Reconstruction of vehicle kinematics by transformations of raw measurement data

The aim of this paper is to present the kinematic transformations of the vehicle motion parameters measured by different sets of sensors, especially IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), optical gauge or GPS receiver. It is of great importance in vehicle dynamics research, experimental verification of simulation programs and reconstruction of vehicle accidents based on time histories recorded by the UDS-AT (manufactured by Siemens VDO Automotive) or EDR (Event Data Recorder). Although the theory of spatial kinematics seems to be widely available, it is often trivialized, especially when the transformations are not presented in the software documentation delivered together with the measurement equipment. This paper covers theory (in a clear and concise vector-matrix notation), discussion, example and some hints concerning the boundary conditions of integration. The waveforms most reliable are those that are derived from the kinematic transformations of the raw data: for position — from GPS, for velocity — from GPS or an optical gauge, for orientation — from the gyro sensors, for acceleration — from the acceleration and gyro sensors.