Navigation system for a research ice probe for antarctic glaciers
by , , , , , ,
Abstract:
Water filled caverns and crevasses in glaciers are miraculous habitats, which can accommodate highly specialized and adapted microbes and bacteria. The challenge for scientists is to obtain a sample of this water without contaminating it with surface bacteria, as well as to protect the sample from oxygen and sun light. “IceMole” is a combined melting and drilling probe that can drill a bore hole with flexible trajectory under the ice and allows breaking into the crevasse from below or from the side to obtain clean and unaltered sample liquids, unlike standard drilling equipment. For this, the probe can travel distances in the ice of up to 80 m. A complex navigation system is needed to pinpoint the target. This paper focuses on the development and test of the IceMole navigation system, which enables precise probe navigation through the ice. This navigation system covers dead reckoning (DR) using inertial sensors, magnetometers and axial feed information, as well as acoustic positioning and reconnaissance, and sensor fusion. Navigation inside of glaciers is a special application of mining and borehole navigation. The special application and combination of the individual parts of the navigation suite make the project unique.
Reference:
Navigation system for a research ice probe for antarctic glaciers (Herbert Niedermeier, Joachim Clemens, Julia Kowalski, Sabine Macht, Dirk Heinen, Ruth Hoffmann, Peter Linder), In IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS), IEEE, 2014.
Bibtex Entry:
@InProceedings{Niedermeier2014,
  author    = {Herbert Niedermeier and Joachim Clemens and Julia Kowalski and Sabine Macht and Dirk Heinen and Ruth Hoffmann and Peter Linder},
  title     = {Navigation system for a research ice probe for antarctic glaciers},
  booktitle = {IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS)},
  year      = {2014},
  month     = {may},
  organisation = {Institute of Electrical {\&} Electronics Engineers ({IEEE})},
	publisher = {IEEE},
  abstract  = {Water filled caverns and crevasses in glaciers are miraculous habitats, which can accommodate highly specialized and adapted microbes and bacteria. The challenge for scientists is to obtain a sample of this water without contaminating it with surface bacteria, as well as to protect the sample from oxygen and sun light. “IceMole” is a combined melting and drilling probe that can drill a bore hole with flexible trajectory under the ice and allows breaking into the crevasse from below or from the side to obtain clean and unaltered sample liquids, unlike standard drilling equipment. For this, the probe can travel distances in the ice of up to 80 m. A complex navigation system is needed to pinpoint the target. This paper focuses on the development and test of the IceMole navigation system, which enables precise probe navigation through the ice. This navigation system covers dead reckoning (DR) using inertial sensors, magnetometers and axial feed information, as well as acoustic positioning and reconnaissance, and sensor fusion. Navigation inside of glaciers is a special application of mining and borehole navigation. The special application and combination of the individual parts of the navigation suite make the project unique.},
  doi       = {10.1109/PLANS.2014.6851461},
  url       = {10.1109/PLANS.2014.6851461">http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PLANS.2014.6851461},
}