INS – Inertial Navigation System

We offer a wide range of INS suitable whether your applications requirements are about size or performance.

What is an Inertial Navigation System (INS)

An Inertial Navigation System, also called INS, is a navigation device that provides roll, pitch, heading, position, and velocity.
This sensor combines:

  • an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) composed of 3 accelerometers, 3 gyroscopes, and depending on the heading requirement 3 magnetometers. The IMU measures Euler angles in 3 axis thanks to their rotation along with the IMU to obtain pitch, roll, and yaw.
  • a microprocessor that runs an enhanced onboard Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to fuse in real-time inertial data with GNSS and other aiding information (odometer, dvl, etc.) for aided attitude heading.
  • an internal data logger if the system data are to be used after the operation (surveying applications for example)

Ellipse Micro

Ellipse Micro

Smallest & Economical IMU, AHRS, INS

Ellipse 2 Micro INS runs an Extended Kalman Filter to provide attitude, heading, heave, and navigation outputs. It connects to an external GNSS receiver and accepts odometer aiding for land applications. Cost-effective, it is designed to suit volume projects.

DISCOVER THE ELLIPSE MICRO SENSORS ››
  • 0.1° Roll and Pitch
  • 5 cm Real-time Heave
  • Light-Weight – 10 grams
Ellipse Series

Ellipse Series

Most Advanced Miniature IMU, AHRS, INS/GNSS

Ellipse-D is the smallest RTK INS/GNSS integrating a Dual-antenna GNSS receiver that provides attitude, precise heading, heave as well as navigation outputs and centimeter level position in the most challenging GNSS conditions. The Ellipse-D is a high-performance industrial grade INS that is immune to magnetic distortions and that delivers unmatched accuracy.

DISCOVER ALL ELLIPSE SENSORS ››
  • 0.05° Roll and Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.2° Heading (Dual Antenna RTK GNSS)
  • 1 cm RTK GNSS Position
Ekinox Series

Ekinox Series

Advanced & Compact Inertial Systems

Ekinox-D is an advanced all-in-one Inertial Navigation System with integrated RTK GNSS receiver and embedded data logger for control and surveying applications. This advanced INS/GNSS comes with one or two antennas and provides orientation, heave, and centimeter-level position.

DISCOVER THE EKINOX SERIES ››
  • 0.02° Roll & Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.05° Dual Antenna Heading
  • 1 cm RTK GNSS Position @ 200 Hz
Apogee Series

Apogee Series

The Highest Accuracy INS/GNSS & MRU

Apogee-D is an all-in-one INS/GNSS which embeds an RTK and PPP ready GNSS receiver for applications where space is critical but high performance required. With very low noise gyroscopes, low latency, and high resistance to vibrations, the Apogee provides precise orientation and position data.

DISCOVER THE APOGEE SOLUTION ››
  • 0.008° Roll & Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.025° GNSS-based Heading ((4m baseline)
  • 1 cm Position (RTK)

Ellipse Micro

Smallest & Economical IMU, AHRS, INS

  • 0.1° Roll and Pitch
  • 5 cm Real-time Heave
  • Light-Weight – 10 grams

Ellipse 2 Micro INS runs an Extended Kalman Filter to provide attitude, heading, heave, and navigation outputs. It connects to an external GNSS receiver and accepts odometer aiding for land applications. Cost-effective, it is designed to suit volume projects.

DISCOVER THE ELLIPSE MICRO SENSORS ››

Ellipse Series

Most Advanced Miniature IMU, AHRS, INS/GNSS

  • 0.05° Roll and Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.2° Heading (Dual Antenna RTK GNSS)
  • 1 cm RTK GNSS Position

Ellipse-D is the smallest RTK INS/GNSS integrating a Dual-antenna GNSS receiver that provides attitude, precise heading, heave as well as navigation outputs and centimeter level position in the most challenging GNSS conditions. The Ellipse-D is a high-performance industrial grade INS that is immune to magnetic distortions and that delivers unmatched accuracy.

DISCOVER ALL ELLIPSE SENSORS ››

Ekinox Series

Advanced & Compact Inertial Systems

  • 0.02° Roll & Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.05° Dual Antenna Heading
  • 1 cm RTK GNSS Position @ 200 Hz

Ekinox-D is an advanced all-in-one Inertial Navigation System with integrated RTK GNSS receiver and embedded data logger for control and surveying applications. This advanced INS/GNSS comes with one or two antennas and provides orientation, heave, and centimeter-level position.

DISCOVER THE EKINOX SERIES ››

Apogee Series

The Highest Accuracy INS/GNSS & MRU

  • 0.008° Roll & Pitch (RTK)
  • 0.025° GNSS-based Heading ((4m baseline)
  • 1 cm Position (RTK)

Apogee-D is an all-in-one INS/GNSS which embeds an RTK and PPP ready GNSS receiver for applications where space is critical but high performance required. With very low noise gyroscopes, low latency, and high resistance to vibrations, the Apogee provides precise orientation and position data.

DISCOVER THE APOGEE SOLUTION ››

Composition of an Inertial Navigation System

Inertial Navigation Sensors can also integrate an internal or external GNSS receiver for Navigation data and velocity. It can be either a single or dual antenna GNSS, however, two antennas are better for heading in low dynamics applications.

Most of IMUs (and therefore INS) are typically based on the MEMS technology, which combines high performance and ultra-low power in a smaller size.

Interested in the differences between MEMS-based Attitude Heading Reference Systems (AHRS), IMU, and INS? Find out more here.

 

What is an accelerometer?

An accelerometer measures proper acceleration. This is the acceleration it experiences relative to free-fall, and the acceleration felt by people and objects. Put another way, at any point in space-time the equivalence principle guarantees the existence of a local inertial frame, and an accelerometer measures the acceleration relative to that frame. Such accelerations are popularly measured in terms of g-force, or more precisely in terms of m/s².

 

What is a gyroscope?

A Gyroscope is a physical sensor that detects and measures the angular motion of an object relative to an inertial reference frame. It measures the absolute motion of an object without any external infrastructure or reference signal.

 

What is a magnetometer?

A magnetometer is a measuring sensor used to measure the strength or direction of magnetic fields in order to provide bearing.

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Inertial Navigation System Market

The typical applications do not differ much from the AHRS market but cover much more application fields. INS can be used for any type of market, from surveying to unmanned vehicles. One of these is unmanned aerial vehicles such as UAV navigation, UAV-based Surveying, etc. INS are also often installed on general aviation aircraft.

For the unmanned ground vehicles market, GPS-aided inertial navigation systems (integrating dead reckoning) would be the best fit, especially when the application needs high accuracy. This also applies to autonomous vehicles such as driverless cars or shuttles, for example.

Inertial Navigation Systems can also be utilized for defense applications such as antenna pointing and SAT OTM but also for marine applications, including submarines, USV, boats, or hydrography.

Inertial sensors can be integrated to any surveying equipment for all types of survey: mobile mapping, indoor mapping, bathymetry, UAV-based surveying, etc.

Self-driving Cars

UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Antenna Pointing & SATCOM OTM 

Hydrography

Mobile Mapping

USV – Unmanned Sea Vehicles

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