Avionics

32357
- Unit II: Inertial Navigation System
- Deepak Gaur
- Assistant Professor
- MVJCE
CONTENTS
• Gyroscopic or Inertial platform
• Structure of stable platform
• Inertial Navigation units
• Inertial alignment
• Inertial interface system
• Importance of Compass swing
Inertial Navigation System
• An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation aid that uses a computer,
motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors (gyroscopes) and
occasionally magnetic sensors (magnetometers), to continuously calculate
by dead reckoning the position, the orientation and the velocity (direction
and speed of movement) of a moving object without the need for external
references.
• It is used on vehicles such as ships, aircraft, submarines, guided missiles
and spacecrafts.
• Other terms used to refer to inertial navigation systems or closely related
devices include inertial guidance system, inertial instrument, inertial
measurement unit (IMU) and many other variations.
Operational Principle of INS
• Given the ability to measure the acceleration of vehicle it would be possible to
calculate the change in velocity and position by performing successive
mathematical integrations of the acceleration with respect to time.
• In order to navigate with respect to our inertial reference  frame, it is necessary
to keep track of the direction in which  the accelerometers are pointing.
• Rotational motion of the body with respect to inertial 
reference frame maybe sensed using gyroscopic sensors that are used to deter
mine the
orientation of the accelerometers at all times. Given this information it is
possible to resolve the accelerations into reference frame before the integration
process takes place.
Accelerometers
• An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration.
• Proper acceleration, being the acceleration (or rate of change of
velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame, is not the
same as coordinate acceleration, being the acceleration in a
fixed coordinate system.
• For example, an accelerometer at rest on the surface of the Earth will
measure an acceleration due to Earth's gravity, straight upwards (by
definition) of g ≈ 9.81 m/s2. By contrast, accelerometers in free
fall (falling toward the center of the Earth at a rate of about 9.81 m/s2)
will measure zero.
Types of Accelerometers
• Potentiometric accelerometer
• Hall effect accelerometer
• Capacitive accelerometer
• Piezoresistive accelerometer
• MEMS-Based Accelerometers
Potentiometric accelerometer
• This is a type of an accelerometer
which bases its working principles on
the spring-mass system.
• The potentiometric accelerometer
employs a mass (seismic mass), a
spring, a dashpot, and a resistive
element. 
• The seismic mass is connected
between a spring and a dashpot.
• The wiper of the potentiometer is
connected to the mass.
Potentiometric accelerometer
• It measures the motion of the seismic mass by attaching the wiper
arm to the spring-mass system.
• When the mass is moving, the position of the wiper changes
according, thus changing the resistance of the resistive element.
• Since the natural frequency fn of the potentiometer accelerometer is
generally less then 30Hz, this type of accelerometer should be used in
low frequency vibration measurements. 
Hall effect accelerometer
• Hall effect accelerometer is based the
working principles of on spring-mass
system.
• The output voltage varies according to a
change in magnetic field from the magnet
which is attached on a seismic mass.
• The mass deflects because of the forces
due to acceleration.
• The output Hall voltage is calibrated in
terms of acceleration.
Capacitive accelerometer
• Capacitive accelerometer operates
based on spring-mass system working
principles.
• It differs from Hall effect accelerometer
and potentiometric accelerometer in its
sensing element.
• The sensing electrodes are in stationary
state, and the diaphragm which is
attached to the seismic mass is
sandwiched in between the two sensing
electrodes creating two capacitors. 
Capacitive accelerometer
• The vibration because of the forces due to acceleration causes the
seismic or proof mass to move.
• The motion of the mass leads to the capacitance change of the
sensing electrodes so as to determine the acceleration. 
• The movement of the diaphragm causes a capacitance shift by
altering the distance between the two parallel plates, with the
diaphragm itself being one of the plates. 
Piezoresistive accelerometer
• Piezoresistive accelerometer's working principle
is based on piezoresistive effect.
• As far as the piezoresistive effect is concerned,
applied mechanical stress changes the resistivity
of a semiconductor.
• The force exerted by the seismic mass changes
the resistance of the strain gauges.
• Piezoresistive accelerometers are used in high
shock applications, and they can also measure
accelerations down to zero Hz or up to ±1000g.
