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Shifting the Intertial Navigation Paradigm with the MEMS Technology"Why don't you use MEMS?" is of the most common questions posed to navigation systems engineers designing inertial navigation solutions in the modern era. The question stems from a general understanding that great strides have been made in terrestrial MEMS accelerometers and attitude rate sensors in terms of accuracy, mass, and power. Yet, when compared on a unit-to-unit basis, MEMS devices do not provide comparable performance (accuracy) to navigation grade sensors in several key metrics. This paper will propose a paradigm shift where the comparison in performance is between multiple MEMS devices and a single navigation grade sensor. The concept is that systematically, a sufficient number of MEMS sensors may mathematically provide comparable performance to a single navigation grade device and be competitive in terms power and mass allocations when viewed on a systems level. The implication is that both inertial navigation system design and fault detection, identification, and recovery could benefit from a system of MEMS devices in the same way that swarm sensing has benefited Earth observation and astronomy. A survey of the state of the art in inertial sensor accuracy scaled by mass and power will be provided to show the scaled error in MEMS and navigation graded devices, a mathematical comparison of multi-unit to single-unit sensor errors will be developed, and preliminary application to an Orion lunar skip atmospheric entry trajectory will be explored.
Document ID
20100005703
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Crain, Timothy P., II
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Bishop, Robert H.
(Texas Univ. Austin, TX, United States)
Brady, Tye
(Draper (Charles Stark) Lab., Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 6, 2010
Subject Category
Spacecraft Instrumentation And Astrionics
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-19574
Report Number: JSC-CN-19574
Meeting Information
Meeting: 33rd Annual AAS Guidance and Control Conference
Location: Breckenridge, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: February 6, 2010
End Date: February 10, 2010
Sponsors: American Astronautical Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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