Inertial Labs, a VIAVI Solutions company, has introduced the IMU-H100, a new MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) that has been designed to enhance guidance and navigation capabilities for a range of tactical and defense platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), short-range missiles and precision guidance munitions.
Adoption of unmanned vehicles for military applications has increased significantly as technology has improved and personnel safety has become a top priority. This has driven a strong demand for the IMUs that power their navigation and control systems.
An IMU measures angular velocity and linear acceleration using MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers respectively. These systems have become essential for a wide range of guidance and navigation, orientation and stabilization applications, particularly for short- and medium-range flight control systems. IMUs are also vital components of higher order systems such as inertial navigation systems (INS), attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) and motion reference units (MRU), which are utilized by autonomous vehicles operating in all domains.
The tactical-grade IMU-H100 includes accelerometers and gyroscopes for all three axes and offers a gyro and accel bias of 1 deg/hr and 1 mg respectively. The 5 cubic inch, 160 g IMU also exceeds the performance of equivalent products on the market in terms of data rate, measurement range, stability and repeatability over harsh environmental conditions – including vibration, shock, high acceleration, spinning, temperature and acoustic noise.
In addition to providing a suite of sophisticated capabilities, the IMU-H100 also designed for ease and speed of integration into users’ systems and operations. It supports the Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) and Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) used in many legacy systems, making it ideal for retrofitting initiatives. It is also ITAR-free, available with a lead time of weeks rather than months, and is manufactured in the United States.
Jamie Marraccini, Vice President of Inertial Labs Products, VIAVI, commented: “The IMU-H100 is the latest addition to our large family of tactical-grade IMUs and couples an exceptional gyro and accelerometer repeatability bias with industry-leading performance and ruggedness. Its design builds on over 20 years of innovation and enables the guidance and stabilization required by both the commercial sector and aerospace and defense applications worldwide.”
