The effect of the relative position of the GNSS receivers on the accuracy of determining the angular position of the aircraft at the landing stage

Flight missions require high precision control of the vehicle, especially during the takeoff and landing stages. This largely relates to the consideration of the influence of the placement of GNSS antennas on the cylindrical body of the aircraft and the associated accuracy of determining the angular position, which is critically important for the successful completion of the mission. The purpose of the work. Impro¬ving the accuracy of determining the angular position (roll, pitch and yaw) of an aircraft at critical stages of flight, such as landing, by optimizing the relative position of the satellite navigation system antennas on its cylindrical body. The research is aimed at minimizing the effect of coordinate measurement noise on the resulting error in calculating orientation angles. Materials and methods. To solve the optimization problem, two algorithms were used and compared: a “greedy” algorithm aimed at selecting the most distant placement points from each other, and a RANSAC algorithm based on a stable sample of random subsets. The optimization criterion was the minimization of the standard deviation of the error in determining the Euler angles. The effectiveness of the obtained configurations was evaluated by statistical modeling with 100 iterations for various levels of coordinate noise. The dependence of the orientation error on the positioning error was analyzed using linear regression and the coefficient of determination. The noise transmission coefficients are compared with the theoretical estimate for an unoptimized placement. Results. A comparison is made between the “greedy” algorithm for optimizing the placement of GNSS receiver antennas and the RANSAC algorithm. The best configuration has been found, providing a reduction in the transmission coefficient compared to the theoretical estimate. A close to linear dependence of the error in determi-ning angles on the error in measuring coordinates has been revealed. Conclusion. The importance of optimizing the relative position of the receivers for accurately determining the orientation of the aircraft is shown. The “greedy” algorithm is recognized as the most effective and reliable method for placing receivers on a cylindrical body. Its use makes it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of determining the angular position at flight stages sensitive to orientation errors, such as takeoff and landing. The results of the work form practical recommendations for improving the reliability of orientation systems.