Article: How Inertial Navigation Systems Work

By Mike Ball / 30 Mar 2020

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OxTS inertial navigation systemOxTS, a developer of inertial sensing solutions for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and robotics, has published an in-depth article explaining the operation of inertial navigation systems (INS), including their core components and the quantities measured.

Read the full article on OxTS’ website here

The article covers:

  • The difference between GPS and INS
  • Stabilised and strap-down navigation computers in INS
  • Frames of reference and measurements in 3D space
  • Accelerometers and the measurement of proper acceleration
  • Gyroscopes and MEMS angular rate sensors
  • Dead reckoning and combining accelerometer and gyro measurements
  • How drift accumulates in INS

Inertial navigation systems use multiple inertial sensors to calculate the position, orientation, and velocity of a moving object, and are a core component of many unmanned systems, including UAVs, drones, UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles) and UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles). To find out more, read the full article on OxTS’ website.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact

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