AHRS – Attitude and Heading Reference Systems

SBG Systems offers a wide line of AHRS suitable whether your applications requirements are size or performance.

What is an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS)

An Attitude and Heading Reference System, also called AHRS, acts as a motion sensor. It contains an IMU (3 gyroscopes, 3 accelerometers, and 3 magnetometers) and adds a central processing unit (CPU) that embeds the Extended Kalman Filter. This allows to calculate highly reliable attitude and heading relative to magnetic north, in addition to roll, pitch, and yaw. Thanks to this sensor fusion, the drift from gyroscopes is compensated by vectors such as gravity and the Earth’s magnetic field.

The sensor can be connected to an external GNSS receiver to improve its performance. Indeed, GPS-aided AHRS delivers additional navigation.

Ellipse Micro

Smallest & Economical IMU, AHRS, INS

Ellipse 2 Micro AHRS provides Roll, Pitch, Heading, and Heave. It is calibrated from -40 to 85°C and delivers highly persistent data whether your application is land, marine, or aerospace. Cost-effective, it is designed to suit volume projects.

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Roll/Pitch: 0.1°
Heading: Magnetic or GNSS
Position: With External GNSS

Ellipse Series

Most Advanced Miniature IMU, AHRS, INS/GNSS

Ellipse2-A is a cost-effective high-performance Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS). The Ellipse series not only includes an AHRS but also three GPS-aided AHRS models. Factory calibrated from -40 to 85°C, this robust inertial motion sensor provides Roll, Pitch, Heading, and Heave data.

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Roll/Pitch: 0.1°
Heading: Magnetic or GNSS
Position: Meter or Centimeter-level

Ekinox Series

Advanced & Compact Inertial Systems

Ekinox-A is an advanced Attitude & Heading Reference System (AHRS) or MRU (Motion Reference Unit). It combines high-end gyroscopes and accelerometers and runs an enhanced Extended Kalman Filter to provide Roll, Pitch, Heave, and Heading.

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Roll/Pitch: 0.02° (RTK)
Heading: GNSS based
Position: Centimeter-level

Apogee Series

The Highest Accuracy INS/GNSS & MRU

Apogee-A is a highly accurate Motion Reference Unit (MRU). The Apogee-A is based on the robust and cost-effective MEMS technology and provides precise orientation and heave data.

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Roll/Pitch: 0.008° (RTK)
Heading: GNSS based
Position: Centimeter-level

Ellipse MicroSmallest & Economical IMU, AHRS, INS

Ellipse Micro

Smallest & Economical IMU, AHRS, INS

Roll/Pitch: 0.1°
Heading: Magnetic or GNSS
Position: With External GNSS

DISCOVER THE ELLIPSE MICRO SENSORS ››

Ellipse SeriesMost Advanced Miniature IMU, AHRS, INS/GNSS

Ellipse Series

Most Advanced Miniature IMU, AHRS, INS/GNSS

Roll/Pitch: 0.1°
Heading: Magnetic or GNSS
Position: Meter or Centimeter-level

DISCOVER ALL ELLIPSE SENSORS ››

Ekinox SeriesAdvanced & Compact Inertial Systems

Ekinox Series

Advanced & Compact Inertial Systems

Roll/Pitch: 0.02° (RTK)
Heading: GNSS based
Position: Centimeter-level

DISCOVER THE EKINOX SERIES ››

Apogee SeriesThe Highest Accuracy INS/GNSS & MRU

Apogee Series

The Highest Accuracy INS/GNSS & MRU

Roll/Pitch: 0.008° (RTK)
Heading: GNSS based
Position: Centimeter-level

Apogee-A is a highly accurate Motion Reference Unit (MRU). The Apogee-A is based on the robust and cost-effective MEMS technology and provides precise orientation and heave data.

DISCOVER THE APOGEE SOLUTION ››

What Difference between an IMU, an AHRS, and an Inertial Navigation System?

An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is an electronic device that measures and reports acceleration, orientation, angular rates, and other gravitational forces. It is composed of 3 accelerometers, 3 gyroscopes, and depending on the heading requirement – 3 magnetometers. It delivers roll, pitch, and yaw data.

An AHRS adds a central processing unit (CPU) to the IMU. It embeds the Extended Kalman Filter that provides attitude and heading information.

Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) are composed of an IMU and additionally embed a GPS/GNSS receiver. An INS fuses inertial, navigation, and aiding data (odometer, DVL, etc.) thanks to the Extended Kalman Filter. This GNSS and IMU sensor fusion provides roll, pitch, heading, position, and velocity.

Inertial Navigation Systems with consistent behavior in all conditions

At SBG Systems, every inertial sensor is calibrated in temperature from -40 to 85°C, ensuring a consistent behavior in all environments.

Calibration greatly improves sensor quality:

Gain and bias temperature compensation for accelerometers and gyroscopes
Gain temperature compensation for magnetometers
Cross-axis and misalignment effects compensation for accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers
Non linearity correction for gyroscopes
Gyro-G effect compensation for gyroscopes

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Attitude and Heading Reference System Market

The typical heading reference system market is unmanned aerial vehicles. GPS-aided AHRS sensors are mainly used in aerospace applications such as UAV navigation, UAV-based Surveying etc. Often installed in the aircraft, they are part of the aerospace electronic system during the flight.

Because they act as a motion unit, they can be used for all applications integrating motion tracking and monitoring, such as instrumented buoy or camera orientation.

For the unmanned ground vehicles market, IMUs or GPS-aided inertial navigation systems (integrating dead reckoning) would be the best fit, depending on the accuracy needs of the application.

UAV

UAV-based Survey

Gimbal Camera

Instrumented Buoy

Helideck Motion Monitoring

Boat Motion Monitoring

Resources

User's stories
Documentation

Expedition Survey of Belize’s Great Blue Hole with Ellipse INS sensor

During Belize's Great Blue Hole expedition survey, SBG Ellipse INS was integrated to Kongsberg's sonar equipment to create a 3D sonar map of the sinkhole

Wave Buoys in the Arctic Sea Ice

The program included 25 Wave Buoys to quantify open ocean and in-ice wave characteristics and evolution. 20 buoys were deployed in the summer period, 5 in the