Analytic solutions to two quaternion attitude estimation problems

Abstract

This paper presents solutions to the following two common quaternion attitude estimation problems: (i) estimation of attitude using measurement of two reference vectors, and (ii) estimation of attitude using rate measurement and measurement of a single reference vector. Both these problems yield to a direct geometric analysis and solution. The former problem already has a well established analytic solution in literature using linear algebraic methods. This note shows how the solution may also be obtained using geometric methods, which are not only more intuitive, but also amenable to unconventional extensions. With respect to the latter problem, existing solutions typically involve filters and observers and use a mix of differential-geometric and control systems methods. However, no analytic solution has yet been reported to this problem. In this note, both the problems are formulated as optimization problems, which can be solved analytically to obtain a unique closed-form solution. The analytic attitude estimates are (i) instantaneous with respect to the measurements, thus overcoming the latency inherent in solutions based upon negative feedback upon an error, which can at best show asymptotic convergence, (ii) exact, thus overcoming errors in solutions based upon linear methods, and (iii) geometry-based, thus enabling imposition of geometric inequality constraints.