GPS/Inertial Measurement
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motion measurement is of potential value to controlling, monitoring or analyzing just about anything that moves.  Two type of inertial sensing are used to described motion: accelerometers to measure the rate of change of linear velocity components, and angular-rate sensors to measure the rate of change of orientation, i.e. rotational velocities.  Inertial sensors can measure the rates of change of motion across a range of frequencies from low frequency motions of ships to high frequency vibration behavior of machinery.

The Aventech Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is a robust, integrated, fully calibrated / compensated set of three accelerometers and three angular rate sensors.  As part of the AIMMS-20, the IMU tracks acceleration and orientation of an aircraft, which is a necessary part of resolving winds.  The IMU can operate alone communicating motion data to a host data system via one of two means: a) an RS-232 data port; or, b) a serial network bus, specifically, a Controller Area Network (CAN) interface.