The foregoing states the entire liability of Oxford Technical Solutions Limited with respect to the products herein. Any use of misuse of the RT in a manner not intended may impar the protection provided. Please contact OxTS if you believe any service or repair is required on your RT.
Trigger 1 and 2 ....................................17 Wheel speed input ..................................18 Co-ordinate frame conventions .............................. 18 IMU frame ....................................19 OxTS NED navigation frame ..............................20 ISO 8855 ENU earth-fixed system ............................. 21 OxTS horizontal frame ................................21 ISO 8855 intermediate system ............................22 OxTS vehicle frame .................................
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Serial RS232 ....................................31 CAN bus ......................................31 Hardware installation ..................................33 Antenna placement and orientation ............................33 Configuring the RT1003 v2 ................................35 Overview ......................................35 Working through NAVconfig ..............................36 NAVconfig Home section in NAVconfig ..........................36 Start/Read Configuration section in NAVconfig ........................ 37 Read Configuration section ..............................
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Revision history ....................................83 Drawing list ......................................84 Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 6 of 90...
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List of figures Figure 1. Connector panel of the RT1003 v2 ........................... 14 Figure 2. 1PPS waveform ................................17 Figure 3. IMU frame..................................19 Figure 4. OxTS navigation frame ..............................20 Figure 5. ISO 8855 earth-fixed system ............................. 21 Figure 6. OxTS Horizontal frame definition ..........................22 Figure 7.
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List of tables Table 1: Supplementary manuals ..............................9 Table 2. Summary of standard components supplied with an RT1003 v2 ..............10 Table 3: Accessory products ................................. 10 Table 4. RT1003 v2 front panel descriptions ........................... 14 Table 5. GNSS LED states ................................15 Table 6.
While the RT1003 v2 enclosure is rated to IP65, not all the connectors on the user cable are fully IP rated and therefore should not be used in wet environments. The device and user cable are suitable for use in pollution degree 2 locations.
Accessory products A number of accessory products are also compatible with your product. These are listed in Table 3. For more information on specific accessories, please see our website or speak to your OxTS representative. Table 3: Accessory products Product...
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The RT-XLAN is a high performance WLAN radio unit capable of providing a highly RT-XLAN reliable >1 km vehicle-to-vehicle data communication link between multiple vehicles Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 11 of 90...
Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver The RT1003 v2 incorporates a GNSS receiver. No GNSS receiver can track satellites in the presence of strong RF radiations within 70 MHz of the GNSS frequencies. The RT1003 v2 conforms to the requirements for CE. Do not remove the label from the device.
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ICES-003 Issue 7 January 2020 – Information Technology Equipment (Including Digital Apparatus) – Limits and Methods of Measurement. Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 13 of 90...
Connector panel layout The layout of the RT1003 v2’s connector panel is shown below and the function of each connector is described. Figure 1. Connector panel of the RT1003 v2 Table 4. RT1003 v2 front panel descriptions...
The operating system has not yet booted and the program is not yet running. This occurs at start-up Red-green flash The RT1003 v2 is asleep. Contact OxTS support for further information The operating system has booted and the programme is running. The GNSS Red flash...
Inputs and outputs The RT1003 v2 is capable of transmitting and monitoring a number of digital signals for the purpose of synchronisation and event marking. The following section describes the inputs and outputs available on the RT1003 v2. Table 8 describes each of the signals on the digital I/O connector J5 of the user cable.
Figure 2. 1PPS waveform Trigger 1 and 2 Trigger 1 (J5-2) and Trigger 2 (J5-4) can be used to generate events within the RT1003 v2 for purposes of identifying external events, or to output a time/distance-based signal for the purpose of driving external events.
high > 2.4 V The wheel that is used should not steer the vehicle. The RT1003 v2 will assume the wheel travels straight. Co-ordinate frame conventions An inertial navigation system is capable of making very precise measurements, but without context those measurements are just meaningless numbers.
IMU frame Figure 3. IMU frame The arrows indicate the positive direction, and the direction of positive rotation about each axis. The origin of the IMU frame is marked on the casing of each product or described in the technical drawings at the end of the user manual.
OxTS NED navigation frame Figure 4. OxTS navigation frame The OxTS navigation frame is attached to the IMU frame origin but does not rotate with it. The down axis is always aligned to the gravity vector and north always points north.
