Inertial navigation units, systems, and methods

摘要

Navigation units, systems, and methods for use in the context of personal navigation, and associated methods for initialization, navigation, assistance, and correction, all in the field of inertial navigation and related applications. The inertial navigation units, systems, and methods of the invention utilize multiple accelerometers to gather specific force data for improvement of the initialization, navigation, assistance, or corrective processes.

主权项

1. An inertial navigation unit, comprising:
a reference accelerometer operating in a first dynamic range and configured to generate specific force data; a navigation accelerometer operating in a second dynamic range and configured to generate specific force data, wherein the reference accelerometer and the navigation accelerometer are rigidly fixed with respect to each other at all times, such that the reference accelerometer and the navigation accelerometer are subject to the same specific force at all times; and at least one controller configured to:
(i) determine reference data based at least in part upon the specific force data generated by the reference accelerometer;(ii) generate navigation data based at least in part upon the specific force data generated by the navigation accelerometer and at least one navigation routine; and(iii) at least one of: (a) validate at least a portion of the navigation data; (b) validate at least a portion of the specific force data generated by the navigation accelerometer; (c) modify at least a portion of the at least one navigation routine using at least a portion of the reference data; (d) set at least one of the following: bias data, error data, drift data, tilt data, or any combination thereof, used by the at least one navigation routine to generate navigation data; or any combination thereof.