• The disadvantage is that they have limited high
frequency response.
MEMS-Based Accelerometers
• MEMS stands for Micro-Electro
Mechanical System.
• It is the technology which is based
advanced technologies used to
form small structures with
dimensions in micrometer scale.
• MEMS technology is now being
employed to manufacture state-of-
the-art MEMS-based
accelerometers. 
MEMS-Based Accelerometers
• MEMS-based accelerometer typically consists of a proof mass with
plates attached through a mechanical suspension system to a
reference frame.
• Movable plates (part of the seismic mass) and the outer plates in
stationary state form differential capacitor.
• Because of the forces due to acceleration, the seismic mass deflects;
the deflection is measured in terms of capacitance change. 
Gyroscopes
• A gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and
angular velocity.
• It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation is free to assume
any orientation by itself.
• When rotating, the orientation of this axis is unaffected by tilting or rotation
of the mounting, according to the conservation of angular momentum.
• Gyroscopes are available that can measure rotational velocity in 1, 2, or 3
directions.
• 3-axis gyroscopes are often implemented with a 3-axis accelerometer to
provide a full 6 degree-of-freedom (DoF) motion tracking system.
Position Gyroscopes
• Gyroscopes are most commonly implemented as spinning masses or
wheels tending to hold their position in a space-referenced attitude
set.
• Position gyroscopes or gyros use this property to provide a positional
or attitude reference – typically, aircraft pitch position, roll position, or
yaw position (heading).
• Position gyros are used in heading and reference systems to provide
the aircraft with vital information regarding the aircraft attitude for a
range of aircraft subsystems.
Rate Gyroscopes
• A rate gyro is a type of gyroscope, which rather than indicating
direction, indicates the rate of change of angle with time. If a gyro has
only one gimbal ring, with consequently only one plane of freedom, it
can be adapted for use as a rate gyro to measure a rate of angular
movement.
• Rate gyros are used in rate integrating gyroscopes, and in attitude
control systems for vehicles, and in combination with other sensors to
make inertial navigation systems.
• The advantage of rate gyros over other types of gyros is the fast
response rate and their relatively low cost.
Stabilized Platform and Strapdown
Technologies
• There are many different designs of INS with different performance characteristics, but they fall
generally into two categories:
• Gimbaled or Stabilized Platform Techniques, and
• Strapdown System
• The original applications of INS technology used stable platform techniques. In such systems, the
inertial sensors are mounted on a stable platform and mechanically isolated from the rotational
motion of the vehicle. Platform systems are still in use, particularly
for those applications requiring very accurate estimates of navigation data, such as ships and
submarines.
• Modern systems have removed most of the mechanical complexity of platform systems by having
the sensors attached rigidly, or “strapped down”, to the body of the host vehicle. The potential
benefits of this approach are lower cost, reduced size, and greater reliability compared with
equivalent platform systems. The major disadvantage is a substantial increase in computing
complexity.
Gimbaled inertial platform
Gimbaled systems
• A gimbal is a rigid with rotation bearings for isolating the inside of the
frame from external rotations about the bearing axes. At least three
gimbals are required to isolate a subsystem from host vehicle
rotations about three axes, typically labeled roll, pitch, and yaw axes.
• The gimbals in an INS are mounted inside one another. Gimbals and
torque servos are used to null out the rotation of stable platform on
which the inertial sensors are mounted.
Working of Gimbaled INS
• The gyros of a type known as “integrating gyros” give an
output proportional to the angle through which they have
been rotated.
• Output of each gyro connected to a servo‐motor driving the
appropriate gimbal, thus keeping the gimbal in a constant
orientation in inertial space.
• The gyros also contain electrical torque generators which can
be used to create a fictitious input rate to the gyros.
• Applications of electrical input to the gyro torque generators
cause the gimbal torque motors/servos to null the difference
between the true gyro input rate and the electrically applied
bias rate. This forms a convenient means of cancelling out any
drift errors in the gyro.
Inertial Navigation
• As for the magnetic sensors, inertial sensors may be arranged such
that inertial rates are sensed within an orthogonal axis set as shown
in Figure.
Inertial Platform

• Inertial platform is rigid, gyro stabilized frame on which accelerometers

are mounted.