The OxTS horizontal frame (sometimes called the level frame) is attached to the vehicle but does not rotate with the roll and pitch of the vehicle. It rotates by the heading of the vehicle. The definition of the OxTS Horizontal frame is listed in Table 11 and shown Figure 6.
Figure 6. OxTS Horizontal frame definition The OxTS horizontal frame is attached to the vehicle. The longitudinal and lateral axes remain parallel to a horizontal plane. The longitudinal axis is also parallel to the vehicle's heading when viewed from above.
OxTS vehicle frame The OxTS vehicle frame is attached to the body of the vehicle. It is related to the INS through the rotations in the Orientation page of NAVconfig. It can be changed while the INS is running using the Quick Config tool in NAVdisplay.
Figure 9. ISO 8855 vehicle system The ISO vehicle frame is attached to the vehicle and rotates with it in all three axes. The lateral axis points to the vehicle’s left and is perpendicular to its vertical plane of symmetry. The longitudinal axis and vertical axis (when the vehicle is level), is essentially aligned to the gravity vector and points up.
To define a new local co-ordinate reference frame, the INS needs to know several things. First, it needs an origin. This is defined using latitude and longitude to at least six decimal places. It then needs an altitude offset for the frame (positive or negative), which is applied to the WGS 84 altitude at the assigned lat/lon co- ordinates.
Software installation Included with every RT1003 v2 is a USB stick containing the software package, NAVsuite. This package contains several programs required to take full advantage of the RT’s capabilities Table 16 lists the contents of NAVsuite. Table 16. NAVsuite components...
NAVsuite from the list and clicking Uninstall. It will then remove all files and applications for NAVsuite. The uninstall feature will not touch the data folder at the path C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\OxTS\NAVsolve. Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 27 of 90...
NCOM. The use of a UDP broadcast allows everyone on the network to receive the real-time data. OxTS offers free C and C++ code that will interpret the NCOM packet (See Related documents on page 10.).
Note that it is possible to change the IP address of RT1003 v2 systems. If the IP address has been changed, NAVdisplay should still be able to identify the address that the RT1003 v2 is using as long as the PC has a valid IP address in the same range and this is not the same as the RT1003 v2's.
products on the network. The firewall must be configured to allow each program to talk on the network, or programs will not work as intended. Sometimes a warning will not be triggered, but the firewall may still block certain functions. If a program fails to display the IP address of a connected product, check the firewall settings for that connection.
CAN bus The RT1003 v2 features user configurable CAN bus that operates at 250 Kb/s, 500 Kb/s or 1 Mb/s. As well as transmitting its measurement data via CAN, the RT1003 v2 can also be configured to log 12 signals from the CAN bus.
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500h to 5FFh for INS status information 600h to 60Fh for navigation information 610h to 613h for RT-ANA messages 620h to 623h for the additional slip points Only one status message is output per cycle (100 Hz or 250 Hz output rate) you do not get each status message at the specified rate.
For ease of use, it is best to try and mount the RT1003 v2 so the IMU frame is aligned squarely to the vehicle frame (±5° in each axis). If the system must be mounted in a misaligned way, then those angle offsets must be measured and entered into NAVconfig.
Figure 14. Antenna orientation and alignment a) The bases of the antennas are parallel, but the cables exit in different directions. b) The cables exit in the same direction but the bases of the antennas are not parallel. c) The bases of the antennas are parallel and the cables exit in the same direction. This configuration will achieve the best results.
Configuring the RT1003 v2 To obtain the best results from an RT1003 v2 it is necessary to configure it to suit the installation and application before using it for the first time. The program NAVconfig is used to do this. This section describes how to use NAVconfig and gives additional explanations on the meanings of some of the terms used.
Working through NAVconfig NAVconfig is split into seven sections. Each section contains several tabs with settings that can be applied to the device. The sections are: Home, Ready Configuration, Hardware Setup, Interfaces, Environment, Advanced Tools and Write Configuration. When a device is connected via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, the product name (including serial number) will be displayed at the top of the application.
Figure 15. NAVconfig Home section Start/Read Configuration section in NAVconfig This section becomes available when you choose “New configuration” or “Modify configuration” from the Home section. It is important to ensure the correct Product type and version is selected. The settings available in NAVconfig vary depending on the product type and version chosen.
