Attitude reconstruction from magnetometer measurement only

[j_dano]

Hi, I am currently trying to reconstruct three dimensional attitude only by using magnetometer measurements with the knowledge of initial attitude.

There have been many research conducted on the attitude reconstruction only by magnetometer (or one vector) measurements.
For example, this is a deterministic approach. See "A Method of Determining Attitude From Magnetometer Data Only " by Natanson, McLaughlin & Nicklas.

All the methods required the knowledge of tensor of Inertia of the body.
But if the information about tensor of Inertia is not available, is it possible to reconstruct attitude with one vector measurements and the knowledge of initial attitude?
I think that if the sampling rate of measurements is quite rapid compared to attitude changing speed and if short duration, it would be possible.

If someone knows how to do that, could you please help me?

Thanks.

 

[Achy47]

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out with your question. It is certainly possible to reconstruct attitude using only magnetometer measurements and knowledge of initial attitude. However, as you mentioned, this method does require a rapid sampling rate of measurements and a short duration of time. This is because the magnetometer measures the Earth's magnetic field, which can be affected by external factors such as solar storms or nearby magnetic objects. Therefore, frequent measurements are necessary to account for these variations and accurately reconstruct attitude.

There are several methods and algorithms that have been developed for this purpose, such as the one mentioned in the paper "A Method of Determining Attitude From Magnetometer Data Only" by Natanson, McLaughlin & Nicklas. These methods use mathematical models and algorithms to process the magnetometer measurements and estimate the attitude of the body.

It is important to note that while these methods do not require knowledge of the tensor of Inertia, they do rely on the assumption that the body is rigid and has a known shape. This allows for the estimation of the body's magnetic dipole moment, which is necessary for attitude reconstruction.

I hope this information helps. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Best of luck with your research!