Calibration of three-axis magnetometers with differential evolution algorithm

Abstract The accuracy of three-axis magnetometers is influenced by different scale and bias of each axis and nonorthogonality between axes. One limitation of traditional iteration methods is that initial parameters influence the calibration, thus leading to the local optimal or wrong results. In this paper, a new method is proposed to calibrate three-axis magnetometers. To employ this method, a nonmagnetic rotation platform, a proton magnetometer, a DM-050 three-axis magnetometer and the differential evolution (DE) algorithm are used. The performance of this calibration method is analyzed with simulation and experiment. In simulation, the calibration results of DE, unscented Kalman filter (UKF), recursive least squares (RLS) and genetic algorithm (GA) are compared. RMS error using DE is least, which is reduced from 81.233 nT to 1.567 nT. Experimental results show that comparing with UKF, RLS and GA, the DE algorithm has not only the least calibration error but also the best robustness. After calibration, RMS error is reduced from 68.914 nT to 2.919 nT. In addition, the DE algorithm is not sensitive to initial parameters, which is an important advantage compared with traditional iteration algorithms. The proposed algorithm can avoid the troublesome procedure to select suitable initial parameters, thus it can improve the calibration performance of three-axis magnetometers.

[1]  Malcolm D. Shuster,et al.  TWOSTEP: A fast robust algorithm for attitude-independent magnetometer-bias determination , 2002 .

[2]  Sangkyung Sung,et al.  Error Calibration of Magnetometer Using Nonlinear Integrated Filter Model With Inertial Sensors , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

[3]  R. Storn,et al.  Differential Evolution: A Practical Approach to Global Optimization (Natural Computing Series) , 2005 .

[4]  Yang Gao,et al.  A new magnetic compass calibration algorithm using neural networks , 2005 .

[5]  R. Storn,et al.  Differential Evolution - A simple and efficient adaptive scheme for global optimization over continuous spaces , 2004 .

[6]  Feilu Luo,et al.  Nonlinear temperature compensation of fluxgate magnetometers with a least-squares support vector machine , 2012 .

[7]  John H. Holland,et al.  Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence , 1992 .

[8]  Rainer Storn,et al.  Differential Evolution – A Simple and Efficient Heuristic for global Optimization over Continuous Spaces , 1997, J. Glob. Optim..

[9]  Fritz Primdahl,et al.  Ørsted Pre-Flight Magnetometer Calibration Mission , 2003 .

[10]  Wouter Olthuis,et al.  Procedure for in-use calibration of triaxial accelerometers , 1997 .

[11]  John L. Crassidis,et al.  Real-Time Attitude-Independent Three-Axis Magnetometer Calibration , 2005 .

[12]  Jan Včelák,et al.  Calibration of triaxial fluxgate gradiometer , 2006 .

[13]  D.S. Bernstein,et al.  Calibrating a triaxial accelerometer-magnetometer - using robotic actuation for sensor reorientation during data collection , 2005, IEEE Control Systems.

[14]  Pavel Ripka,et al.  AMR navigation systems and methods of their calibration , 2005 .

[15]  Junzhe Gao,et al.  Defect identification and evaluation based on three-dimensional magnetic field measurement of pulsed eddy current , 2009 .

[16]  Suzanne Lesecq,et al.  Calibration methods for inertial and magnetic sensors , 2009 .

[17]  Feilu Luo,et al.  Calibration of a fluxgate magnetometer array and its application in magnetic object localization , 2013 .

[18]  Feilu Luo,et al.  1/f noise suppression of giant magnetoresistive sensors with vertical motion flux modulation , 2012 .

[19]  Carlos Silvestre,et al.  Geometric Approach to Strapdown Magnetometer Calibration in Sensor Frame , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[20]  Pavel Ripka,et al.  Automated system for the calibration of magnetometers , 2009 .

[21]  Multi-core orthogonal fluxgate sensor , 2006 .

[22]  Feilu Luo,et al.  Calibration of three-axis fluxgate magnetometers with nonlinear least square method , 2013 .

[23]  Hans-Ulrich Auster,et al.  Calibration of flux-gate magnetometers using relative motion , 2002 .

[24]  M. Shuster,et al.  Complete linear attitude-independent magnetometer calibration , 2002 .

[25]  Timo Pylvänäinen,et al.  Automatic and adaptive calibration of 3D field sensors , 2008 .

[26]  Pavel Ripka,et al.  Errors of AMR compass and methods of their compensation , 2006 .

[27]  Pavel Ripka,et al.  New directions in fluxgate sensors , 2000 .

[28]  Marko Topič,et al.  Calibration and data fusion solution for the miniature attitude and heading reference system , 2007 .

[29]  Andrew A. Thompson.  Calibration of an Orthogonal Cluster of Magnetic Sensors , 2009 .

[30]  Zhaoying Zhou,et al.  Calibration of three-dimensional integrated sensors for improved system accuracy , 2006 .

[31]  Fritz Primdahl,et al.  Scalar calibration of vector magnetometers , 2000 .