MicroStrain inertial sensors guide unmanned ground vehicles

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) decouple human operators from the environment they are accessing. This ability makes unmanned platforms an attractive technology for hazardous and difficult-to-access settings. The appeal and effectiveness of these systems prompted Congress to mandate that 1/3 of all US military vehicles be unmanned by 2015. Yet, dependability and cost concerns associated with implementing unmanned ground vehicles continue to prevent users from deploying them on a scale that satisfies their demand.

Navigation subsystems are integral to the performance of unmanned ground vehicles. Conventional, high-performance navigation systems support unmanned solutions but are limited in their application due to their size, weight, power consumption, and cost concerns. MicroStrain’s small, lightweight inertial measurement units (IMU) and GPS aided inertial navigation systems (GPS/INS) provide unmanned ground vehicles with the information required to reliably navigate unstructured settings in a low-power, cost effective manner. The result enables the next generation of smaller, lighter, more responsive autonomous ground vehicles. Furthermore, the deployed inertial navigation system provides users with the foundation to implement UGVs on a larger scale and in previously prohibitive environments.