Miniaturised Inertia! Measurement Unit for Dynamic Aircraft Control

Citation

(2005), "Miniaturised Inertia! Measurement Unit for Dynamic Aircraft Control", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 77 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2005.12777aad.007

Miniaturised Inertia! Measurement Unit for Dynamic Aircraft Control

Miniaturised Inertia! Measurement Unit for Dynamic Aircraft Control

Keywords: Aircraft, Measurement

BEI Systran Donner Inertial Division has introduced the MMQ50 – a compact Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) designed to accurately measure vehicle movement and said to be rugged enough to withstand the most demanding environments.

In response to today's requirements for a small moderate performance IMU, the MMQ50 can be incorporated into either stabilisation or guidance and control applications in missiles, aircraft and robot vehicles. The small size, light weight, low power (4 W) and wide bandwidth allow it to be incorporated into gimballed systems or provide the basis of a strapdown flight control system in smaller vehicles.

The MMQ50 provides attitude and velocity information enabling short-term guidance during the loss of GPS signal.

With a volume of approximately 80 cc, (smaller than most mobile phones), it includes three solid-state quartz MEMS gyros and three silicon- based MEMS linear accelerometers. The MMQ utilises existing inertial components already in volume production for the automotive market.

The internal digital signal processor thermally models the inertial sensors to correct for drift. It outputs an RS-644 serial digital signal, composed of angular velocities and linear accelerations, about the three orthogonal axes. These are in incremental angle and velocity format (delta 0, delta V).

Designed to meet stringent avionic environmental requirements, this rugged unit incorporates novel internal packaging techniques and is believed capable of meeting the demands of both manned and unmanned aircraft. The MMQ incorporates flexibility in both the angular velocity and acceleration ranges available to meet specific customer requirements.

Plate 2 New miniaturised inertia! measurement unit for dynamic aircraft control

The MMQ50 claims high levels of performance at a low cost, combining the advantages of conventional IMU's with the accuracy and innovation normally associated with BEI products (Plate 2).

For further details contact: BEI Technologies Inc., Tel: +44 (0) 1303 812778; Fax: +44 (0) 1303 812708; E-mail: info@bei-technologies.co.uk; Web site: www.systron.com