Characteristics of a small low cost inertial measurement unit

The HG1700 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) was developed to provide low cost inertial measurement products for air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. The HG1700 IMU uses low cost miniature tactical grade ring laser gyros and linear accelerometer inertial sensors. Since the IMU was initially introduced as a production item in 1994, it has been selected by each Department of Defense service for a variety of applications, including; missiles, munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles, air targets, and unmanned underwater vehicles. Many of the applications are in Engineering and Manufacturing Development program phases so available test results are current and impressive. The HG1700 IMU is designed to use a common hardware configuration with software that can be modified to meet application specific requirements. Software modifications generally include interface protocol, data rate output and frequency response characteristics. This paper provides a history of the need for the HG1700 IMU, a summary of current applications using the HG1700 IMU and a review of recent test results. A technical overview and interface description are also included.