• An inertial platform, also known as a gyroscopic platform or stabilized
platform, is a system using gyroscopes to maintain a platform in a fixed
orientation in space despite the movement of the vehicle that it is
attached to.
• These can then be used to stabilize gunsights in aircrafts, artillery on
aircraft.
Features of Inertial Platform
• Platform is Gyro Stabilized in Space.
• Sensitive Accelerometers detect acceleration in the direction of the
orthogonal axes: Ox, Oy, Oz
• Accelerations are integrated to give first velocity and then position in
the Ox, Oy, Oz axes.
• Platform readings can be transformed to relate to earth rather than
spatial axes and coordinates.
Inertial Platform
• The inertial platform uses a combination of gyros and accelerometers
to provide a platform with a fixed reference in space.
• By using the combined attributes of position and rate gyros and
accelerometers, a stabilized platform provides a fixed attitude
reference in space and, when fitted in an aircraft, can provide
information about aircraft body rates and acceleration in all three
axes.
• Suitable computation can also provide useful information relating to
velocity and distance travelled in all three axes.
Inertial Platform
Inertial Navigation/Measurement Units
• Inertial navigation is a self-contained navigation technique in which
measurements provided by accelerometers and gyroscopes are used
to track the position and orientation of an object relative to a known
starting point, orientation and velocity.
• Inertial measurement units (IMUs) typically contain three orthogonal
rate-gyroscopes and three orthogonal accelerometers, measuring
angular velocity and linear acceleration respectively.
• By processing signals from these devices it is possible to track the
position and orientation of a device.
Inertial Navigation/Measurement Units
• Nearly all IMUs fall into either Stable Platform Systems or Strapdown
Systems.
• The difference between the two categories is the frame of reference
in which the rate-gyroscopes and accelerometers operate.
Stable Platform Systems
• In stable platform type systems the inertial sensors are mounted on a
platform which is isolated from any external rotational motion.
• In other words the platform is held in alignment with the global
frame. This is achieved by mounting the platform using gimbals
(frames) which allow the platform freedom in all three axes. (Figure)
Strapdown Systems
• In strapdown systems the inertial sensors are mounted rigidly onto the
device, and therefore output quantities measured in the body frame rather
than the global frame.
• To keep track of orientation the signals from the rate gyroscopes are
‘integrated’.
• To track position the three accelerometer signals are resolved into global
coordinates using the known orientation, as determined by the integration
of the gyro signals. The global acceleration signals are then integrated as in
the stable platform algorithm.
• Strapdown systems have reduced mechanical complexity and tend to be
physically smaller than stable platform systems.
Strapdown inertial navigation
• Accelerometers mounted directly to
airframe (strapdown) and measure “body”
acceleration.
• Horizontal/vertical accelerations computed
analytically using direction cosine matrix
(DCM) relating body coordinated and local
level navigation coordinates.
• DCM computed using strapdown body
mounted gyro outputs.
Strapdown inertial navigation unit block
diagram
Strapdown INS building blocks
Inertial Navigation System Alignment
• Alignment is the process whereby the orientation of the axes of an inertial
navigation system is determined with respect to the reference axis system.
• The basic concept of aligning an inertial navigation system is quite simple and
straight forward. However, there are many complications that make alignment
both time consuming and complex. Accurate alignment is crucial, however, if
precision navigation is to be achieved over long periods of time without any form
of aiding.
• In addition to the determination of initial attitude, it is necessary to initialize the
velocity and position defined by the navigation system as part of the alignment
process.
• However, since it is the angular alignment which frequently poses the major
difficulty, this chapter is devoted largely to this aspect of the alignment process.
Inertial Navigation System Alignment
• In many applications, it is essential to achieve an accurate alignment of an
inertial navigation system within a very short period of time. This is particularly
true in many military applications, in which a very rapid response time is often
a prime requirement in order to achieve a very short, if not zero, reaction time.
• There are two fundamental types of alignment process: self-alignment, using
gyro-compassing techniques, and the alignment of a slave system with respect
to a master reference.
• There are various systematic and random errors that limit the accuracy to
which an inertial navigation system can be aligned, whichever method is used.
• These include the effects of inertial sensor errors, data latency caused by
transmission delays, signal quantization, vibration etc.
