Impact of Accelerated Life Testing on the Metrological Performance of Commercial MEMS Accelerometers

The increasing miniaturization of electronic devices is having the effect of increasing computational capacity and significantly reducing the size of computing and electronic devices and appliances. One of the most striking examples of the potential of miniaturization is Micro Electro Mechanical Devices (MEMS), which have been used in critical applications such as driving Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous cars through the integration of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers in tiny packages. Given their critical roles, it is essential to assess the quality of the measurements produced by MEMS-based devices and analyze how their performance degrades with age. Aging effects become particularly significant when MEMS devices are deployed in environments with elevated temperatures exceeding 35–40°C, where thermal stress can substantially reduce their operational lifespan. The objective of this work is to provide a preliminary estimate of the trend of systematic errors and standard uncertainty of static measurements produced by an IMU during Accelerated Life Testing (ALT). The results show non-negligible degradation as early as 40°C operating temperature, with a noticeable increase in standard uncertainty from 80 months of use.