The application of reconfigurable processors to MEMS calibration and signal processing in inertial navigation systems

Advances in MEMS (micromechanical systems) and integrated circuits have made it feasible to further miniaturize smart sensor technology for inertial navigation systems. An element of smart sensor technology of particular interest is the use of reconfigurable logic, which is a method that can be employed to minimize the hardware needed to perform a variety of tasks concerned with sensor data reduction. Especially during subsystem development, using reconfigurable hardware facilitates rapid assessment and selection of different sensor instrumentation methods. Coordinate transformations and other computations involved in inertial navigation and GPS (global positioning system) data integration that can be performed with reconfigurable logic are described below. INS (inertial navigational system) and GPS readings are needed for future advances in terrestrial vehicle applications like geolocation and automatic target recognition. Preliminary experimental MEMS structures that are expected to be incorporated into accelerometer and other subsystem designs are also described below.