Inertial Interface System
• Inertial navigation is a form of dead reckoning in which accelerometers and
gyroscopes (inertial sensors) are used to provide information about translational
and rotational motion, respectively.
• One major benefit of utilizing inertial principles for navigation lies in the fact that
it is self-contained and does not depend on external signals for its operation.
• Inertial navigation systems (INS) can be mechanized as either gimballed systems,
wherein the orientation of the inertial sensors is maintained relative to an
appropriately chosen locally level coordinate frame, or as strapdown systems,
wherein the sensors are attached to the vehicle and measure the components of
motion in a frame constituted by the arrangement of the sensors relative to the
vehicle's body.
Inertial Interface System
• An inertial navigation system consists of an inertial measurement unit
(IMU) and a guidance processor.
• The guidance processor contains the navigation waypoints and calculates
the guidance commands to be executed by the pilot or the autopilot.
• The basic components of a strapdown inertial measurement unit include
a set of three orthogonal accelerometers which measure the
components of specific force along their sensitive axes, a set of three
orthogonal gyroscopes which measure the rates of turn about each of
their sensitive axes, and a computer which performs the necessary
computations.
Inertial Interface System
• These computations include using the outputs of the gyroscope to
transform the accelerometer outputs into the desired navigation
frame, compensations for earth and craft rates, and integration of
specific force, corrected for gravitational force, to obtain
instantaneous velocity and displacement.
Compass Swing
• The process of swinging and compensating an aircraft compass by determining and
reducing the deviation coefficients and recording the residual deviations done via
computer.
• A procedure for calculating and correcting for the effects of an aircraft’s
magnetic field on its magnetic compass.
• The aircraft is taken to a designated area where, with all its services that are
normally on during a flight, its deviation is measured on various headings and
corrections are applied to the compass. 
• A compass correction card is made if any residual deviation is left.
An aircraft is swung at periodic intervals, after a major component change, after a
major servicing, or if its relocated to a significantly different latitude.
• Maximum accuracy is achieved when the compass swing is done in flight.
Compass Swing – When to perform?
• Whenever the accuracy of the compass is suspected
• After a cockpit modification or major replacement involving ferrous metal
• Whenever a compass has been subjected to a shock; for example, after a hard
landing or turbulence
• After aircraft has passed through a severe electrical storm
• After a lightning strike
• Whenever a change is made to the electrical system
• Whenever a change of cargo is likely to affect the compass
• After an aircraft has been parked on one heading for more than a year
• When flux valves are replaced.
Advantages of INS
• It is autonomous and does not rely on any external aids or visibility
conditions. It can operate in tunnels or underwater as well as
anywhere else.
• It is inherently well suited for integrated navigation, guidance, and
control of the host vehicle. Its IMU measures the derivatives of the
variables to be controlled (e.g., position, velocity, and attitude).
• It is immune to jamming and inherently stealthy. It neither receivers
nor emits detectable radiation and requires no external antenna that
might be detectable by radar.
Disadvantages of INS
• Mean‐squared navigation errors increase with time.
• Cost, including:
 Acquisition cost, which can be an order of magnitude (or more) higher than GPS receivers.
 Operations cost, including the crew actions and time required for initializing
position and attitude. Time required for initializing INS attitude by
gyrocompass alignment is measured in minutes.
 Maintenance cost. Electromechanical avionics systems (e.g., INS) tend to have higher failure rates and
repair cost than purely electronic avionics systems (e.g., GPS).
• Size and weight, which have been shrinking.
• Power requirements, which have been shrinking along with size and weight but are still
higher than those for GPS receivers.
• Heat dissipation, which is proportional to and shrinking with power requirements.
 Questions
• Explain the basic operational principle of an INS?
• With a neat schematic diagram explain the working principle of stable platform
system?
• Explain about the Inertial Reference and INS with clear diagrams?
• What are the different types of INS. Explain the structure of stable platform INS?
• Explain in detail the leveling and the alignment in stable platform INS?
• What are the requirements of INS in aircrafts?
• What are different sensors used in INS. Explain how they are interfaced?
• What are the different units that can be estimated using stable platform INS?
• Write short notes on accelerometers and gyroscopes and their types?