Figure 16. NAVconfig Start/Read Configuration section Read Configuration section The Read Configuration choice tells NAVconfig where to read the initial configuration from (see Figure 17). Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 38 of 90...
Figure 17. NAVconfig Read Configuration section Read settings from a folder: It is possible to store a configuration in a folder. The configuration comprises several files, so it is tidier to keep it in a folder by itself. To read the configuration from a folder, select this option and then specify a folder by clicking the ‘Browse…’...
IMU orientation tab The IMU orientation tab is used to define the vehicle co-ordinate frame relative to the RT’s co-ordinate frame. It is important to get the orientation correct as although settings entered on this page do not affect the accuracy of the RT, if the outputs are not properly rotated to the vehicle frame then the measurements will appear incorrect.
Figure 19. NAVconfig IMU orientation tab in the Hardware Setup section For correct initialisation, it is necessary to get the heading orientation correct. The RT gets its initial heading by assuming the vehicle is travelling forwards in a straight line. If the definition of the vehicle’s x-axis (forward direction) is incorrect in the RT then it will not initialise correctly when the vehicle drives forwards.
Figure 20. NAVconfig Primary Antenna tab It is necessary to tell the RT the distance between its measurement origin and the GNSS antenna’s measurement point. This should be entered in the vehicle’s co-ordinate frame. The RT will try to improve the position of the primary GNSS antenna during use. To use the values the RT has estimated use the “Improve configuration”...
If the angle between the antennas cannot be estimated within a 3° tolerance then contact OxTS support for techniques for identifying the angle of the antennas. The ‘Enable static initialisation’ option is useful for slow moving vehicles or where it is essential to start the RT running before moving (for example in autonomous vehicles).
The RT will improve the estimate of the secondary antenna orientation settings. Use the “Improve configuration” option to use the improved values. Lateral No-slip and Vertical No-slip tabs This feature uses characteristics of land vehicle motion to improve heading and slip angle and to reduce drift. Specifying the position of the non-steered wheels makes a huge difference to the lateral drift performance of the RT when GNSS is not available.
Figure 23. Measurement point for Lateral No-slip Measuring from the RT, measure the distances to the non-steered axle position in each axis in the vehicle co- ordinate frame. Select the direction from the dropdown lists and enter the distances. The measurements are made to an accuracy of 10 cm. Selecting an accuracy better than 10 cm does not improve results.
Figure 24. NAVconfig Lateral No-slip tab in the hardware Setup section When using No-Slip features, the RT can estimate the slip angle offset of the RT compared to the vehicle. After the RT is initialised and warmed-up, use the Improve configuration option from the NAVconfig Home section to automatically read the RT’s slip angle offset estimate.
Figure 25. NAVconfig Differential corrections tab in the Hardware Setup section Select the differential corrections source you wish to use from the dropdown. If using a base station, then select the baud rate from the Serial port settings (radio modem). The most common baud rates used for differential corrections are 4800 baud and 9600 baud.
Figure 26. NTRIP Internal Client When the ‘Use internal Client’ option is selected, several additional settings are provided and need to be configured. The Host address needs to be entered to receive corrections. This is the domain name or IP address of the caster or service that will be used.
Wi-Fi when connected to an RT-XLAN. When Network correction transmitter is selected, an RT will broadcast differential corrections it is receiving via a radio modem from an OxTS base station, using its RT-XLAN. Other RT devices that are on the network as the broadcasting RT, will then be able to receive the DGPS messages and use them.
UCOM UCOM is enabled in the UCOM tab by checking the “Enable UCOM checkbox”. This enables the UCOM measurement stream. Included in this measurement stream will be any Measurement that is individually selected using the checkboxes in this tab. The filter box can be used to search for any specific measurement. Figure 27: UCOM configuration CAN Output tab RT systems can be configured to send and receive data via a CAN bus.
Figure 28. NAVconfig CAN output configuration tab You can select individual messages or enable all messages by choosing them from the table displayed. Depending on the baud rate selected, the suggested maximum CAN messages per second will change. A warning message will appear if the combined rate of all current navigation and status messages will overload the CAN bus at the selected baud rate.
Figure 29. NAVconfig CAN output configuration tab - Navigation Each message can be enabled/disabled by clicking in the appropriate cell and selecting from the dropdown menu. The message Identifier is also changed by clicking in the cell. The identifier number should be defined in either hexadecimal or decimal format.
