IMU 600 - Fiber Optic Gyro Inertial Measurement Unit
The IMU 600 is a small, high-performance inertial sensor incorporating three FOG 600s and three accelerometers. The IMU 600 (0.01°/hr typical in-run drift stability) is designed for applications requiring higher accuracy than the IMU 200, including navigation, precision pointing and satellite stabilization.
A version of this IMU 600 is deployed aboard the F/A-18 fighter aircraft as part of the Advanced Targeted Forward Looking Infra-Red (ATFLIR) program.
IMU 600 Features and Benefits
- Highest accuracy, small IMU in production
- Uses three FOG 600 gyros and three precision accelerometers
- Drift stability of 0.01°/hour
- High angular rate capability, 750°/second
- 0.05 mg null stability
- 12 g full scale
- Performance compatible with gyro compassing to 0.1°
- Solid state, high reliability, long life
IMU 600 Applications
The IMU 600's high performance makes it suitable for a number of demanding applications including:
- Stand alone inertial navigation
- GPS/inertial navigation
- Precision pointing
- Low noise stabilization
- Gyro compassing
The gyro channels have wide bandwidth enabling the IMU to be used for applications such as gimbal stabilization and motion compensation. Inertial data is precisely time tagged — often required for tight integration with GPS.
Interface
The IMU 600 has a high speed RS-485 digital interface and provides three axes of delta velocity and three axes of delta angle at a 2 kHz rate. The IMU 600 requires ±15 V, ±5V.
Size
The IMU 600 shown is a custom configuration in production for the ATFLIR application. The IMU 600 can be repackaged for other applications.
Weight
The IMU 600 weighs 3.5 lb (1.6 kg).
Environment
The IMU 600 was designed and qualified for flight in a military fighter aircraft environment.
Performance
Northrop Grumman developed the IMU 600 for military applications demanding high accuracy over a wide temperature range. Any IMU’s performance is affected by the operating environment. In a benign environment, gyro bias stability (short term drift) for this IMU is approximately 0.01°/hr.