Sensonor Launches High-Accuracy Tactical-Grade IMU
Norwegian gyro and IMU specialist Sensonor AS launches STIM318, its new high-accuracy, tactical-grade IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) for greatly increased accelerometer performance. The new product will support demanding guidance and navigation applications. “Its performance can in many applications competitively replace fibre-optic gyros [FOGs],” the company noted.
Sensonor operates its own MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical Systems) manufacturing facility and has more than 30 years of experience in developing and manufacturing reliable MEMS sensor solutions for the most demanding and dynamic application environments in the world. Offering improved system performance with respect to robustness, reliability, size, weight, power and cost, the STIM318 is designed for use in autonomous machine control, UAV payloads, satellites, portable target acquisition systems, land navigations systems, turret stabilisation, missile stability and navigation, as well as mortar aiming systems. The new product consists of three highly accurate MEMS gyros, three high-stability accelerometers and three inclinometers. Its development took place in close cooperation with a ‘global lead-customer,’ developing autonomous machine control for accurate contour guidance.
An ITAR-free product, STIM318 is available in export-controlled and non-export-controlled versions. It is compatible with Sensonor’s STIM300 IMU and can bring additional capability to applications already using STIM300. “STIM318 is available from stock,” said Sensonor. In addition to the performance increase, STIM318 comes with a new Bias Trim Offset (BTO) function. This allows the user to individually zero out any bias of all nine axes. The bias offset can be stored in flash, and then recalled at next system startup.
IMUs based on MEMS gyro technology can, for example, significantly improve a missile’s pin-point precision. “The most challenging technology of any missile system is guidance and seeker and/or sensor technology,” said Hans Richard Petersen, Vice President Sales & Marketing at Sensonor AS. “[…] in the end, [it] defines the efficiency of a missile,” he added. One of the company’s mission-proven products, the STIM300 IMU is closing the performance gap to FOG. “For the STIM300, we see a number of applications, including […] missile stability and navigation […],” he explained. The same affects the STIM210 three-axis gyro module that has been selected to mitigate effects of wave motion of a remote-controlled variant of MBDA’s SIMBAD twin launcher system. “MEMS gyros will continue to advance in performance,” Petersen noted.
Stefan Nitschke