Positive and negative integer values can be entered into the Identifier offset box in both decimal and hexadecimal formats. Data entered in hexadecimal format should end with an “h”. To remove the offset, type 0 in the identifier offset box. The Enabled checkbox quickly enables and disables all status messages.
Select a Packet type and Baud rate. By default, data on the serial port is output using 8-N-1, although odd/even parity and two stop bits are available by using Advanced commands. Please contact support@oxts.com for details on this. If the NMEA packet type is selected, the NMEA tab will appear in the properties window. In this tab the NMEA messages to output on the serial port are selected by choosing the data rate for each message type from the dropdown lists and clicking the checkbox for when to generate the message.
overflow warning message will appear if the data rate is too high for the selected baud rate; to fix this it is necessary to lower the data rate of the selected NMEA sentences or increase the baud rate. Selecting “Allow extended length messages” enables the full GGA and RMC messages to be output, which are longer than the NMEA specification allows.
NAVconfig Environment section This section contains settings related to the environment you will be collecting data in, including the device initialisation conditions. This section is not broken down into tabs but contains several selectable options and pre-defined values on one screen. Initialisation Static initialisation is disabled by default.
Vibration levels Select a predefined value from the dropdown list. The Normal vibration level is adequate for most circumstances. The RT is very tolerant of vibration and has been used successfully in environments with more than 2 g RMS using the Normal setting. If the velocity innovations are very high, and many GNSS packets are being dropped, then this setting can be changed.
When Garage mode is active, the RT applies a gentle velocity update and assumes that the vehicle is stationary. This keeps the roll, pitch and velocity within acceptable limits while the RT has no GNSS. With heading lock also enabled, the RT can also keep the heading accurate while stationary. When using this option, try to keep the vehicle’s movement inside the garage to a minimum and exit the garage through the same door the car entered.
CAN bus. On the NCOM output the non-filtered values are output together with the filter characteristics and the NCOM decoders provided by OxTS will implement the chosen filter. The linear acceleration and the angular acceleration can be configured separately.
graph showing the delay with respect to frequency can also be plotted. The delay is the additional delay of the filter and not the total delay of the acceleration output. The RT has other delays, like calculation delay, too. Figure 33. NAVconfig acceleration filters tab in the advanced tools section Wheel Speed Input The RT can be factory configured to include a wheel speed input.
Figure 34. NAVconfig wheel speed Input tab in the advanced tools section The distances from the measurement point on the RT to the measurement point of the wheel speed encoder in the vehicle coordinate frame should be input. The directions can be selected from the dropdown lists. If the wheel speed is from a prop shaft then the distance should be measured half way between the two wheels.
CAN Wheel Speed In addition to an external wheel-mounted speed sensor, velocity data can also be imported over CAN from a vehicle’s CAN bus, an external speed over ground sensor or similar. To use this feature, the CAN acquisition feature must be enabled and the relevant .dbc file loaded in the CAN acquisition tab. Once this is enabled, the relevant CAN channel should be selected.
Output smoothing tab When the Kalman filter in the RT determines that there is some error to correct, this error is applied smoothly rather than as a jump. The output smoothing controls how fast the correction is applied to the outputs. This option is particularly useful for autonomous vehicles or path-following robots as a rapid change in position can lead to a large change in the steering angle.
Note: this function is designed to improve the data in real time. When post-processing the data using the forwards-backwards combined option, output smoothing should not be used as it may give unexpected results. Slip Points tab The RT can output the slip angle measurements at additional points (maximum of eight points) on the CAN bus.
Figure 38. NAVconfig GNSS Control tab in Advanced Tools within NAVconfig The GNSS Control tab gives a choice of two algorithms for computing the GNSS measurements. The default option is to use the algorithm provided by the GNSS receiver. Using this algorithm, the RT will accept position and velocity from the GNSS and use it to update the Kalman filter.
The RT1003 v2 GNSS receivers update both position and velocity at a rate of 5 Hz. Therefore, to ignore updates for 60 seconds for example, the number to enter to start believing measurements again would be 300.
Using the Commands tab you can enter device-specific commands that apply specific features or perform actions onto the RT. The OxTS technical support team often use these and can provide you with a list of useful commands if you request them at support@oxts.com.
