Inertial Aerosystems reports that one of its range of high-tech sensors, a low cost attitude and heading reference system, was used in a prestigious Darpa contest
The project was an unmanned vehicle race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas sponsored by the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, with a prize of $1 million.
The task was to cross 200 miles of desert without a driver or remote control, with each of the 25 teams preparing a vehicle that can navigate a designated route using GPS signals for directions and laser sensors for detecting obstacles.
One team chose the unit for use in their autonomous vehicle for two reasons.
One is the supply of redundant information to a higher grade inertial navigation system and the second is the measurement of the pitch and roll of the laser sensors.
The unit measures 3D rate of turn and 3D linear acceleration and 3D magnetic heading, all data being processed and compensated by its on-board DSP.
The information is provided to the navigation system, and the software calculates pitch and roll, which is used to stabilise the vehicle's laser sensor.
The unit was mounted on the laser sensor, and in conjunction with a tilting mechanism the unit can measure the relevant dynamics.
With a weight of 85 grams and small volume the unit is ideal for this application.
