Inertial navigation system

lastmod 2023-04-19created 2014-10-225 edits

An inertial navigation system (INS) is a device mounted on submarines, aircraft, missiles, and the like that senses its own position in order to guide them to a destination.

Its working principle is to set a heading reference with a gyroscope and obtain the displacement of motion using accelerometers. Once the initial position is entered, it can always calculate and track its own position and velocity even while moving. It has the advantage of being unaffected by bad weather or radio jamming, but because errors accumulate and grow over long distances, it is usually used with added correction from GPS, active radar guidance, or similar.

See also

• Inertial measurement unit (IMU)
• Missile
• Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
• GPS (Global Positioning System)
• NMEA 0183
• Inertial navigation system (INS)
• Real-time kinematic positioning (RTK)
• Virtual Reference Station (VRS)

Favorite site

• Wikipedia (en) description of INS
• Developer notes - Inertial Navigation System (INS)
• Positioning and applications through GPS/inertial sensor integration ¹

References