Unscented filtering for spacecraft attitude estimation

A new spacecraft attitude estimation approach based on the unscented filter is derived. For nonlinear systems the unscented filter uses a carefully selected set of sample points to map the probability distribution more accurately than the linearization of the standard extended Kalman filter, leading to faster convergence from inaccurate initial conditions in attitude estimation problems. The filter formulation is based on standard attitude-vector measurements using a gyro-based model for attitude propagation. The global attitude parameterization is given by a quaternion, whereas a generalized three-dimensional attitude representation is used to define the local attitude error. A multiplicative quaternion-error approach is derived from the local attitude error, which guarantees that quaternion normalization is maintained in the filter. Simulation results indicate that the unscented filter is more robust than the extended Kalman filter under realistic initial attitude-error conditions.