High acceleration, high performance solid state accelerometer development

Discusses the development of a high performance, high g, tactical accelerometer for use in the Advanced Kinetic Energy Missile (AdKEM) development program being conducted by the U.S. Army Missile Command. The design goals of the accelerometer are to provide strapdown tactical navigation quality acceleration information throughout a 20 g soft launch phase, 1200 g boost phase, and low-g coast phase environment. The accelerometers must be able to provide acceleration measurements accurate enough to provide a navigational accuracy of 0.5 meter CEP at 500 meters. This translates to an accelerometer capable of measuring a 1200 g acceleration with a resolution of 1 milli-g. The AdKEM missile accelerometer and gyro outputs are used for control stability and midcourse guidance. The successful demonstration of this device offers a myriad of opportunities in both the commercial and military arenas. The operational environment anti-performance characteristics of the AdKEM accelerometer are presented. Other design requirements imposed on this accelerometer for viability in a tactical application are: minimum cost, size, weight and power consumption and survivability over a wide range operating environment. Crystalline quartz vibrating beam technology has been chosen for this accelerometer application.<>