processing, IE ensures your data are reliably precise no matter where in the world you operate.

Flexible workflow capabilities

IE has built-in workflows to match your business and your expertise. A project wizard assists new GNSS+INS users with importing their data, processing and outputting with accurate quality control and across formats efficiently. Automated processing environment detection for aerial, ground vehicle, pedestrian and marine profiles allows appropriate processing settings to be used automatically to streamline your workflow, reduce your learning curve and start producing quality results quickly. For more experienced users, a wide range of processing configuration options are available to fully customise your workflows for your unique application.

Powerful post-processing

Inertial Explorer supports loosely coupled and tightly coupled processing modes for integrating GNSS and inertial data. Learn more about GNSS+INS coupled systems in our Introduction to GNSS book here.

• Loosely coupled: In this processing mode, IE processes the GNSS trajectory, then the time-stamped position and velocity updates are passed to the loosely coupled processor. This two-stage mode allows users to extensively quality control their processed GNSS trajectory before inertial processing
• Tightly coupled: GNSS and inertial data are processed simultaneously in this mode. A tightly coupled processing mode maximises satellite signal availability in challenging GNSS conditions, significantly limiting inertial error growth without a full GNSS position update

Features

• IE fully supports major constellations and frequencies, including GPS L1/L2/L5, GLONASS L1/L2, BeiDou B1I/B2I/B3I/B1C/B2A, Galileo E1/E5a/E5b and QZSS L1/L2C/L5
• Support for up to 32 base stations in each project
• Boresight module for angular offsets between inertial measurement unit (IMU) and vehicle or camera frames
• Boresight computation between the IMU and vehicle frame for users requiring attitude output relative to the vehicle frame
• Estimate or refine lever arm offsets between IMU and GNSS antenna
• Loosely and tightly coupled GNSS+INS processing
• Differential GNSS – also known as post-processed kinematic (PPK) – and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing
• Flexible Export Wizard outputs results at any vehicle location in the required data format, rate and coordinate frame
• Direct output to Google Earth, RIEGL POF/POQ, DXF and SBET format
• HTML quality control reports
• Support for various third-party GNSS+INS products and generic data formats
• Easy integration with SPAN GNSS+INS technology products

Benefits

• High availability of GNSS signals for resilient positioning during data collection
• Download base station data from thousands of reference stations across the globe through public networks and/or HxGN SmartNet
• Streamlined workflow with Project Wizard for quick startup
• Multiple built-in processing profiles for airborne, ground, pedestrian, UAV and marine projects
• Velocity constraints for best pedestrian and ground vehicle results in challenging GNSS signal conditions
• Built upon decades of GNSS expertise