The Write Configuration section of NAVconfig Changes to the RT settings must be sent using Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It is necessary to configure your computer’s LAN and WLAN settings, so it is on the same network as the RT. Figure 40 shows the Write Configuration page. Figure 40.
RT1003 v2. In order to relate the RT1003 v2 signals to maps, or other items on the world, it is necessary to have a surveyor measure the position of the GNSS antenna and then tell the base station GNSS receiver what position to use.
Figure 41: Illustration of dynamic initialisation Static initialisation Static initialisation — which is only possible on dual antenna systems — requires both primary and secondary antennas to be configured. When static initialisation is selected, the system will attempt to calculate an initial heading based on the position of the two GNSS antennas relative to the IMU, as defined in the configuration.
Warm-up For the first 15 minutes after power-up, the system will not conform to specification. During this period the Kalman Filter runs a more relaxed model for the sensors. By running a more relaxed model, the system is able Make better estimates of the errors in the long term (if it does not get these correct then they become more difficult to correct as time goes on).
Just after 500 seconds the RT1003 v2 is driven (it is the small loop on the east side in Figure 42, not the figures of eight). This small amount of driving is sufficient for the Kalman filter to gain confidence in the antenna position and to improve the alignment of the two GNSS antennas compared to the inertial sensors.
Figure 43. Example warm-up accuracy estimates (a) Forward velocity. (b) Position accuracies. (c) Velocity accuracies. (d) Orientation accuracies. You can see the INS is nearly at specification after just this small amount of driving. However, experience tells us the Kalman filter will continue to make some improvements (not obvious) during the first few figures of Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 73 of 90...
Post-processing data Data is stored on the RT1003 v2 in a raw, unprocessed format; these raw data files have an RD extension. The advantage of storing data in a raw format is that it can be reprocessed at a later time using different configuration settings.
Laboratory testing There are several checks that can be performed in the laboratory to ensure the system is working correctly. The most fragile items in the system are the accelerometers, the other items are not subject to shock and do not need to be tested as thoroughly.
It is hard to do a more exhaustive test using the angular rate sensors without specialised software and equipment. For further calibration testing it is necessary to return the unit to OxTS. Note that the RT is capable of correcting the error in the angular rate sensors very accurately. It is not necessary to have very small values for the angular rates when stationary since they will be estimated during the initialisation process and warm-up period.
The heading accuracy that can be achieved by the dual antenna system in the RT1003 v2 is 0.2° 1σ per metre of separation in ideal, open sky conditions. Increasing the separation improves the performance linearly.
In order to maximise performance and ensure optimal operation, there are a number of areas to consider during installation and operation of the RT1003 v2 system. Table 26 lists the topics to pay attention to. Table 26: Optimal operation checks...
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Care not to exceed initialisation speed while reversing or turning Device status is monitored – see Product Disclaimer for recommended status messages Vehicle operation Avoid extended periods in blocked or obstructed GNSS environments without additional aiding sources such as a wheel speed Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 80 of 90...
3. Click the Calibration button, then select the Navigation tab and ensure the X, Y, and Z accelerations (values 19 to 21) are within specification when the RT1003 v2 is placed on a level surface in the orientations according to Table 27.
For further calibration testing it is necessary to return the unit to OxTS. Note that the RT1003 v2 is capable of correcting the error in the angular rate sensors very accurately. It is not necessary to have very small values for the angular rates when stationary since they will be estimated during the initialisation process and warm-up period.
CAN messages and drawings updated 180122 Antennas updated 190628 GNSS and accelerometers updated 211209 Rebranded throughout 220127 Updated for RT1003 v2 230718 Updated with product limitations and disclaimer 231006 Updated hardware installation section 240703 Amended Laboratory testing section 241011 Clarification added that PPS will not output when no GNSS satellites are tracked 241024 Addition of CAN wheel speed, hotstart and UCOM.
Oxford Technical Solutions. Table 31. List of available drawings Revision Description 14A0078A RT1003 v2 Enclosure 14C0038B RT1003 v2 User Cable 77C0002B Power cable 14A0078A Unit Fitting Bracket Customer Drawing Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 84 of 90...
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Technical Solutions Park Farm Business Centre, Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire, OX25 4AL, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1869 814 253 Email: info@oxts.com Registered in England and Wales No. 3534778. VAT GB 704 8399 17 Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd Page 89 of 90...
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