Strapdown Inertial Navigation System Accuracy Improvement Methods Based on Inertial Measuring Unit Rotation: Analytical Review

Abstract

The paper presents the analytical review of an inertial measuring unit (IMU) rotation as a method to improve the accuracy of a strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS). There are two ways to improve the accuracy. One of them is based on the transformation of the error change pattern in the inertial sensors (IS) when using the IMU self-compensation rotation (SCR). The criteria for selecting an efficient SCR law to minimize the accumulated error in the parameters generated by SINS are presented. Along with the advantages of this technology, its weak points that may limit significantly the potentially achievable IMU accuracy are described. The other technique consists in increasing the observability of the IS error model components due to the IMU rotation while filtering the SINS errors. The IS error model is described, and the problem of recursive filtering of the SINS errors is stated to refine these errors, with the reference data on coordinates and motion velocity being available. The methods for quantifying the observability of the IS error model components are presented.