GPS/INS uses low-cost MEMS IMU

A description of the design, operation, and test results of a miniature, low-cost, integrated GPS/inertial navigation system that uses commercial off-the-shelf Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes. The MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) is packaged in a small size and provides the raw IMU data through a serial interface to a processor board where the inertial navigation solution and integrated GPS/inertial Kalman filter is generated. The GPS/inertial software integration is performed using NAVSYS' modular InterNav software product. This allows integration with different low-cost GPS chip sets or receivers and also allows the integrated GPS/inertial navigation solution to be embedded as an application on a customer's host computer. This modular object-oriented architecture facilitates integration of the miniature MEMS GPS/INS navigation system for embedded navigation applications and is designed to handle the large errors characteristic of a low-grade MEMS IMU. Test results are presented showing the performance of the integrated MEMS GPS/inertial navigation system. Data is provided showing the position, velocity, and attitude accuracy when operating with GPS aiding and also for periods where GPS dropouts occur and alternative navigation update sources are used to bound the MEMS inertial navigation error growth.