Dual-rtk and imu-based system for accurate drone payload pose estimation with pps time synchronization

The paper presents VESTA, a dual-RTK and IMU-based architecture for accurate pose estimation and telemetry of drone payloads. The system combines two multi-constellation RTK GNSS receivers, a high-performance IMU and a PPS-synchronized UART link to provide globally time-tagged measurements in the UTC time scale. The proposed solution is experimentally validated using a Leica total station and a DJI Matrice 300 RTK platform, demonstrating centimeter-level accuracy of the payload pose and robust time synchronization across all subsystems.